Tobacco.org

Polish Cigarette Traders Bemoan Tougher Rules for EU’s Frontier  

It’s Christmas in frozen eastern Poland, and Pawel Mlynarski is blaming the government for taking away his livelihood: contraband cigarettes.

Until recently, Mlynarski, a 25-year-old unemployed builder, would cross the border into Ukraine as many as four times a night. Each time, he would return with at least one carton of 200 cigarettes, or 10 packs, to sell in the bars of his hometown of Przemysl, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the European Union’s eastern frontier.

Then, on Dec. 1, Poland cut the import allowance to 40 smokes, or two packs. “This is an absolute tragedy,” says Mlynarski, who used to make as much as 20 zloty ($6.80) per carton selling packs of Prima. “Most people around here did the border. It was our only way of earning decent cash.”

The new limits are a result of the EU’s expansion a year ago of its passport-free movement of people, the so-called Schengen area, to include Poland.

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• Smuggling cigarettes in Schengen Poland 

I’m standing on the crooked pavement of the square in front of the tatty Terespol railway station. Belarus is only a few kilometers east from here. Against the gloomy backdrop of the townlet buildings a new, nicely smelling white board stands out, complete with the Polish and European Union flags. Soon I’ll know that it is the only wordly feature of this town which has found itself on the way to economic collapse. The Saturday morning silence is broken only by the whistle of the train leaving for Brest and the barking of a homeless mongrel. What’s it like to live here? I ask myself, going 'downtown'. . . .

''The prices have gone up as the customs officers are more difficult to bribe' - smugglers

'Rubbish!' responds assistant superintendent Cezary Grochowski, the spokesperson for the Municipal Police Department in Biała Podlaska, to the boys’ allegations. 'The policemen and border guards go out of their way to dispose of the smugglers, once and for all.' He does admit, however, that individual cases still crop up, but, in his opinion, the times of smuggling are over. . . .

Lean years on the eastern partition had begun long before Poland became part of the Schengen zone. Since the introduction of the Russian embargo on Polish meat, more and more meat plants have collapsed like a house of cards. Both legal and illegal trade with Belarus had flourished until 21 December 2007, so it was possible to make up for the losses. Today, Terespol citizens are fearful of what the future may bring.

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Tobacco in Poland - New Research Report on Companies and Markets 

Tobacco in Poland industry profile is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the tobacco industry. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, plus textual and graphical analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, leading companies and demographic information.

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波兰将出台在公共场所禁烟法律草案 

根据波兰议会健康委员会不久前制定的草案，波兰将禁止在所有公共场所吸烟，禁烟场合包括医院和诊所、学校、工作单位、影剧院、旅馆、火车站、机场及公共汽车站。

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International cigarette smuggling ring dismantled 

The investigation of an international criminal gang responsible for smuggling millions of cigarettes into the EU from former Soviet Union countries and China has come to a dramatic end with the arrest of 26 people in Poland and Germany, including the presumed main organisers of the smuggling gang. The raids follow months of cooperation between the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the Polish Centralne Biuro Śledcze (CBS, Central Investigation Bureau of the National Police) and Germany’s Zollkriminalamt (headquarters of the German Customs Investigation Service).

“This success in the fight against international cigarette smuggling demonstrates once again the importance of close European co-operation of law enforcement agencies”, OLAF Director-General Franz-Hermann Br�ner said.

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Smoking ban comes true 

Yesterday, the parliamentary health commission voted unanimously to prepare a law banning smoking in public places. A bill has been prepared by the former parliament. It has not come into force because of earlier elections. Numerous changes, however, will be implemented in the bill. It won’t be banned to smoke in one’s own car, there won’t be a total ban on cigarette advertising which will be possible in B2B magazines. The project provides for a ban on smoking in health centers, schools, means of public transport, restaurants, pubs, at bus stops and railway stations, or in elevators. The bill provides for special rooms for smokers to be provided in buildings.

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Poland cracks cigarette smuggling gang 

WARSAW - Polish police announced Thursday they cracked a major gang smuggling cigarettes from China and the former Soviet republics to Western Europe, detaining 27 suspects including alleged gang kingpins.

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New Publication Examines the Market for NRT Smoking Cessation Aids in Poland 

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c81041) has announced the addition of Euromonitor International's new report: NRT Smoking Cessation Aids in Poland to their offering.

Our NRT Smoking Cessation Aids in Poland 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 product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2011 illustrate how the market is set to change.

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Poles buy less cigarettes, legally 

The sale of tobacco dropped to 69.8 billion cigarettes in Poland in 2007, i.e. 2.5 billion less than in the prrevious year, the National Association of Tobacco Industry has revealed.

It looks as if Polish smokers are beginning to turn away from cigarettes, at least those purchased legally.

An increase in the excise duty that has contributed to a significant rise in tobacco prices and antismoking campaigns in the Polish media seem to be the main reasons for the change of attitudes among 9 million habitual smokers in Poland.

By 2009, tobacco prices in Poland will go even further up when the country will have to be fully compliant with the EU requirements regarding excise duty on tobacco (at least 64 EUR per 1000 cigarettes). . . .

The news is bad for tobacco manufacturers in Poland. In 2006, out of seven tobacco producers only 2 were profitable, according to Puls Biznesu.

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Did you see?  

Not everywhere has cast smokers into an al fresco wilderness. Not only is Poland still wreathed in blue fumes, but its young women are championing a surprising new trend – pipe smoking.

In the last Pipe Smoking World Championships, Poland was responsible for 135 of the 328 participants. Danuta Pytel, leader of the Polish women’s team, kept her pipe going with one light for 3hrs 8min 9sec, a world record.

Among the new generation of enthusiastic Polish pipe smokers is 24-year-old Karolina Wentland, from Poznan. . . .

“Poland is a smokers’ paradise, but for how long, I don’t know,” Karolina says.

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• Smoking ban support 

Some 65% of the public support a ban on smoking in public places, although only a minority believe it will help reduce the number of smokers, a poll by TNS OBOP has found.

Around 70% want smoking banned from restaurants, pubs and cafes, and 60% from work.

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• Can We Trust National Smoking Prevalence Figures? Discrepancies Between Biochemically Assessed and Self-Reported Smoking Rates in Three Countries  

Results: Self-reported cigarette smoking prevalence using the standard methods underestimated true tobacco smoking prevalence by an estimated 2.8% in England, 0.6% in the United States, and 4.4% in Poland. Cotinine concentrations in those misclassified as nonsmokers were indicative of high levels of smoke intake.

Interpretation: Underestimation of smoking prevalence was minimal in the United States but significant in England and Poland. A review of methodologies for assessing tobacco smoking prevalence worldwide is urgently needed. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(4):820-2)

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• Cheap Cigarette Is King 

For tobacco companies 2006 was mainly a year of fighting for buyers of cheap cigarettes. A total of 11 new brands were launched, and prices on some products were cut in the first half of the year. According to tobacco company Philip Morris, more than 77 billion cigarettes were sold in Poland in 2006, 500 million fewer than a year before. The best sellers were cheap brands, accounting for about 82 percent of the market, and pipe tobacco. A survey by consulting company AC Nielsen showed that Polish smokers buy brands such as L&M (about 13 percent of the market), Red&White, Marlboro, Viceroy and Mocne.

The large market share of cheap cigarettes is the result of the excise tax structure in Poland, which encourages manufacturers to offer poorer-quality cigarettes as well as tobacco for making roll-your-owns.

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8.6M CIGS SEIZED 

A PLOT to flood Scotland with million of pounds worth of cheap cigarettes from Poland has been foiled.

Customs officers swooped on a lorry at the International Ferry Terminal near Newcastle and found 8.6million contraband ciggies, worth £2.2million.

A Revenue and Customs spokesman said: "A significant part of this contraband cigarette seizure was intended for distribution and sale in Scotland."

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Pentobarbital in tobacco 

The spectrometric analysis of extracts from tobacco and tobacco smoke revealed the presence of pentobarbital in the analyzed substances. Tobacco samples and tobacco smoke were extracted with chloroform, determinations were performed with the Perkin-Elmer Autosystem XL system, on a Turbo Mass spectrometer.

Subject to analysis were 4 cigarette brands manufactured in Poland and raw, unprocessed tobacco. The presence of pentobarbital in the analyzed samples was confirmed by the analysis of the mass spectrum of the substance, as well as by comparison of retention time with standard of pentobarbital.

The determined pentobarbital concentrations in tobacco amounted to 3–6 μg/cigarette, and in tobacco smoke they were approximately 45% lower.

In case of tobacco extracts it can with high probability be excluded that pentobarbital is synthesized during chromatographical analysis. The presence of pentobarbital in tobacco is thus beyond question.

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