Tobacco.org

• Public smoking saved by the crisis 

Smoking will not be banned in bars and restaurants from the beginning of next year contrary to earlier plans, reported Hungarian website Hír­szerzô last Sunday (Oct 26).

The five-party parliamentary negotiations on banning smoking tobacco in closed public places were suspended as a result of favoring the debate on the 2009 budget and new tax regulations. Instead, the notices on the cigarette packets will be substituted to show images of cancerous lungs, mouths and leg gangrenes to promote prevention and health-awareness among smokers.

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• BAT to appeal promotion penalty 

British American Tobacco Hungary (BAT) Kft is appealing the consumer protection agency NFH's second-degree ruling of February 2008 fining the tobacco producer and its partners participating in the winter campaign of Pall Mall cigarettes Ft 520 million. Small gifts were given to customers sharing personal details with hostesses.

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• Hungary's Health Minister Says Smoking Ban Is a Top Priority 

Hungary, which tops the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's list for deaths from lung cancer, plans to join the group of countries that forbid smoking in closed public places.

The Health Ministry is drafting a smoking ban similar to clampdowns in Ireland and France, Health Minister Agnes Horvath said at a press conference in Budapest today.

Hungary has 60.5 deaths from lung cancer per 100,000 citizens, compared with an OECD average of 37.4, according to an index compiled by Bloomberg using OECD data. More than 30 percent of the population uses tobacco, higher than any OECD country except for Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands, the data shows.

``We plan to join the list of European countries where you can't smoke in closed public places under any circumstances,'' Horvath said. ``We want to promote self-care and individual responsibility.''

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• New Red Cross director puts spotlight on smoking 

New Hungarian Red Cross Director Ágnes Czimbalmos has a tough prescription for Hungary: quit smoking and eat more veggies.

"To improve public health in Hungary, yes, I would suggest people give up smoking and eat more vegetables, of course," says Ágnes Czimbalmos, who recently took over Hungary's chapter of the leading global non-profit.

"But," she counters realistically, "It is not that easy." Czimbalmos jokingly points out that an anti-smoking campaign in Hungary could be more successful than unbraiding corruption from the country's graft-ridden health care system.

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• Smoking out the illegal traders of tobacco products 

THE illegal tobacco trade fell by approximately 50% in the first half of 2006, thanks to the coordinated work of the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard (VPOP), border guards and other law-enforcement agencies. In 2005, illegal trade in tobacco products represented 22% of total consumption, causing serious damage to the national economy and cigarette manufacturers, among them British American Tobacco Hungary, which said such illegal trade hurt the state as well as the industry. Rita Bede, spokesperson for BAT Hungary, said, “According to estimates, in 2004-2005 the state lost approximately Ft155bn ($808.4m) in tax revenues due to tobacco smuggling.

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• EU threat to sue over tobacco ban 

The European Commission said today it may sue Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Spain unless they promise within two months to properly enforce an EU ban on tobacco advertising that was adopted in 2003.

EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: “The commission has zero tolerance for allowing tobacco sponsorship.”

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• Ban smoking! 

ALTHOUGH the first anti-smoking law came into effect in 1999, when Hungary was the world's third heaviest country for smoking, and the Health Ministry declared war on smoking by launching a nationwide program, smoking is still the number one public health hazard in 2006. In addition, Hungary ranks first in the world for rates of lung cancer in both genders, as well as for mouth cancer.

"Hungarian men and women under 65 are twice as likely to die of cancer as other European citizens, as the number of victims has gone up sharply in the past two decades," Róza Adány, a professor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences said at a conference this April. . . .

Also the Hungarian Society of Hungarian Pulmonologists recently proposed to lawmakers an overall ban on smoking in all public places, arguing that in European Union countries where a zero tolerance on smoking is endorsed, the average ratio of smokers dropped to 27% in 2005 from 32% previously, while the ratio in Hungary currently stands at 35%. According to WHO statistics, the per capita cigarette consumption in Hungary is 3,265 a year, 800 more than in the European Union. As many as 42% of Hungarian men and 29% of women smoke regularly, more than in the EU member states.

Around 53,000 men and 17,000 women die of cancer in Hungary each year. Hungary is the global leader in lung cancer mortality among men.

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• Renault was lone tobacco team in Hungary 

A Renault spokesman has explained why it was the only tobacco-sponsored team at the Hungarian grand prix last weekend to wear its cigarette logos.

Keen-eyed observers noted that while Phillip Morris-backed Ferrari and BAT-funded Honda ran their unbranded liveries, Renault raced around the Hungaroring with the logos of Japan Tobacco's 'Mild Seven' clearly displayed on the engine cover, side pods and front and rear wings. . . .

The Renault spokesman explained that Ferrari and Honda simply 'chose' to exercise the right to run unbranded in Hungary. "Our policy is always to respect local legislation," he said.

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• EU warns Italy and Hungary over tobacco ads 

The European Union's executive branch warned Italy and Hungary on Wednesday to fix their laws on tobacco advertising or face legal action before the bloc's highest court.

The European Commission sent them "reasoned opinions", the final step before going to the European Court of Justice, saying they had incorrectly implemented an EU tobacco advertising law by allowing exemptions for rules that ban sponsorships.

"The Commission is clear that there can be no derogation from the directive's ban on tobacco sponsorship for cross-border events, whether it's for Formula One or for other events," Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said in a statement.

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• EDITORIAL: Tobacco advertising in Hungary  

Hungary banned tobacco advertising in 1978 with a decree from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Formula 1 arrived in Budapest in 1986 and it was clear that pretty much anything was possible. But towards the end of the 1990s the Hungarians tightened the laws and in December 2000 the Hungarian Parliament voted for a ban.

The country signed up to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in June 2003 and ratified the treaty in April 2004. At the time the country was doing all the right things so that it would admitted to the European Union. That happened in May 2004, a move that allowed Hungarians to take advantage of the European markets, undercut the countries in the west . . .

The ruling Hungarian Socialist Party picked Ferenc Gyurcsany to be the new leader and he was appointed Prime Minister. Earlier this year he led the party to victory in the parliamentary elections. Gyurcsany is a former minister of sport and understands very well the problems of tobacco advertising in Hungary but this has not stopped his government from deciding to ignore its commitments to the WHO treaty and the European Union ban on tobacco sponsorship which came into effect in August last year. The government has enacted a law which allows tobacco advertising to continue if the event is deemed to be important to the Hungarian economy. . . .

It is odd that a government is willing to damage its reputation at international level by ignoring commitments made to gain what can only be seen as minor economic gains from a motor race.

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It is odd that a government is willing to damage its reputation at international level by ignoring commitments made to gain what can only be seen as minor economic gains from a motor race.
Editorial at grandprix.com on Hungary's allowance of tobacco advertising in the upcoming F1 race.

• Hungary dodges F1 tobacco ban 

The Hungarian government intends to continue to allow tobacco-liveried cars to race at its annual Grand Prix in Budapest.

Despite the European Union's continent-wide ban on cigarette adverts, the Hungarian economy ministry has reportedly enacted a counter-law that excludes 'events that are outstanding from the point of view of (the) national economy'.

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• EU Warns Spain, Italy, Hungary, Czechs On Tobacco Ads 

The European Commission Tuesday warned four countries for failing to implement a 2003 European Union-wide ban on most forms of tobacco advertising.

The regulator said Spain, Italy, Hungary, and the Czech republic aren't complying with E.U. rules and gave the countries two months to change policies before further, formal steps are taken.

"Stopping the glamorization of tobacco through advertising and sponsorship is a key aspect in reducing the number of people who smoke or start to smoke. I will not hesitate to take steps to ensure that tobacco advertising" is curbed, the Commission's top health official Markos Kyprianou said in a statement.

The Commission's 2003 tobacco legislation bans advertising in print media, on the radio, and over the Internet. It also prohibits tobacco sponsorship for events that are seen throughout the E.U., like motor racing. Tobacco advertising on television has been banned in the E.U. since the early 1990s.

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• Tobacco advertising: European Commission takes action against four non-compliant Member States 

The European Commission today demonstrated that it is maintaining its strong line on tobacco advertising, by sending “letters of formal notice� to Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary and Spain for non-compliance with the Tobacco Advertising Directive 2003/33/EC. The infringements relate mainly to exemptions from the sponsorship ban which these four Member States have allowed when transposing the Tobacco Advertising Directive into national law. The Member States have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and must bring their legislation into conformity with the Directive. Otherwise, the Commission will continue with the next steps in the infringement procedure .

Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said “The Tobacco Advertising Directive is one of the cornerstones in our fight against tobacco and I urge Member States to apply it properly. Stopping the glamorisation of tobacco through advertising and sponsorship is a key aspect in reducing the number of people who smoke or start to smoke. Previous action taken by the Commission against other Member States in relation to this Directive demonstrates that I will not hesitate in taking steps to ensure that it is fully and properly applied.�

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• New legislation moves Hungary closer to smoking ban 

In the wake of the European Commission’s sweeping anti-smoking campaign, Hungarian health authorities are about to toughen anti-smoking provisions of the country’s new Healthcare Law. According to tobacco industry experts, however, anti-smoking campaigns have little influence over tobacco sales, but can instead deter many people from spending time in public places.

Though smoking in all public places is prohibited in only five EU countries at the moment, Hungary is taking step-by-step measures to do the same, say industry experts. Full prohibition of smoking in public places in Hungary still appears years away, but several stricter measures will be introduced here from next year in connection with smoking-related issues. If the amended Healthcare Law passes in its current form, smoking-related issues will be more strictly regulated in several areas, such as schools and health institutions, from next year. Parliament discussed the proposal last week, and the new law will come into force in the first quarter of 2006. . . .

Katalin Házi, media and government relations manager of Philip Morris Hungary Kft, said she agrees that customs authorities should have an extended sphere of authority in order to curtail cigarette smuggling, and noted that counterfeit and contraband cigarettes cause massive losses for tobacco companies worldwide.

“Philip Morris is ready to take steps against the illegal trade of original and counterfeit cigarettes, but an effective legislative background is essential in order to force back the black market,” Házi claimed.

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• DOCTORS ALLOWED TO SMOKE, PATIENTS NOT 

In health institutions it is not planned that smoking will be generally prohibited. The new bill to protect non-smokers includes the option that doctors may smoke in hospitals but patients may not. Mihály Kökény, former Minister of Health, now health commissioner has confirmed this. Smoking will be prohibited in health institutions where there are patients treated but the head of any institution can order a general smoking ban.

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