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Belgian smokers go for cheaper cigarettes  

More smokers in Belgium are buying cheap cigarettes from the Value for Money segment.

According to the dailies Gazet Van Antwerpen and Belang Van Limburg on Tuesday, more smokers have discovered a recipe to escape the rising cost of cigarettes by going for cheaper brands.

The cheaper cigarettes fall under the Value for Money segment and include brands such as Pall Mall Blue and Austin Blue which sell 19 cigarettes for EUR 3.50.

In 2006, this segment made up 10 percent of the market, but now boosts a market share of 17 percent, says Cimabel, the federation of the six largest tobacco manufacturers. . . .

The sale of cigarettes has dropped in Belgium since 2007.

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Belgium's cigarette sales dip 12%  

Sales of lose tobacco reportedly decreased by 8.5%. According to Belgium's health minister, this drop in sales is primarily due to a price rise in 2007 and a legislation prohibiting smoking in public places.

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• Belgians buy 750 million fewer cigarettes  

Sales in cigarettes were down by 12 percent or 750 million cigarettes during the first half of 2008.

This is the first significant drop in cigarette sales in Belgium.

There has also been a decrease in tobacco sales. Nearly 3,400 tonnes of tobacco were sold during the first six months of 2008. Tobacco sales are down 8.5 percent in comparison with 2007.

This is good news for Belgians' health but bad news for the treasury as they will lose out on VAT and duty worth EUR 35 million.

The Health Ministry identifies several factors that triggered the fall in sales: legislation banning smoking in restaurants and public places and 2007's price rise.

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101 million smuggled cigarettes seized in Belgian raid 

Customs seized 101 million smuggled cigarettes destined for Britain yesterday in a raid that highlights the huge black market in contraband tobacco driven by the highest price of smoking in Europe.

The cigarettes were recovered from three warehouses in Liège in eastern Belgium in a coup described as one of the largest in a single operation in the European Union.

It will, however, make only a small dent in the ten billion cigarettes estimated to be slipped into Britain every year, which Revenue & Customs believes cost the Treasury up to 2.5 billion annually in lost tax.

“This is a record haul and a significant breakthrough,” said a spokesman for Belgian Customs. Five men were arrested in the raid.

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SMOKING HAUL 

Two Bulgarians have been arrested after Belgian police busted a cigarette smuggling ring, believed to be the largest one ever discovered in Europe.

Among the other smugglers who were arrested there were three Greeks, one Cypriot and one Belgian national. The arrests came after police officers found more than 230 tons of contraband cigarette packages in three warehouses near the Belgian city of Liege.

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Bulgarians Involved in Europe's Biggest Cigarette Smuggling Ring 

A total of two Bulgarians have been arrested after Belgian police busted a cigarette smuggling net believed to be the biggest one in Europe, Darik News reported Friday.

Some Belgium's media claim the Bulgarian citizen detained is only one.

Among the other arrestees are three Greeks, two Cypriotes and Belgian nationals.

The arrests came after police officers found more than 230 tons of contraband cigarette packages in three warehouses near Belgium's city of Liege.

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Blindness Warning To Smokers  

Simon Kelly, a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital, spoke at the International Symposium on Smoking Cessation in Belgium.

He addressed experts from across Europe about the links between smoking and age-related macular degeneration, the commonest cause of blindness in Europe.

Mr Kelly said: "Currently, cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for the commonest cause of blindness in Europe. The public are largely unaware of this.

"We are seeking to convince the European Commission of the public health importance of the hazards of smoking on the eyes and for warnings along those lines to now appear on cigarette packets."

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• EU Tobacco Ban Meets Its Swedish Match  

BRUSSELS -- Christopher Fjellner, a member of the European Parliament, says he won't apologize for breaking the law.

From his Brussels office, the Swedish lawmaker sells a Scandinavian chewing tobacco called snus (it rhymes with moose). The European Union banned snus sales in 1992 amid concerns about oral cancer and other health problems. But Mr. Fjellner says snus is safer than smoking and can help nicotine addicts reduce the risk of cancer.

Mr. Fjellner's act of civil disobedience comes at a sensitive time for EU policymakers. The bloc is toughening its stance on tobacco use and weighing a broad ban on smoking in public places by 2009. . . .

The European Commission is studying whether to lift its 1992 ban on snus sales. A decision is expected later this month. People familiar with the review say the commission is unlikely to overturn the ban, but might modify rules to allow more snus sales.

Using snus is legal throughout the EU, but the pouched tobacco can be sold only in Sweden . . .

"We've got nicotine replacement therapy and that, in the majority of cases, does jolly well," said Alexander Macara, former chairman of the British Medical Association and an expert on public health and addiction. "The medical evidence in favor of snus is ambiguous, not definitive."

Pharmaceutical companies, heavily invested in the multibillion-dollar market for stop-smoking products, are lobbying the commission to maintain the ban on snus sales. . . .

British American Tobacco PLC describes snus as a "harm reduction" product. It started selling snus under its Lucky Strike and Peter Stuyvesant brands in Sweden and South Africa over two years ago.

"The tide is in favor of the EU ban being lifted," said Catherine Armstrong, a BAT spokeswoman in London. . . .

"I hope someone comes to arrest me, just to let people know how stupid the EU regulation is," Mr. Fjellner said, his upper lip bulging slightly.

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2007 InfoWorld 100 Awards  

BAT Belgium www.bat.com

Global Information Management

Project Lead: Koen Dehaen, Business Systems Manager

Project Description: Using software from Business Objects and Kalido, British American Tobacco Belgium created a unified BI platform in the wake of its 2005 merger with STC.

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British American Tobacco Belgium Deploys Kalido to Speed Merger Integration 

Kalido, the active information management company, announced today that the Belgian division of British American Tobacco has successfully implemented a major management information project using Kalido® software at its core. Driven in large part by British American Tobacco's recent merger with sister company STC, the new program has helped British American Tobacco Belgium gain greater insight into sales operations from manufacturer to retailer. As a result, British American Tobacco Belgium's business managers can make more informed decisions to improve the company's brand management, profitability management and contracting capabilities. In addition, the initiative has enabled British American Tobacco Belgium to cut maintenance costs by 50 percent and deliver a consolidated, robust information delivery platform 10 months earlier than anticipated using traditional reporting methods. A full case study on the British American Tobacco Belgium success story is available at www.kalido.com/batbelgium.

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Enfants ont plus de risques d'avoir des caries si les parents fument [Children have more risks to have decays if the parents smoke] 

Les enfants âgés de cinq ans ont trois fois plus de risques d'avoir des caries si un de leurs parents fume, révèle une étude menée par des chercheurs de la KUL (Louvain) destinée à mesurer les effets de la campagne de sensibilisation "Tandje de Voorste".

Five years old children have three times more risks to have decays if one their parents smokes, reveals a study undertaken by researchers of the KUL (Leuwen) intended to measure the effects of the public awareness campaign "Tandje de Voorste".

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• Less-harmful cigarette invented 

according to Belgian scientists. They say they have succeeded in producing a safer substance for an alternative cigarette.

The new cigarettes cause no harmful effects to passive smokers, say the researchers at the Catholic University Louvain. The alternative cigarettes contain 70 percent less nicotine than normal ones.

The smoke caused by these new cigarettes contains no toxic substances for the smoker or his environment, but give the smoker the feeling and taste of regular cigarettes. They are also much cheaper to make than traditional cigarettes.

The new discovery will be presented on Friday.

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Belgium emerges top Indian tobacco buyer 

Belgium took over Russia as the number one importer of Indian tobacco in FY07 last week.

While Belgium lifted 19,186 tonnes of tobacco valued at Rs 197.53 crore against the previous year?s (2005-06) 15,411 tonnes (Rs 146.30 crore), Russia purchased 20,748 tonnes worth Rs 140.88 crore in 2006-07 against 27,513 tonnes (Rs 179.30 crore) in 2005-06.

Philippines bagged the third spot

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• Lower turnover because of smoking ban 

The smoking ban that has been in effect since the beginning of this year has had mainly a negative impact on restaurants and cafes near the border with the Netherlands.

Businesses in municipalities like Maaseik are seeing more and more customers cross the border to the Netherlands where smoking is still allowed in the hospitality sector.

Restaurants in the Belgian part of this border region saw their turnover decrease by 25 percent during the first three months of this year.

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No smoking on playground from 2008 

BRUSSELS Â- Flemish ministers for Education Frank Vandenbroucke and Public Health Inge Vervotte have announced that a general ban on smoking will come into effect on 1 September 2008 in all Flemish schools.

No smoking will be allowed on the playground and there will no longer be smoking areas for teachers. Starting in the 2007-2008 academic year more resources will be devoted to preventing students from smoking and helping those who do to stop.

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