Tobacco.org

Tobacco cultivation going on in Nilphamari 

Though the government is trying to discourage farmers in cultivating tobacco in the country the cultivation of tobacco is not decreasing in Nilphamari district.

It is to be mentioned here that every year tobacco is being cultivated on vast tracts of land in the district. ssThis year, following the high prices of tobacco farmers are being encouraged in cultivating tobacco in the district.

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• Awareness, protests cut tobacco cultivation in southwestern districts 

Tobacco cultivation in seven southwestern districts which got a big boost several years ago is declining due to awareness about its harmful effect on soil and health following protests and campaign and also because of farmers' need to grow more food.

Farmers now say its cultivation decreases fertility and deposits harmful ingredients in soil.

According to sources in the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and officials of now defunct Tobacco Development Board (TDB), tobacco cultivation declined to 14000 hectares in the areas in the current season from last year's 17000 hectares. .. .

The seven districts known for tobacco cultivation are Kushtia, Meherpur, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Magura, Jessore and Rajbari.

Tobacco cultivation increased in the country mainly at the behwest of cigarette and Bidi companies. Its main buyers were 17 companies including multinational British American Tobacco (BAT. . . .

According to sources, Bidi and cigarette companies have been using various 'unhealthy' techniques to lure farmers into tobacco farming for long. They provide interest-free loans, seeds, fertilisers, technical support and buy back facilities to farmers.

These companies have a large number of field workers to do the job. They lure farmers into tobacco cultivation, and get 'tips' from companies for 'good performance'.

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• Bangladesh braces for tobacco war as Akij starts selling Marlboro by April 

Bangladesh braces for the fiercest tobacco war in less than two months' time when volume leader Akij will launch Marlboro in the country, hoping to end the decades-long dominance by British American Tobacco.

Akij's young managing director Sheikh Bashiruddin would not say when exactly the world's biggest tobacco brand will be launched, but add success of Marlboro would be vital for making the sprawling Group a billion dollar company by 2012.

"Marlboro is a premium tobacco brand leader across the globe. I don't see why it would not grab the leadership in Bangladesh," the 37-year chief said. . . .

Akij is launching the global tobacco leader Philip Morris's brand as a franchisee. The US-based world's largest tobacco company has audited and validated the factory where the premium brand would be produced using imported roasted tobacco.

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Govt urged to increase taxes on tobacco products 

Bangladesh Anti-tobacco Alliance urged the government to increase taxes on tobacco products in the coming budget for controlling the massive use of tobacco in the country, reports UNB.

"Taxes on all tobacco products including dried tobacco leaves, `gul' and `zarda' have to be increased for effectively controlling the use of tobacco," general secretary of Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Kazi Faruk told a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club Wednesday.

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Stop ads on tobacco products 

Speakers at a view exchange meeting in the city urged the government to stop all kinds of advertisements on tobacco and tobacco products.

At present, the amount of fine for violating the Anti-Tobacco Act by tobacco companies in the country is very low. To implement the Act the rate of the fine should be increased considerably, they said.

They urged the government to take effective steps for implementation of the Anti Tobacco Act. Banning of advertisements of tobacco in print and electronic media and increase in smoke free zones in public places across the country have helped implement the Anti Tobacco Act at present, they said.

The view exchange meeting on 'Achievement of controlling use of tobaccos and remedies' jointly organised by non-government organisations, WBB Trust, The Union and Manobik at the National Press Club yesterday.

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• Anti-smoking law still in name only 

Having to put up with Dhaka's chaotic and terrible bus services is one thing, but breathing in fumes in an enclosed place is quite another. It gets only worse for the people like Mizanur Rahman who are allergic to cigarette smoke or suffering from asthma.

After years of suffering this aerial assault, Mizan, a Mohammadpur resident, finally decided to put pen to paper and make his point about the nuisance of smoking in public places. He decided to send his complaint to some of the daily newspapers, saying that smoking in public transportations reflects the carelessness and absence of civic sense of the citizens.

"A number of arrogant and senseless people including bus drivers, their helpers and even 'educated' passengers tend to smoke away to glory with little concern for the people around them," wrote Mizanur Rahman. . . .

In 2005, with an aim to discourage smoking, the ban of smoking in public and advertisement of tobacco products stirred a surge of awareness amongst the majority of the smoking population. However, as the ban was not widely publicises it was rather short-lived -- thanks to the poor show by authorities concerned.

Majority of the city dwellers still seem to be confused about the law as it failed to clearly define the places off-limits to smoking and advertisement of tobacco products. Hoardings by cigarette companies still deck the roofs of shops throughout the city

"I know that smoking in public and vehicles is prohibited. But I'm not sure about the places falling under the prohibition," said Sharif Mahmud, a student of Dhaka University.

The law prohibits smoking at academic institutions, government, semi-government and autonomous offices, libraries, lifts, hospitals, clinics, court buildings, airports, sea and river port buildings, railway stations, bus terminals, buses, ferries, cinema halls, indoor exhibition centres, theatres and children's parks.

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• Marlboros to make Bangladesh debut  

The world's leading tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris has tied up with a Bangladeshi firm to sell Marlboro cigarettes in the local market, company officials said Sunday.

The Marlboros will be manufactured and distributed by the Dhaka Tobacco Company, the company's chief executive officer Sheikh Bashir Uddin told reporters.

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KHAN: Fighting the tobacco epidemic 

The lies or myths surrounding tobacco are deliberately put into circulation by the tobacco companies not only to make sure that their products remain in circulation against the threats they face but also to push their sales as part of their survival and expansion strategies. Shorn of any moral foundation, these killer companies are caught up in a desperate situation of not 'do or die' but of 'kill or die'. They get fresh leases of life by inventing new ways of marketing that give them license to indulge in killing sprees and orgies of mass murder.

Eying for hefty profits at an enormous cost to the public health, the tobacco giants continue to operate their 'death trade' enjoying complete immunity and staying beyond accountability under the state patronage mostly in the developing countries. . . .

It has been the mission of premier national anti-tobacco organisations ADHUNIK and CAT (Coalition Against Tobacco) to dismantle the smokescreen erected by tobacco companies around their toxic products to enable the people to see the light of the truth that lay buried under the trash of smoked ashes. As anti-tobacco campaigners, we must renew our pledge on WNTD 2007 to continue our all-out war on tobacco until we can rid the world from its scourge beginning with Bangladesh.

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Prevalence of cigarette and bidi smoking among rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city 

Conclusion

The prevalence of smoking among rickshaw pullers is very high compared to that in general population. Immediate intervention programs are warranted to reduce the future burden of smoking related morbidity among them who are already exposed to tremendous pollution on city roads.

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• Punishment to advertisers of cigarettes urged 

Environmentalists yesterday demanded punishment to the advertisers of cigarette companies, which were violating the Smoking and Tobacco Control Act 2005.

They said, though government banned any kind of advertisement of tobacco, the cigarette companies continued to woo consumers in various forms.

Paribesh Bachao Andolon, a citizen's movement for saving the environment, yesterday organised a sit-in programme in front of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University.

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Tk 5.5cr smuggled cigarette seized from container  

After a tip-off by a clearing agent, customs officials yesterday confiscated a huge amount of foreign cigarettes inside a 40-foot container, which was officially declared to contain electric-touch-lamps, at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kamlapur.

Shipped from the Chinese port of Shen Zen, the container arrived at the Kamlapur ICD from Chittagong port on July 25. The estimated street value of the cigarettes would be around Tk 5.5 crore, customs sources said.

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Contraband cigarettes worth Tk 55m seized  

A team of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Thursday seized a huge quantity of foreign contraband cigarettes of Benson and Hedges brand worth about Tk 55 million from the Kamalapur Inland Container Depot, reports UNB.

The containers were supposed to carry imported table lamps. The consignment came from China, an ACC official said.

The owners of the clearing and forwarding agent of the consignment are close relations of a powerful minister, sources said.

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KHAN: Health or tobacco: A choice between life and death 

Bangladesh after vacillating for quite a long time between its policy imperative to raise its tax revenue from the tobacco industry and the overriding need to be seen to act in favour of protecting public health against the backdrop of the growing tobacco threat, finally managed to put together a tobacco control regime and pass it into a law on 26 March 2005 designated as 'The Bangladesh Tobacco Products Usages and Control Act, 2005.' It seems the implementation of the Act which is designed to contain the tobacco scorage is proving even tougher than its passage. By largely leaving unacted the law that has been enacted, the government gives the impression of opting for decontrol rather than control of tobacco. Most anti-tobacco campaigners who had high expectations from the law are disillusioned by what they view as a betrayal of the law. In the meantime, the slow peace of progress over enforcing the law has caused the tobacco epidemic to escalate. As a result of the slackness in applying the statue, the tobacco companies have reaped rich rewards by gaining access to new markets for their products in Bangladesh.

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ARIF: Bring all tobacco products under taxation 

There are 80 to 90 gul-manufacturing shops in the country. Most of these are situated in the Southern districts.

Sources said, about one crore of taka is transacted everyday on account of gul. But surprisingly the manufacturers do not pay taxes, as there is no tax on it. The same source said, government could earn a good amount as revenue from this item provided tax was imposed as done in case of biri and cigarettes.

Since Bangladesh has signed International Tobacco Control Convention, it implies upon the government to bring Gul under taxation system.

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Bangladesh joins world in observing World No Tobacco Day 

Bangladesh, being a member of WHO, made an anti-smoking law named "Smoking and Tobacco Usage (control) Act" in March 2005, which prohibits publication of advertisements of tobacco products in newspapers, electronic media, books, magazines and cinemas.

The law also bans smoking in public places and transport means with a provision of penalty.

Bangladesh Health and Population Control Minister Dr. Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain Wednesday led a march participated by hundreds of people and doctors.

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