Tobacco.org

MfD: Philip Morris raises cigarette prices 

Philip Morris, the biggest cigarette producer on the Czech market, has kicked off a cigarette price hike in the Czech Republic, raising its prices by Kc8 per pack, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) wrote Tuesday.

Other producers are likely to follow, MfD writes.

Jump to full article »

Czech Cigarette Maker Reflects Higher Tax in Prices, Dnes Says 

Philip Morris CR AS has started to reflect a January increase in the Czech excise tax by raising prices of cigarettes, Mlada Fronta Dnes reported.

Imperial Tobacco CR, Philip Morris's competitor, expects to raise its retail prices by the end of September

Jump to full article »

• Night & Day: No butts about it 

The Association of Restaurants and Hotels in the Czech Republic recently announced that more than 260 non-smoking establishments are now operating in Prague — a sign of either progress or Californication, depending on one’s perspective.

However, if you ask the Česká Koalice Proti Tabáku (Czech Coalition Against Tobacco), and exclude coffee shops and Internet cafés from your request, the number plummets to something like 49. And many of those, such as Ambiente on Mánesova and Ferdinanda near the museum, merely cordon off a nonsmoking section.

Nothing wrong with that approach, but it hardly suggests a trend. There are, however, a few very good and completely (or largely) smoke-free places in town. A sampling:

Jump to full article »

• Czechs spend more on tobacco, alcohol than on health  

Czechs spend more on tobacco, alcohol and other unhealthy habits than on the protection of their health, according to a report on health care worked out within the Round table project and released.

Czechs do not like cash payments in health care apart from their health insurance.

"People expect that all their health problems to be solved by somebody else and desirably for free if they pay health insurance," Stanislav Vachek, analyst of the Round table on the future of the health care system's funding project.

In EU countries, households spend two to five percent of their budget on health.

Czech households spent 1.5 times more on tobacco, alcohol and other unhealthy habits than on health.

Jump to full article »

Tobacco May Be Harmful to Your Intelligence ($$) 

When politicians warn that smoking bans will hurt businesses, don’t bother asking them for proof.

You have reached a premium content area of TOL [p]

Jump to full article »

• Quarter of Czechs steadily smoking - survey  

Prague- Some one-quarter of Czechs are smokers and the proportion has remained unchanged over the past decade, according to a survey conducted by the State Health Institute (SZU) last year and unveiled by Ladislav Csemy from the Prague Psychiatric Centre today.

In 2007, smokers accounted for 26.6 percent of the total Czech population, while the figure was 26.2 percent ten years ago, Csemy said.

Some 3.4 percent of Czechs smoke occasionally, he added.

The figures are to highlight the World No Tobacco Day 2008 to be held on May 31.

Jump to full article »

Czech Philip Morris sees no reason for further tax rises on cigarettes 

Czech tobacco group Philip Morris CR sees no reason for further tax hikes on cigarettes in the next several years after the last rise at the start of the year, weekly Euro reported, citing the group's new CEO.

"After a rise in the consumer tax in January 2008, the Czech Republic fulfilled and passed the minimum tax, and therefore we do not see a reason for raising the rate for several years," Euro quoted Alvise Giustiniani as saying in an interview.

The tobacco group's Czech market share has eroded in recent years amid fiercer competition and tax hikes on cigarettes

Jump to full article »

• LN: Austria takes tough stance on cigarette imports 

Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on persons bringing Czech cigarettes to Austria and in addition they confiscate all the non-permitted cigarettes they find, the daily Lidove noviny wrote Tuesday.

Czechs taking out more than one carton of Czech cigarettes while travelling for holiday to Croatia via Austria could be severely punished because the Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on all drivers who violate "the tobacco law" while crossing the Austrian border, the paper says.

Under the law, passed shortly before the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area without border checks last December, one person can only take out 200 pieces of cigarettes with the Czech-language health warning message while travelling from the Czech Republic to Austria.

Jump to full article »

• Právo: Foreigners raid Czech cigarette market  

Foreigners buy roughly one-fourth of the 73 billion pieces of cigarettes annually sold in the Czech Republic where tobacco products are still cheaper than in Germany or Austria despite the gradual increase, the daily Pravo writes today.

A cigarette shopping spree is widespread in the border areas, Pravo writes.

"Last year, foreigners took some 5.6 billion cigarettes out of the Czech Republic. Conversely, some 1.8 billion cigarettes were taken to the Czech Republic from Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia," Kamil Provaznik, an executive of the company Imperial Tobacco, told the paper.

Jump to full article »

• Sparks flying in cigarette dispute 

Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman is now calling on groups afflicted by Austria’s limit on Czech cigarette imports, like the “trafika” newsstands dotting the border, to sue the country through the European Union legal system.

Austrians are allowed to bring only 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250 grams of loose tobacco home from their visits to the Czech Republic — limits that technically should apply only to non-EU states. For member states, the EU sets guideline levels four times higher.

“This is not about getting more money to flow into the state treasury. It’s a matter of principle,” said Tomáš Bartovský, spokesman for the Industry and Trade Ministry. “[In this case] one EU member state is restricting the free trade of goods from another member state.”

It’s atypical for member states to file complaints against each other, hence Říman’s plea to tobacconists, Bartovský added.

Jump to full article »

PRUCHA: Smoking habits 

Although I feel like I’ve answered Anna’s question appropriately, given the moment, I wonder how long it will be before questions about smoking come up again. As we traipse through the city on our way home, we pass several smokers and I note that Anna is at eye level with a cigarette butt held when walking.

Several years ago when I taught English to 8-year-old Michal, he always made a show of pointing, making loud coughing sounds and exclamatory cries of “How disgusting!” in English whenever we encountered someone with a cigarette. While I was embarrassed by the fervor of Michal’s reactions, I had no idea how my feelings would change once I became a mother myself. . . .

According to a recent survey, most Czechs (59%) are in favor of a ban on smoking in restaurants, although a much smaller number (39%) would support smoke-free environments in bars and cafes. However, despite several recent attempts, the Czech Parliament has yet to muster enough votes to pass a smoking ban. One of the strongest opponents is the current Czech President, V�clav Klaus. In spite of being a non-smoker himself, Klaus has repeatedly thrown his weight against the proposed smoking ban in restaurants, sighting it as on infringement on a citizen’s privacy and refusing to acknowledge the harm of second-hand smoke. Although Klaus’s behavior has certainly made passing the legislation much more difficult, the trend in other European countries like Italy and Ireland, and some larger cities including Paris and Berlin, is decidedly anti-smoking and I hope, sooner rather than later, the Czech Republic will join the “in-crowd” of EU member states with smoking regulations.

Jump to full article »

Poll: Most Czechs call for more smoking restrictions  

Most Czechs support further restrictions of smoking at public places, according to a poll conducted by the STEM agency on April 1-8 on 1341 respondents and released to CTK Friday.

Two-thirds of respondents want restaurants to be obliged to build solid walls dividing smoking and non-smoking zones.

A total of 57 percent wish a law that would ban smoking at all public places, including restaurants, cafes and discos.

A total ban on smoking in restaurants and other public places is supported mainly by smoking opponents (89 percent). Moreover, 23 percent of tolerant smokers and 17 percent of chain smokers would accept it.

Jump to full article »

• Most Czechs support ban on smoking in restaurants, not bars-poll  

More than half of Czechs support banning smoking in restaurants but only 39 percent would ban smoking in bars and cafes, according to a poll the CVVM polling agency gave to CTK.

More than half of respondents said that smoking should not be prohibited in night clubs and cafes, the poll showed.

An overwhelming majority of Czechs - 95 percent - believe that there should be a ban on smoking in theatres, cinemas and public transport premises. Three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) supported the smoking ban at work places, seven in ten respondents said that smoking should be banned at rail stations, bus stops and at airports.

Jump to full article »

Philip Morris CR Rises Most Since 2002 on Profit Gain (Update2) 

Philip Morris CR AS, the Czech unit of Europe's largest cigarette maker, gained the most in almost six years in Prague trading after the company said profit unexpectedly rose in 2007 and indicated its dividend may beat estimates.

Philip Morris CR climbed 630 koruna, or 9.8 percent, to 7,080 koruna, the biggest one-day advance since July 4, 2002. Parent company Philip Morris International Inc. was spun off this week from Altria Group and official trading begins on March 31 in the U.S.

Jump to full article »

Philip Morris CR Rises Most Since 2002 on Profit Gain (Update1) 

Philip Morris CR AS, the Czech unit of Europe's largest cigarette maker, gained the most in almost six years in Prague trading after the company said profit unexpectedly rose in 2007 and indicated its dividend may beat estimates.

Philip Morris CR gained as much as 14 percent and was up 540 koruna, or 8.4 percent, to 6,990 koruna at 12:06 p.m. local time, the biggest one-day advance since July 4, 2002. . . .

The invitation to the shareholders' meeting was published in a legal ad in newspaper Hospodarske Noviny today and the company didn't elaborate on the reasons for the profit gain. Spokeswoman Jaroslava Hajkova couldn't be reached for a comment.

Increases in Czech taxes on tobacco in March 2007 and January 2008 pushed prices higher, prompting some smokers of more expensive brands such as Philip Morris's Marlboro and Petra to switch to cheaper products

Jump to full article »