Tobacco.org

• Alcohol and tobacco smugglers on trial 

36 suspects heard at Vila Franca de XiraAn alleged ring of smugglers of drink and tobacco is being tried today. The case dates back to 2002 and concerns a group of three entrepreneurs allegedly linked to the illegal transport of these goods across international borders. The case is so complex it is being tried by a panel of judges rather than an individual judge.

Members of a smuggling ring with international connections which trafficked licquor and cigarettes is being tried today at Vila Franca de Xira, accused of criminal association.

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• Portugal inaugura una ley del tabaco parcial [Portugal inaugurates partial tobacco law] 

exceptions mark the law of the tobacco recently released in Portugal. From the one of January it is not possible to be smoked in the premises of less than 100 square meters but in those of greater size, where zones will be able to be had smokers. This norm, similar to the Spanish, is added to those of Germany and France that also have taken effect in 2008.

Almost at the same time of their take effect, several sectors have been mobilized in his against and some claims have already appeared that they try to alter articulated his.

Francisco Tadeu, president of the National Association of Discotecas, has sent a campaign of collection of companies so that these establishments are excluded from the referred law.

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• Portugal's anti-smoking chief breaks ban on Day 1 

The head of the Portuguese agency responsible for enforcing a new ban on smoking in public was seen lighting up at a New Year party, breaking the law on the first day it came into effect.

Antonio Nunes, president of Portugal's food standards agency, was photographed by the daily Diario de Noticias smoking a cigar at a casino on the outskirts of Lisbon.

Nunes told the daily he was not aware the anti-smoking law, which applies to cafes, restaurants and bars, also included casinos.

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• Portugal tentatively joins Europe's anti-smoking wave  

Portugal's smokers were counting down the hours Monday to the country's tentative joining of Europe's anti-smoking wave, effective on January 1.

A law restricting smoking rights in public buildings, and licensed premises under 100 square metres in size (1,076 square feet), comes into force at midnight on Monday after it was passed, with considerable amendments, by the Portuguese parliament in June.

Like in neighbouring Spain, the licensed premises can choose whether to remain smoking, or become non-smoking.

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• Confusion clouds new tobacco law 

WITH THE new smoking law coming into effect on January 1, 2008, some believe that tourism in the Algarve will suffer. Others believe that opposition will be short lived and there will be no long-term effects on tourism.

However, there still remains some confusion as to what restrictions will be in place as well as how compliance will be monitored.

The smoking law, approved on June 28, is not an outright ban in all enclosed public spaces.

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• Smoking ban altered in Portugal 

THE BAN on smoking in public, due to come into effect in Portugal on January 1, 2008, has been slightly altered, becoming more tolerant towards smokers and owners of commercial businesses.

The law that was passed on Thursday, June 28 by the government in the Assembleia da República, allows owners of establishments such as bars, restaurants and clubs with less than 100sqm, the right to choose whether they will allow smokers or not.

If they choose to allow smokers, however, they must have ventilation systems installed to eliminate the smoke.

José Manuel Esteves from the Associação de Restaurantes e Similares de Portugal, the national restaurant association, defended the law, saying that he believes most establishments will ban smoking as the costs of adapting the space with ventilation systems is too high.

Opposition

The Confederação Portuguesa de Prevenção do Tabagismo, Portugal’s confederation for the prevention of tobacco, is angered by the alteration.

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• World No-Tobacco Day in LAC: RIACT Launched 

Brazil's Health Minister, José Gomes Temporão, today announced the launch of the Ibero-American Tobacco Control Network (RIACT - Rede Ibero-Americana de Controle do Tabagismo in Portuguese, Red Ibero-Americana de Control del Tabaquismo in Spanish) to bring together the tobacco control authorities of (Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking) Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with those of Spain and Portugal to cooperate, coordinate and collaborate in the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

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• Portugal bans smoking inside public places 

Portugal's parliament approved a law on Thursday banning smoking in almost all indoor public places, joining other European countries in an attempt to cut down on tobacco-related deaths. The ban, approved more than a year after it was proposed by the Socialist government, will carry hefty fines for individuals who smoke in offices, shopping centres and most restaurants.

About a quarter of Portuguese smoke and smoking is blamed on up to 12,000 deaths per year, according to polling group Marktest.

"The ban should decrease the number of deaths caused by smoking and will also reduce second hand smoking," said Luis Negrao, a doctor at Portugal's Cardiology Association.

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• Portuguese authorities seize 7 cigarette brands after lab tests 

Authorities on Monday began seizing seven brands of cigarettes from shops and warehouses across Portugal after laboratory tests alleged they contained excessive levels of tar, an official said.

Manuel Lajes, spokesman for the Food and Economic Safety Authority, a government watchdog, said inspectors were visiting sales points and ordering wholesalers to recall the brands.

Regular annual tests on tobacco products by health authorities found the brands allegedly had tar levels above those stated on the pack and over the legal limit in Portugal, Lajes said.

The brands were Sovereign and Mayfair, produced by Gallaher Group PLC; Dunhill and Rothmans, made by British American Tobacco PLC; Golden American from Tobacco Manufacturers International Ltd.; Berkley; and Sterling.

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• Health Minister admits giving option on smoking ban 

THE PORTUGUESE Health Ministry has admitted altering its plans with regard to a blanket smoking ban in food and drink establishments throughout Portugal.

Now, it will give restaurant, bar and disco owners the option of whether or not to allow smoking in their establishments. This option will be given at least for an experimental period, to facilitate the adoption of new government rules, which had initially stated that smoking would be banned, or at least strictly controlled, in smoking zones.

The alterations were made by Health Minister Correia de Campos and will be debated by the Portuguese government cabinet in the coming weeks. A Health Ministry spokesman said last week: “We are not ruling out changes to the proposed law.”

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• Portuguese Strongly Support Smoking Ban 

Many adults in Portugal believe smoking should be prohibited in specific zones, according to a poll by Aximage published in Correio da Manha. 91.3 per cent of respondents support enacting a smoking ban in all public places such as restaurants, bars and offices.

On Apr. 5, Portugal’s government introduced a proposal that seeks to outlaw smoking in public places, and raise the legal smoking age from 16 years to 18 years. Health minister Antonio Correia de Campos declared, "If the government put the document up for public discussion, it’s because it’s open to other opinions."

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• Portuguese government reduces smoking in public places 

Portuguese bar and restaurant owners criticized a government proposal to restrict indoor smoking, saying Friday that such a move would hurt thousands of establishments already suffering amid a national economic slump. The government late Thursday announced plans to reduce smoking, including a ban in workplaces, but said it would first allow for a period of public discussion before finalizing proposals to go into force next year.

"If the government put the document up for public discussion, it's because it's open to other opinions," Health Minister Antonio Correia de Campos said. Some 31 percent of men and 18 percent of women smoke in Portugal , and the habit is responsible for 26 percent of the country's cancer deaths, Correia de Campos said.

The government wants to ban smoking in all offices, but proposed exceptions for large leisure and entertainment venues with separate, ventilated smoking sections.

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• Bars exempted in Portugese smoking ban 

Portugal plans to exempt bars and restaurants from a proposed ban on smoking in enclosed public places because people can choose whether to frequent those private premises.

Health Minister Luis Filipe Pereira said legislation, expected to be approved by the Cabinet later this month, would outlaw smoking in enclosed public areas, bringing Portugal into line with a handful of other EU countries.

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• Portuguese cigarettes to be withdrawn over pesticide discovery 

Portuguese public authorities said on Friday they were ordering the withdrawal from public sale of two Portuguese cigarette brands after discovering traces of a banned pesticide containing a cancer risk in some of them.

The inspectorate-general of economic activity, a regulatory body, said it would call for the withdrawal from the market of certain consignments of the SG Ventil and SG Filtro brands after a pesticide with a potential cancer hazard had been detected, Lusa news agency quoted a ministry source as saying.

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• Portugal awakens to pleasures of cigar smoking 

Dressed in their finest attire, the 450 high-society guests gathered at a seaside casino near the Portuguese capital were not celebrating a wedding or the opening of a new art exhibit -- they had gathered to laud the pleasures of cigar-smoking.

The party, which attracted celebrities from the world of television and business last June, was the largest in a recent wave of events bringing together Portugal's growing legion of cigar smokers.

"It is a pleasure which has been increasing," the director of cigar retailer Cigar World which organised the casino party, Pedro Unha Martins, told AFP.

"It is associated with relaxation, with anti-stress and a certain way of being in life." . . .

growing commercial ties with Spain, combined with a sharp drop in the tax charged on cigars and media portrayals of smoking as glamorous, have made cigars increasingly fashionable in Portugal. . .

The habit became less expensive in late 2001 after the government slashed the tax it slapped on cigars from 26 to 12 percent, a move cigar retailers credit with helping fuel sales.

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