Tobacco.org

• Brazil and tobacco use: a hard nut to crack 

Brazil is pushing to enforce smoking bans and backing nicotine replacement therapies in an attempt to keep chipping away at tobacco-use statistics. Raising the price of cigarettes would also help. Claudia Jurberg reports.

Taxes on tobacco products generated income of around US$ 2.2 billion for the Brazilian government in 2008, but that doesn’t mean the Brazilian government is going easy on the tobacco industry.

For the past two decades, Brazil has been at the forefront of global tobacco control initiatives. Vera da Costa e Silva, a public health specialist who advises the government on tobacco control, is proud to note that Brazil was the first country to ban the use of misleading adjectives such as “light” and “mild” from cigarette packages back in 2001. That move was in line with a law passed a year earlier requiring cigarette manufacturers to include pictorial health warnings covering at least 100% of one of the two main sides of a pack. These warnings often depict people in advanced stages of tobacco-related illness.

As a result of such initiatives, smoking prevalence has come down in the past two decades from 34% of the adult population in 1989 to 15% last year, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. But the declining trend has tailed off over the past few years as tobacco companies target new consumers, notably women. Meanwhile, 200 000 Brazilians die every year from tobacco-related diseases, according to the National Cancer Institute (INCA).

One area in which Brazilian tobacco control has faltered is in the enforcement of other key tobacco control measures, such as smoking bans in enclosed public places.

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• Brazil enforces smoking ban in São Paulo 

A smoking ban comes into force in the Brazilian state of São Paulo on Friday, adding to what has become one of the world’s toughest anti-smoking campaigns.

Brazil was among the first countries in the world to print disturbing images on cigarette packs in an effort to persuade smokers not to light up. The images, in use since 2001, have coincided with a steady fall in the number of smokers in the country, from 34 per cent of the adult population in 1989 to 15 per cent last year, although the part played by the images is hard to gauge.

The ban in São Paulo state is being introduced by governor José Serra, who as health minister was responsible for the nationwide on-pack campaign.

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• Smuggling Made Easy 

Last September, Guaíra made headlines across Brazil when 15 people were murdered at a makeshift riverside warehouse. The killings were the result of a vendetta among drug smugglers and, officials here say, they weren’t all that unusual. Just 150 miles north from the notorious Tri-Border Area, where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet, Guaíra is today a major weapons and drugs corridor in the region. But no product, police say, is more widely smuggled through this city, and more profitable to smugglers, than Paraguayan cigarettes.

Dozens of motor boats crammed with tobacco cross the Paraná River daily from the neighboring Paraguayan city of Salto del Guairá. The smugglers feed an illicit trade that injects billions of cigarettes into Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other large Brazilian cities, where the cheap, untaxed Paraguayan sticks account for 20 percent of the entire cigarette market. Guaíra sits at the heart of this trade, a strategic gateway and a place where many residents — up to half its population, locals say — rely directly or indirectly on smuggling for their livelihood. A few reap millions from the illicit trade. Guaíra’s most famous criminal son, Roque Fabiano Silveira, made a fortune and a name, trafficking Paraguayan cigarettes thousands of miles away. . . .

The tale of Roque Silveira is emblematic of the criminal nature and global reach of the teeming Paraguayan cigarette industry, one that experts and law enforcement officials say is, largely, set up for and devoted to transnational smuggling. Fifteen years ago cigarette manufacturing was minimal in Paraguay, one of South America’s poorest countries and a place notorious for corruption and trading in counterfeit goods. Today Paraguay, a landlocked, California-sized country, ranks among the world’s top producers of contraband cigarettes, responsible for 10 percent of the world’s contraband tobacco, experts estimate.

Paraguay’s factories churned out 68 billion cigarettes in 2006

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• São Paulo: Anti-Smoking Bill Approved 

São Paulo's Legislative Assembly approved, last Tuesday (7th), the anti-smoking bill proposed by governor José Serra (PSDB), that prohibits smoking in enclosed spaces in the state of São Paulo. An amendment by deputy Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB) was also approved, that delays the bill from entering law for 90 days. During this 90 day period the bill will be regularised, in terms of fines and punishment. Serra has 10 days to sanction the bill.

Essentially all enclosed public areas will be affected, for example:

Night Clubs Restaurants

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• Assembleia aprova projeto de lei antifumo em São Paulo [Assembly approves law project antitobacco in São Paulo] 

Eighteen members of the house of representatives had voted against and 69 in favor of the project.

Project forbids tobacco in ' enclosures coletivos' and creates free environments. . . .

The cigarette will be completely forbidden in bars, restaurants and in the workstations. It will not be possible not even to use fumódromos. The smokers will not be able to smoke in any closed or partially closed environment that is of collective use, and do not matter if the space is public or private.

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• Souza Cruz Drops on Possible Tax Increase, Smoke Ban (Update1)  

Souza Cruz SA, Brazil’s biggest tobacco company, fell for the first time in a week after a report said the federal government may raise cigarette taxes and Sao Paulo State approved a law banning smoking indoors.

Souza Cruz, a British American Tobacco Plc subsidiary, slid 4.9 percent to 44.10 reais in Sao Paulo trading.

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• Sao Paulo State Court of Appeals Vacates the Largest Award Against Cigarette Manufacturers in Brazil 

The 7th Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the State of Sao Paulo vacated yesterday, by unanimous vote, the judgment of the court of 1st instance that had found in favor of the indemnification claim brought by the Association for the Defense of the Health of Smokers ("ADESF") against the Brazilian cigarette manufacturers Souza Cruz (a subsidiary of British American Tobacco) and Philip Morris Brasil (a subsidiary of Philip Morris International). The Court of Appeals granted the appeals of the manufactures on grounds that the lower civil court decision had violated the constitutional principle of due process of law since it had failed to extend to the manufacturers the opportunity of producing any evidence, including expert evidence that had already been ordered by the Court of Appeals itself.

This case, which is the first lawsuit of this nature filed in Brazil, began with the filing of a class action at the 19th Civil Court of Sao Paulo in July of 1995. The Plaintiff is ADESF, an association initially created by three attorneys and a doctor, 14 days prior to the filing of said lawsuit, which, without a verifiable list of associate members, seeks to represent all smokers in Brazil. The entity is also linked to several anti-tobacco organizations and maintains a broad network of attorneys throughout the country for the sole purpose of filing lawsuits against cigarette manufacturers, trying to import into Brazil the so-called "compensation industry." . . .

All class actions of this type that have already been judged conclusively by Brazilian Courts ended without the intended liability of the manufacturers. It is also important to note that the subject matter of these class actions is identical to that of hundreds of individual actions already dismissed conclusively throughout the country. Just the Sao Paulo State Court of Appeals alone has already rendered more than 30 rulings rejecting this type of product liability claim. In all tobacco-related class actions and individual lawsuits with conclusive rulings already rendered by the Brazilian Courts, the indemnification claims have been rejected.

The main reasoning of the Brazilian Courts for rejecting this type of claim is: consumers have free will to decide (or not) to smoke, since the decision to consume the product or not is a question of free choice, the widespread public knowledge of the diseases associated with cigarette consumption and the absence of defect in the product because it is a product of inherent risk, the manufacture, distribution and sale of which in Brazil is authorized and subject to severe regulations by the State.

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• Smokers see decline in ability to smell, rise in laryngitis, and upper airway issues 

As Americans prepare for a day without cigarettes and tobacco products as part of the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout (R) (November 20), new research gives them more reasons to extend that break to a lifetime, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF). Among the new research presented at the organization's annual meeting in September 2008 are studies that link cigarette smoking and upper airway symptoms ("smoker's nose"), the loss of smokers' ability to smell common odors, and most alarming, the role second-hand smoke plays in the rise of cases of "environmental laryngitis."

The first study, presented by Norwegian researchers, reveals that among 2,294 patients being evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, or nose-related issues, smokers were 12 to 27 percent higher than non-smokers in 8 of the 13 possible symptoms. The researchers believe that quitting smoking should be a primary therapeutic measure for patients with these upper airway ailments.

In another study, Brazilian researchers examined the link between smoking and loss of smell. In a clinical study examining 56 healthy volunteers, current and former smokers in the group had greater trouble smelling butanol, an alcohol used widely in odor testing because of its distinct and powerful smell. The authors believe this confirms that smokers will experience altered ability to smell as they continue the habit.

A third study cites second-hand tobacco smoke as one of the primary causes of what the authors term "environmental laryngitis," along with allergens and air pollution. The study, authored by researchers at the University of California-Davis, indicates through animal models that exposure to second-hand smoke can trigger laryngitis symptoms

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• Brazilians dislike president's stance on smoking 

Brazil's president is hot in the polls _ but not smoking. A new poll shows that 77 percent of Brazilians disapprove of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's recent comments defending smokers' rights. Smoking inside buildings is restricted in most places in Brazil, but Silva said in an interview two weeks ago that he thought smoking should be allowed everywhere.

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• Passive smoking kills 7 people per day in Brazil 

The diseases caused by passive smoking kill seven people per day, or 2,655 people per year in Brazil, according to a study released on Friday.

The study, released by the Rio de Janeiro State University and the Cancer Institute, showed that passive smoking could cause serious diseases, such as lung cancer, cerebral hemorrhage, angina pectoris, myocardial infection and coronary thrombosis.

Scientists also found out that for every 1,000 deaths due to cerebral hemorrhage, 29 are caused by secondhand smoke. The proportion is 25 of 1,000 deaths of heart diseases, and seven of 1,000 deaths of lung cancer.

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• Brazil adopts stronger pictures on cigarette packets in antismoking campaign 

Ten shocking images have been released by the Brazilian health ministry as part of its latest antismoking campaign. Cigarette packets with pictures and health warnings to deter people from lighting up have been in circulation since 2001.

The country was second only to Canada in adopting images as part of a strategy to lower the prevalence of tobacco use. . . .

See www.inca.gov.br/inca/Arquivos/Tabagismo/livroadvertenciascompleto.pdf for the images (text in Portuguese).

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• Brazil spends nearly $200 mln on tobacco-linked illness  

Brazil's government spends at least 330 million reais (194 million U.S. dollars) annually on treating tobacco-related illness, the state-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said in a report Sunday.

Foundation economist Marcia Pinto based the estimates on spending by the Unified Health System on patients being treated for 32 smoking-related conditions. . . .

According to the foundation, the real spending may be much higher, as surgery and other specialized treatment were not counted and many diseases the World Health Organization defined as linked to smoking were not included in the estimates. . . .

"The tobacco industry must pay for the costs assumed by the state, and anti-smoking campaigns must be intensified," she added.

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• Research and Markets: Get a Detailed Picture of the Tobacco Industry in Brazil 

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c77954) has announced the addition of "Tobacco in Brazil" to their offering.

Euromonitors Tobacco in Brazil report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2001-2006), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market -- be they new legislative, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2011 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product coverage includes: cigarettes, cigars and smoking tobacco. . . .

Cigarette manufacturers continuously focus advertising campaigns with emotional appeal towards the female population, as they are expected to account for the majority of smokers in the country in the future. According to experts, women are beginning to smoke earlier than men are and are less likely to quit because there is greater tolerance from family members as well as society in general. Other forms of tobacco, such as cigars and pipe tobacco, are, on the other hand, expected to remain far more popular among men. . . .

Despite the slightly positive tobacco sales in 2006, the future is not expected to be so bright, as a result of the Brazilian ratification of the FCTC convention.

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• World No-Tobacco Day in LAC: RIACT Launched 

Brazil's Health Minister, José Gomes Temporão, today announced the launch of the Ibero-American Tobacco Control Network (RIACT - Rede Ibero-Americana de Controle do Tabagismo in Portuguese, Red Ibero-Americana de Control del Tabaquismo in Spanish) to bring together the tobacco control authorities of (Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking) Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with those of Spain and Portugal to cooperate, coordinate and collaborate in the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

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• Brazil Learns What Works in Antismoking Campaigns: High Taxes and Graphic Photos ($$) 

The world is slowly learning how to curb smoking, and some countries are showing more success than others. In recent years, Brazil has taken steps that put it at the front of the pack.

Between 1989 and 2001, the fraction of adults who smoke in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's largest city, dropped from 30% to 21%, compared with a drop in the United States from 25.5% in 1990 to 22.8% in 2001. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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