Tobacco.org

SA exports 58% more tobacco products in 2009 - Minister  

One thing you can say for global economic crises, they do increase people's smoking habits. Exports from South Africa of tobacco products leapt by 58% during last year, according to figures given in Parliament by the Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies .

Giving a written reply to a Parliamentary question from Cecilia Kotsi of the Congress of the People, the minister noted that exports generally declined in 2009 because of the crisis, but it also seems likely from his reply that exports of booze were also up

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• Smokers die, BAT thrives  

Every cigarette packet these days carries a dire health warning - but British American Tobacco (JSE:BTI) CEO Paul Adams has no doubts about the health of his company.

In the annual report on one of the JSE's biggest market caps (R507.5bn) Adams writes: "I look forward to many successful years for our business."

Never mind the slings and arrows of the anti-tobacco lobby and the worst recession since the 1930s, BAT managed to raise revenues 10% to ₤14bn and earnings by 19% on a 1% volume rise because of "favourable pricing and resilient brands". It raised profit from operations by 20% to ₤4.4bn. Earnings in the decade have grown at a compound rate of 11% pa.

BAT has given shareholders an all-in return (dividends and share price gains) of 15.5% pa in the past three years, compared to the FTSE's average of 1.3% pa.

What's really remarkable is that BAT flourishes in spite of anti-smoking campaigns in virtually every jurisdiction in which it operates.

Adams reports that global cigarette consumption is more or less stagnant at 6trn cigarettes a year but as the adult population grows, particularly in developing countries, more and more new consumers are hooked.

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• Luxury Cigars in Demand in South Africa as Cigarette Smoking Plummets 

The young entrepreneur smokes mainly cigars, he says, “because it shows people that I am now able to afford the finer things in life … When smoking a cigar, you are like, achieving. You’ll be not smoking as such but making yourself big, advertising yourself.”

New cigar smokers: young, black and very successful

Ncapayi is typical of a new, rising breed of cigar smokers, according to Colin Wesley, South Africa’s leading cigar trader, who supplies most tobacconists in the country. These new cigar smokers, he says, are young, black and extremely successful.

“Cigars have always been associated with achievement,” says Wesley. “These young professionals, including many young black businessmen, like the big, expensive brands. Some of them come in and say, ‘Give me your biggest and most expensive cigar.’ They are not shy to spend money.” . . .

Yet South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world. As the nation’s slums expand, so do its lavish suburbs, where people pay many millions of rands for opulent houses. While millions of citizens earn less than a dollar a day, South Africa is also home to the most millionaires (in dollars) on the continent.

And as opportunities have opened up in business after decades of apartheid-inspired white economic domination, increasing numbers of black people are now getting rich.

“They can afford to spend money on the most powerful status symbols – one of which is the cigar,” says Wesley.

Brett Mulder, who manages what is arguably the finest cigar bar in Africa, in Johannesburg, says he’s seen a “major spike” in cigar sales in recent years. “On a given night here you’ll find hundreds of people, dancing, eating and smoking cigars.”

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Pressure groups want higher tobacco tax  

The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) has urged finance minister Pravin Gordhan to review tobacco tax rates in South Africa.

Gordhan announced that cigarette tax would increase by R1,24 per pack.

The group accused government of sticking to a policy which kept tobacco taxes low in favour of tobacco companies at the detriment of public health and government revenues.

The group said South Africa's tax rates on tobacco were among the lowest in the world. "Since 1997 government set the cigarette tax rate at 50% of retail price and gradually increased it to 52% in 2002," the NCAS said in a statement. It has remained at 52% since

According to the NCAS smokers in Ireland would part with R93 for a packet of 20 cigarettes which makes up 79% of the retail price. They said the average tax incidence in the 27 member states of the European Union was 78%.

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Tobacco tax hike 'not enough' 

The government squandered another opportunity to encourage smokers to quit and to raise revenues, the National Council Against Smoking said on Wednesday.

Council spokesperson Dr Yussuf Saloojee said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's budget increase of R1.24 more on a packet of 20 cigarettes was no surprise.

"[The] finance minister has obdurately stuck to a policy which keeps tobacco taxes low and so favours the tobacco companies at the expense of public health and government revenues," he said.

He said tax on tobacco products in South Africa was the lowest in the world.

The government has since 1997 set the cigarette tax rate at 50% of retail price, which increased marginally to 52% in 2002," he said.

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South African Smoking Rates Stubbornly High 

John Nzimande sits with his co-workers at lunch break on a construction site in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city. Before opening their lunch tins, they light up a cigarette after hours of digging on a site related to the World Cup of soccer in June.

John says taking a few puffs before and during lunch helps him relax as workers are under high pressure to meet deadlines.

His colleagues agree it is hard in their line of work to quit smoking, though they know the habit has clear health risks. . . .

Johannesburg is in Gauteng province, the richest in South Africa with the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Africa below the Sahara. Gauteng draws workers from the entire country and African continent. Even as the South African government increases regulation on the tobacco industry, smoking remains a favorite pastime for about one in four men.

Though South Africa one of the few African nations to impose restrictions on cigarette advertisements and smoking in public places, the country's tobacco industry continues to see top-line growth due to higher unit prices.

Pharmacist and former smoker John Levine says that despite the decline in tobacco sales by volume, there is significant growth in revenues to tobacco companies - and to the state, which heavily taxes cigarettes.

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• Environment: Is smoking law of no effect? 

Cape Town Child Welfare and the National Council Against Smoking have again urged adults to refrain from smoking near children after an admission by Cape Town's traffic services that it was unable to enforce a law against smoking in a vehicle where a child younger than 12 was present.

Cape Town Child Welfare chief executive Niresh Ramklass said on Tuesday that with 700 000 vehicles on the roads the legislation was unenforceable, and issued an appeal: "Please consider the children's health. Secondary smoke is lethal for the child."

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BEKKER: Cigarettes 'should be illegal'  

What I actually wanted to share, was how in light of all the above mentioned aggravations, I (along with my very supportive husband) decided to quit smoking. For good.

So the end date was set, and we attended a stop-smoking seminar. All went well during the seminar, until we smoked our final cigarette. Things were fine until the moment I killed it. Then, panic struck and I already craved another one. . . .

I don't know how we are going to beat this addiction, but we will try again. We will try again and again and again, even if it takes us years to finally break free.

I don't think many people realize that this is actually an addiction like any other. There aren't any rehab centres for smoking. You can attend a workshop, but there won't be regular NA (Nicotinaholics Anonymous) meetings where you declare your progress in front of a large group of supportive ex-smokers.

Even though it's frowned upon, you can still, to some extent, smoke in public places. We as smokers will fight with our non-smoking friends over seating arrangements in a restaurant, and we will become irate if they ask us to 'not smoke' when they are in our cars.

We are only a small step away from stealing money from family members to buy our next rush.

Maybe smoking should be banned (oh, I can hear the smokers rioting already) and we should be treated like any other person who is caught with an illegal substance.

I think that we'll all be better off if we could just be rid of this stinking addiction, even though some may argue that they actually like the taste of a cigarette.

If we hadn't smoked on that fateful Thursday morning, we would have been over the worst withdrawal by now.

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• Batsa fumes over access to smokers  

British American Tobacco South Africa (Batsa) has attacked the National Council Against Smoking for issuing a statement that was "deliberately mischievous, provocative and misleading" regarding a constitutional challenge launched by the company against certain provisions of the recently promulgated Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act.

Batsa has filed an application before the North Gauteng High Court to have the legislation amended to allow one-to-one communication with its consenting adult smokers.

The ban came into operation last August.

The company said: "This is a matter between Bat South Africa and the Department of Health and we believe that sensationalising the issue in the media will not help to reach an amicable solution. To the contrary, it will only serve to further mislead the public."

The council said that if the prohibition of one-to-one communication was declared unconstitutional, "such a contorted interpretation would expressly disregard the direct intentions of Parliament".

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Medical body fumes at bid to challenge tobacco ad law 

JOHANNESBURG: The SA Medical Association (Sama) yesterday said it was "totally" opposed to cigarette advertising in whatever shape or form, given smoking's contribution to the burden of diseases.

"Cigarette advertising, even if subliminal, is especially reprehensible when targeting our impressionable youth.

"We therefore share the concerns of the National Council Against Smoking regarding the legal challenge being launched by a tobacco-manufacturing group against the law currently strictly banning tobacco advertising," said Sama chairman Dr Norman Mabasa in a statement.

British American Tobacco SA (Batsa) had filed an application in the Pretoria High Court to challenge anti-smoking legislation, the National Council Against Smoking said on Wednesday.

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Cigarette advertising opposed 

The SA Medical Association (Sama) on Thursday said it was "totally" opposed to cigarettes advertised in whatever shape or form, given their contribution to the burden of diseases.

"Cigarette advertising, even if subliminal, is especially reprehensible when targeting our impressionable youth."

"We therefore share the concerns of the National Council Against Smoking regarding the legal challenge being launched by a Tobacco-manufacturing group against the law currently strictly banning tobacco advertising," said Sama chairperson Dr Norman Mabasa in a statement.

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Electronic Cigarette Proof: Medical Study Conducted in South Korea Shows 43% Success Rate When Using Electronic Cigarettes As A Smoking Aide 

In the first government controlled official study of the electronic cigarette's effectiveness as a smoking cessation aid e-cigs show an impressive 43% success rate. The study, conducted in South Africa, consisted of 349 smokers. At the conclusion of the two month study 43% of those participating had successfully quit smoking.

All the doctors that participated in the study agree that electronic cigarettes are a significantly healthier alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. The study showed that 6% of participating smokers quit within two weeks with an increase to 45% over 8 weeks. Over half of the participants reported increased energy levels and a visual improvement in their appearance.

Overwhelming support from the medical community that participated in the study includes that of Dr. Brian Lee, who reported that "an e-cigarette is the most effective treatment method on the market for quitting tobacco smoking". Prof Jung Jonny, Head Vascular Surgeon at the University of the Seung Institute, added "Motivated by my wife's experience, who smoked traditional cigarettes heavily until the moment she replaced them with "electronic cigarettes123 which was zero nicotine", I have advised my patients to consider electronic cigarettes as an alternative nicotine source."

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• BAT in high court bid for right to market cigarettes 

BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) SA is fighting for its constitutional right to market cigarettes.

The company, which accounts for about 90% of SA’s cigarette market, said yesterday it wanted the high court to lift a ban on “one-to-one” communication with smokers.

If it did not get that, it wanted the court to declare the ban to be an infringement of the company’s constitutional rights.

“The company seeks for the (law) to be amended to allow one-to-one communication with its consenting adult smokers,” it said.

A judgment in BAT’s favour could reverse amendments to the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act proclaimed in August. These further curtailed the room companies such as BAT have to market their products. Conventional advertising channels were closed to tobacco producers in 2001 and they have since had to rely on other measures.

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Cigarette firm opts for courts  

BRITISH American Tobacco of South Africa has applied to the Pretoria high court to overrule Parliament and allow it to keep advertising cigarettes to teenagers.

In 2001, cigarettes companies were banned from advertising on billboards, in cinemas and on radio.

Last year, Parliament amended the Tobacco Products Control Act to outlaw the “smoking parties” organised by the industry. These changes came into operation on August 21.

National Council Against Smoking’s Dr Yussuf Saloojee said: “Since the early 2000s, the cigarette companies have reportedly employed ‘sexy twenty- somethings’ and sent them with a car-load of free cigarettes on a tour of SA’ s pubs, universities and colleges where they encourage youngsters to sign up for the party of a lifetime.

“Free food, alcohol and cigarettes are served,” said Saloojee.

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Cigarette giant to fight SA law 

British American Tobacco SA (Batsa) has launched a court challenge to anti-smoking legislation, the National Council Against Smoking said on Wednesday.

It said Batsa had filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court complaining that the law stopped it from communicating with adult smokers.

It was asking the court to interpret the legislation so as to allow one-to-one communications between the tobacco trade and those smokers.

Alternatively, it wanted the ban on one-to-one communication declared unconstitutional as a violation of the right to freedom of expression.

"Such a contorted interpretation would expressly disregard the direct intentions of Parliament," the council said in a statement.

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