Tobacco.org

Extra levy on cigarettes expected to beef up Treasury by JD35m - Jordan 

The higher levy on cigarettes is expected to raise JD35 million in extra revenue for the Treasury, according to an official source who declined to estimate the amount of the higher tax on alcoholic drinks.

The government raised on Sunday the special tax by 100 fils on each packet of cigarettes and by 10 per cent per litre on alcoholic beverages to beef up revenues for the state budget.

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Zad’s Catering Division signs exclusive agreement with International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC) 

Zad’s Catering Division, part of Zad Industries and Services, and Jordan’s largest industrial food caterer, has announced the signing of an agreement with International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC), and the commencement of services outlined in the agreement.

Upon this agreement, Zad will become the sole partner of ITC, providing the regional leading tobacco manufacturer with supreme catering services. “Zad’s core competency is embodied in its flexibility. Our ultimate mission relies on exceeding customer satisfaction by providing quality food for their multicultural staff; and as a happy employee is a productive one, our services will ultimately support our clients in meeting their business goals through enhanced productivity that should automatically result in increased profitability,” said Rodney Woolliscroft, General Manager, Zad.

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Aqaba Container Terminal arranges 'No-Smoking Day' 

In line with its consistent efforts to combat smoking, Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) has organized a 'No-Smoking Day', which included medical check ups for its employees.

The Company held the event in cooperation with Lina Creative and Development Group (LCD Group), Save the Children, Pfizer team, and Health Communication Partnership (HCP).

The event, which took place at ACT's headquarters, focused on spreading awareness about the negative effect of smoking on active and passive smokers.

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International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company Grants Academic Scholarships to 12 Distinguished Students 

As part of its Bedaya Scholarship Fund initiative, the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC) has recently granted 12 distinguished students full academic scholarships covering their four year study period in Jordan’s public universities.

The Fund was launched last year in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, and targets Jordanian youth that are with solid academic accomplishment, but without the means to allow them entry into Jordanian public universities.

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• International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC) Celebrates 12th Anniversary in Jordan 

International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC) celebrated this month the 12th anniversary of its launch in Jordan in honor of its employees, and the accomplishments achieved by the company this year. This year’s celebration was particularly significant due to the company’s achievement of successful growth in the local and regional markets.

The ceremony, held under the patronage of Mr. Tawfeeq Fakhouri, Chairman of the Board at ITC, and attended by the board of directors, along with a number of guests, friends and investors in the company, took place at the Jabri Restaurant in Wasfi Al- Tal Street. . . .

In this decade, the company launched a series of educational programs for its employees’ children with both public schools and universities education. The company took on the responsibility of paying all the expenses needed in as part of a motivational educational support policy for distinguished students.

ITC also launched ‘Bidaya Scholarship Fund’ in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, and targets Jordanian youth that are with solid academic accomplishment, but without the means to allow them entry into Jordanian public universities. This program offers 12 academic scholarships, one for each governorate in the Kingdom, where the financial support expenses and the community service were estimated at JD 500,000. . . .

The company currently employs more than 550 Jordanians . . .

The company was a forerunner in establishing distinguished partnerships with international companies including Philip Morris, with which we have strong strategic relations, because of its commitment to introduce the finest brands of cigarettes of international quality.

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• The International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company contributes to humanitarian relief efforts in Lebanon and Palestine 

Aiming to console the Lebanese and Palestinian people the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC), recently sent generous donations to war struck Lebanon and Palestine, as contribution to the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in both countries.

The gesture solidifies ITCs role as a firm that steps forward to share in the alleviation of hardship faced by fellow Arabs, The donations will be used to provide medical aid and food to the Lebanese and Palestinian people who have been deprived of these two very basic needs as a result of the ongoing wars that ravage their countries. The funds were gathered by the firm's management its team, and a partner company who all felt it their duty to work towards relieving some of the sufferings felt by their Lebanese and Palestinian brethren. . . .

Taking its act of goodwill a step further, the management of ITC also sent out a fully equipped ambulance to Lebanon. The ambulance was purchased by the firm for the purpose of transporting injured war victims.

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These donations are our modest way of responding to the devastation that war has brought upon both the Lebanese and Palestinian people, as they have been deprived of their very basic right to safety. This act of good will comes in compliance with His Majesty King Abdullah II's vision for helping citizens in need.
Mr. Samer Fakhouri, general manager of Lebanon's International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC), on the Indian company's donations of medical aid, food and an ambulance to Lebanon and Palestine.

ITC celebrates 11 years of success & prosperity in the Jordanian market 

This weeks marks the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company's (ITC) 11th anniversary following another successful year of steady growth, landmark achievements, and strategic alliances, validating its innovative business approaches and tactics on a local, regional and global scale.

This last decade, ITC has focused all its efforts on maintaining supreme production quality adhered to global standards;

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• International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company launches 'Bidaya Scholarship Fund'  

Aligned with the firm's strong belief in education as the cornerstone of social and economic development, the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC) has launched its Bidaya Scholarship Fund.

The initiative was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, and targets Jordanian youth that are with solid academic accomplishment, but without the means to allow them entry into Jordanian public universities.

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Cancer Incidence in Four Member Countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan) of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) Compared with US SEER 

In 1996, the Ministers of Health of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed an agreement to establish the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC). Turkey joined the Consortium in 2004. This is the first comprehensive publication of the MECC Cancer Registration Project. The monograph presents information about cancer incidence for populations in Cyprus, Egypt (Gharbiah Region), Israel (Jews and Arabs), and Jordan for the period 1996-2001. The MECC findings are compared with those from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.

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MANSUR: No tax without smoke 

In a recent addition to the government tax revenue, to make up for the growing budget deficit, the special tax on cigarettes was raised by almost a fifth. There was only one justification: higher prices will induce less smoking!

The economic arguments that deal with such a "sin tax" do not fully agree with this claim. . . .

Raising sin taxes alone does not lower consumption effectively. It does, however, increase illegal activities and places a greater economic burden on the poor.

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• MARTIN: A crippling habit 

I recently had a conversation with a taxicab driver about cigarette smoking. As a curious American surprised by the level of Jordanians' rampant and seemingly unbridled use of cigarettes, I asked my driver why he chose to smoke, as we raced down Zahran Street in thin mid-morning traffic.

The cabbie explained that, due mostly to monotony and boredom, he smokes between two and three packs of cigarettes six days a week, every day he drives his cab. . . .

In a country like Jordan, where GDP per capita income is a struggling JD3,200, cigarette smoking can be a major drain on Jordanians' discretionary income. With more than 10 per cent of Jordanians living below the World Bank's definition of abject poverty, the Kingdom cannot afford to allow smoking levels to increase or to even continue at the same rates.

Measures have been taken in the past to curtail tobacco use in Jordan, albeit futilely. In the late 1970s, Jordan became the first country in the Middle East to ban smoking in public places . . .

Jordan's Department of Statistics reported within the last five years that Jordanians spend about JD250 million (approximately $350 million) on tobacco products every year, a sum representing two per cent of Jordan's gross national product in 2004. This bears repeating: one of every 50 dinars generated by the Jordanian economy is spent on tobacco.

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International Tobacco & Cigarettes Company Celebrates 11 Years of Success & Prosperity in the Jordanian Market 

This weeks marks the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company's (ITC) 11th anniversary following another successful year of steady growth, landmark achievements, and strategic alliances, validating its innovative business approaches and tactics on a local, regional and global scale.

This last decade, ITC has focused all its efforts on maintaining supreme production quality adhered to global standards; which has been achieved through the company's constant upgrade of facilities, machinery, and production lines leading to a strategic affiliation with the world's giant tobacco company, Philip Morris. With this came ITC's domination of the local market with over 50% share and its solid success of penetrating various new markets from the GCC, Levant, Africa, Egypt, through to Iran and Iraq. ITC is also a major player in the Kingdom's economy by generating USD 160 million worth of exports and paying approximately half a billion US Dollars in taxes and fares to the government since its establishment.

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• Number of child smokers on the rise 

Minister of Health Saeed Darwazeh on Monday warned against the increasing number of child smokers in the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Speaking at a workshop focussed on combating smoking in Ministry of Health facilities, Darwazeh said the percentage of smokers below 15 years of age had increased by 37 per cent last year among males and by 26 per cent among females. . . .

Participants at the workshop, which started yesterday under the slogan "Ministry of Health Free Smoking Zone," discussed the regulations and steps taken against smoking in the Kingdom in general and in health facilities in particular.

According to Ministry of Health figures, around one-third of the Kingdom's 5.5 million population are smokers.

According to figures from the ministry's Anti-Smoking Department, 34 per cent of children aged between 13-15 smoke cigarettes and other tobacco products such as the hubble-bubble.

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• Cig ring goes up in smoke 

A-year-and-half-long investigation linking tobacco sweatshops in China to New York City bootleggers and Indian reservations on Long Island to Jordanian smugglers ended yesterday with 28 arrests, law-enforcement officials said.

The ring, run by foreign nationals from the Middle East, was taken down by investigators led by the NYPD and included members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Bronx district attorney's office, state police and the Division of Taxation and Finance.

The ring purchased cigarettes from Indian reservations and then resold them to bodegas, stores and independent distributors primarily in the Bronx, but also in Manhattan and Yonkers, officials said.

The 28-member ring made an estimated $10 million in profits, and deprived the state and city coffers of between $18 million to $24 million in tax revenue. The ring was led by Faiz Haddad, Emad Al-Naimat and Ahamad Alnuaimat, all of the Bronx, law-enforcement officials said. . . .

Where the money went once it arrived in Jordan remains a central unsolved question and a focus of the continuing investigation. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said various agencies, including the Joint Terrorist Task Force, are looking into where the money trail ends.

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Jordan: International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company increases profit by 58 per cent 

The International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company increased its profit during the first half of 2005 by 58 per cent or JD1.32 million compared to that of the same period last year.

According to the company's financial statement, the company posted net profit totalling JD3.282 million in the first six months of 2005. Shareholders' equities also rose by 20 per cent, reaching JD41.433 million at the end of last month, an increase by JD6.767 million over the end of the previous year.

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