Tobacco.org

• Estonian smoke out 

In her remarks released on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day, Estonia's Social Affairs Minister Maret Maripuu underlined the importance of quitting smoking and called on residents to break the habit.

The minister noted that a couple of years ago Estonia made a very important decision for the sake of the health of all residents, banning smoking in catering establishments.

"I believe that many of us met the decision with a feeling of relief, as tobacco smoke will no longer spoil our enjoyment of food, our clothes will no longer smell of cigarettes after a visit to a restaurant and it's safer to go out to eat with a child," she said. Maripuu said that according to a recent survey both the employees at the establishments as well as customers, are satisfied with the restrictions on smoking.

The pollster TNS Emor found in a survey commissioned by an importer of stop smoking aides, that 60 percent of smokers in Estonia are men from Tallinn or the northeastern Ida-Viru county who in most cases have secondary education and earn less than 3,500 kroons per household member per month.

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Social determinants of ever initiating smoking differ from those of quitting: a cross-sectional study in Estonia  

Conclusions: While educational level was the strongest predictor of ever initiating regular smoking, smoking cessation was related more directly to aspects of social disadvantage originating in adult life. To be effective, tobacco control interventions should not only target lower educated, but also those in material disadvantage.

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• Baltic gangs ‘smuggling cigarettes into Ireland’ 

CRIMINAL gangs from the Baltic states are operating a highly organised cigarette smuggling operation into Ireland, according to the Revenue Commissioners.

The emergence of the trafficking route is directly responsible for a massive jump in the number of cigarette seizures last year. . . .

He said most of the smuggling is done in suitcases, and an unknown amount of consignments were getting through. Customs believe the cigarettes are being sold to people from the Baltic states, through their own shops.

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• Estonia considers its future as a smoke-free zone 

And for many, a cigarette literally goes hand-in-hand with the whole experience.

But here in Estonia all this is set to change. As of next May, the government is proposing to transform the atmosphere of the country’s hostelries by imposing a smoking ban.

Yet this could damage an economy in which foreign visitors account for about half of all tobacco sales, and whose service sector constitutes over 66 per cent of its GDP. “The expected influence on the economy is marginal,” says Mario Lambing of Estonia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs. “A number of studies in the U.S.A. have found that banning smoking has not hugely affected the turnover of bars and restaurants. However, some of the studies have found quite the reverse – that prohibiting smoking has had a negative effect.”

“I’m very positive about the future of Tallinn as a non-smoking tourist destination,” says Evelin Tsirk, manager of the Tallinn City Tourist Office. . . .

Estonia’s Tobacco Act already ensures that bars and restaurants with more than one room include non-smoking areas. The new law will prohibit smoking in all establishments where food and drink are served.

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Seizure of Cigarettes & Motor Vehicle in Waterford 

A major tobacco smuggling operation in Waterford has been smashed by Officers from Revenue's Customs service. A Honda Accord and 24,000 L&M cigarettes were seized last week following a surveillance operation. The cigarettes originated in Estonia

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Government ponders radical smoking ban 

The usual Friday-night fog of cigarette smoke in Estonian pubs may become a thing of the past if the government-approved bill the Law on Tobacco is passed by Parliament.

Pursuant to government plans, the new law, which apart from banning smoking in public places will also set new requirements for tobacco product package and advertising, will go into force beginning May 1 of this year.

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Trends in smoking in Baltic countries, Finland and Russia (doc) 

Although smoking is a severe global problem, this assay concentrates on Baltic countries, Finland and Russia. In spite of correct direction of smoking prevalence in Finland, we still can't be proud of it. And as we see, tobacco products causes lot's of problems in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia too. . . .

The smoking prevalence is increasing in almost every developing country. The countries which were poorer some time ago and are now getting more rich will, of course, want to be as good as all the western countries. They also want to smoke. It's cool to smoke. But the rates should go down. Especially alarming is the all-time-increasing numbers of adolescents who are reported to smoke daily. Those numbers are growing also in Finland. The side effects of starting to use tobacco products are shown maybe only at middle-age. At first it is hard to notice the harmful effects. Finally, lung cancer is easily noticed.

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Estonia to increase fuel, tobacco, alcohol excises 

The Estonian government on Tuesday approved a bill on increasing fuel, tobacco and alcohol excises.

The excises need to be increased to harmonize Estonian excise laws with European Union directives, the government press service has told Interfax.

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Estonia losing big on illegal vodka, cigarettes 

Estonian state budget loses out on around half a billion kroons a year from illegal tobacco and alcohol trade, the Institute of Economic Research announced on April 28.

Even though the markets for both illegal alcohol and tobacco products are shrinking, the state still suffers significant losses from unpaid sales and excise taxes.

According to the institute, some 200 million kroons for illegal (homemade and smuggled) alcohol and 275 million kroons for illegally sold cigarettes pass by the state coffers annually.

Illegally sold cigarettes, mostly smuggled from Russia, make up 22 - 25 percent of the whole Estonian cigarette market and are usually sold on the streets, open markets and through personal contacts.

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Tobacco Journal - News 

Quota for importing cigarettes from Estonia likely to remain unchanged 

Finland is seeking to maintain the present import quotas for travellers bringing tobacco products from Estonia, even after Estonia has joined the EU next year. Negotiations on the matter are well under way.

The Ministry of Finance has expressed confidence that Finland would succeed in it attempts.

The reason for continuing the present import quota practice is the fear of the Finns starting to travel to Estonia to import the considerably cheaper cigarettes from there, well in excess of the limit permitted to EU citizens.

As a result of this, Finland's EUR 600 million tobacco tax revenue would be reduced by half.

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Daily press clippings of INB5 October 25, 2002: LITHUANIA SUPPORTS COMPLETE BAN ON TOBACCO ADVERTISING 

The three Baltic states, as well as some 90 other countries across the world, support a complete ban on tobacco products, whereas the European Union proposes to make certain exceptions, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said. . .

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had agreed on a common stance, which slightly differs from the E.U. position, ahead of the session.

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• Eastern Approaches: Tax huff in Hungary 

According to rules crafted in the mid-1990s, Hungary and other "first-wave" enlargement countries were supposed to enact reform legislation by 2002 to harmonize tax rates with West Europe and, thus, qualify for EU entry in 2004. . .

But in recent months, pressure from several candidate countries prompted EU enlargement negotiators to back off on tobacco tax reform in the East. At the request of individual countries, the EU granted cigarette-tax concessions for Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Each country will be able to delay cigarette tax increases for several years. Poland got permission to delay reforms until 2009. Estonia can wait until 2010.

Hungary's finance and foreign ministers asked for a similar concession last spring -- igniting the ire of Dr. Felix and others in his camp. Smoking opponents believe that government ministers sought concessions under pressure from, and in behalf of, big tobacco companies.

The official arguments for tax-hike delays range from concerns that higher taxes would encourage cigarette smuggling, to a fear that costlier smokes would spark consumer rebellions that eventually could lead to rejection of voter referendums for EU membership in candidate countries.

In granting the delays, the EU found those arguments valid. . .

But Budapest asked Brussels to take another look at its cigarette tax plan because -- as foreign ministry spokesman Tamas Toth told the MTI news agency -- the EU handed a concession to neighboring Slovakia in March. . .

Dr. Vadasz and his group, the Alliance for Tobacco Control, recently filed a formal complaint with the government.

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Smoking and passive smoking in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland Smoking and passive smoking in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland 

Results: Total exposure to smoking, both one's own and passive smoking, was more common in two Baltic countries than in Finland. In these Baltic countries passive smoking was notably common among women. In all countries the exposure was more prevalent among the younger and less educated, but no difference emerged between urban and rural areas.

Conclusions: The following target groups were identified as priorities for anti-tobacco actions: i) men of all ages in Estonia and Lithuania to stop their already established tobacco use, ii) young women in all three countries to prevent their starting a career of tobacco use and iii) young and less educated women in Estonia and Lithuania to prevent passive smoking, i.e. their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

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Finland wants EU to raise taxation on alcohol and tobacco products 

It has been revealed that Finland would like to see the EU members come to a common agreement on increasing the minimum duties taxes levied on alcohol and tobacco. Finnish authorities are terrified of massive cheap imports of the goods at the latest when Estonia becomes a member of the Union.

Finland will be obliged to liberate its import regulations on alcohol and tobacco to the level of the other EU countries from the beginning of 2004. At that point it will become possible to import seriously big quantities: 10 litres of spirits, 20 litres of fortified wines and sherries, 90 litres of wines, and 110 litres of beer. Tobacco import limits will jump to 800 cigarettes, or four cartons. In principle, Estonia would have the opportunity of joining the EU at around the same time, at least on current forecasts.

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