Tobacco.org

• Association of smoking, physical activity, and dietary habits with socioeconomic variables: a cross-sectional study in adults on both sides of the Hungarian-Romanian border 

Background

The association between socioeconomic status and health-related behaviours has been clarified in several epidemiological studies. The aim of this study was to reveal the socioeconomic differences in health-related behaviours and in nutritional status of Hungarian and Romanian citizens living on both sides of the border. . . .

Results

The prevalence of smoking was similar in Hungarians and Romanians (33.2% and 36.4%). The frequency of "unhealthy diet" was 70.6% in Hungarians and 75.2% in Romanians. Physical inactivity was more prevalent in Romanians (73.2%) than in Hungarians (32.0%), while the prevalence of obesity was higher in Hungarians (22.0%) than in Romanians (16.5%). Based on the univariate logistic regression models the risk of smoking was higher among those with medium educational level (ORHu=1.66) and poor financial conditions (ORHu=3.13) in Hungarians. The risk of unhealthy diet was higher among the low educated (ORHu=1.77; ORRo=7.91) and among those with poor financial conditions (ORHu=2.05; ORRo=4.25). None of the socioeconomic factors was associated with leisure time physical inactivity. In the multivariate models obesity was associated with medium level of education in Hungarians, and with unhealthy diet in Romanians (ORRo=2.10). Physically inactive Hungarians were more (ORHu=1.74), whereas inactive Romanians were less (ORRo=0.64) likely to be obese than physically active people from the same country.

Conclusions

The present study shows that socioeconomic status is associated with health-related behaviours in a small area of Hungary and Romania. The results highlight the need for developing interventional strategies, focusing more on people in lower socioeconomic status, in order to reduce the existing inequalities in health and health-related behaviours.

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Romanian authorities carry out operation against cigarette smuggling  

Romanian authorities carried out an operation against cigarette smuggling in the region of Galati, Nezavisimaya Moldova informs. After receiving operational information authorities conducted more than 20 raids at residential buildings. They found some 679,000 boxes of contraband cigarettes. 43 people were arrested.

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• Tobacco producers complain about increasing cigarette smuggling in Romania 

Smuggled cigarettes accounted for 15 percent of the market in November this year in Romania, up from 11.8 percent in September, according to data from cigarette producer JT International. Smuggling climbed back to the level reported in July 2011, after a downward trend in 2010 and in the first half of 2011. The historic maximum in cigarette smuggling was 36.2 percent of total sales in January 2010, after the increase in cigarette excises. This pushed the average for 2010 to around 15.2 percent, according to cigarette producers. The tobacco industry is one of the largest contributors to the state budget in Romania– EUR 2.5 billion in excises, VAT and other taxes in 2010.

“A predictable fiscal policy determines growth in legal sales, which triggers higher taxes paid to the state. We should highlight that a percentage point drop in cigarette smuggling equals EUR 30 million in taxes to the state budget,” said Adrian Popa, manager within BAT Romania.

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Bulgarian customs officers seize 6,870 packets of cigarettes in Romanian bus 

Bulgarian customs officers in the northern city of Ruse on Danube Bridge have found 6,870 packets of cigarettes in a Romanian bus, the country’s National Customs Agency announced. The bus was traveling from Greece via Bulgaria to Romania with over 30 passengers with Romanian citizenship in it. The cigarettes, whose brand is Chesterfield and which hold a Ukrainian excise label, were hidden in upholstery and floor of the bus. It is not clear how the cigarettes were bought in Turkey. This is the second similar case with this bus in the past 45 days.

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Smokies And The Bandit  

This hapless smuggler was sunk when police caught him swimming over a river into Romania floating on 60,000 packets of cigarettes.

The duty dodging trafficker - wearing a full wet suit - was picked up as he crossed over on the Tisa river at Maramures on the border with the Ukraine.

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VIDEO: Tot aged two smokes fags 

A FILM of a two-year-old girl smoking a cigarette has provoked a storm of protests after becoming a shocking hit on the internet.

The clip shows the tot's mum encouraging her to light up.

And livid dad Gabriel Burulea, 30, from Romania, is now demanding sole custody.

He told the Austrian Times: "She wants to taunt me by showing me how she is treating our child, but I hope it will backfire and be what I need to win custody.

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Gabriel Burulea 'taught daughter, 2, how to smoke and drink coffee' 

The father of a two-year-old girl has accused his ex-wife of teaching their daughter how to smoke cigarettes after shocking images of the tot emerged on the internet.

Gabriel Burulea is now demanding permanent custody of his daughter after claiming that his ex posted a video on YouTube of their child smoking at home in Bughea de Sus, Arges, Romania.

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Smoking Baby On YouTube Sparks Custody Dispute (VIDEO) 

A Romanian dad is demanding custody of his two-year-old daughter after his ex-wife taught the tot to smoke cigarettes, reports UK-based publication Orange News.

The toddler's father, Gabriel Burulea, claims his ex posted a video of their child smoking cigarettes on YouTube.

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• Mum 'taught tot to smoke', says Dad  

A Romanian dad is demanding custody of his daughter after his ex wife taught the two-year-old to smoke.

She then uploaded the video onto the internet and admits that she has also taught the youngster to like coffee at their home in Bughea de Sus, in Arges.

The couple spilt a year ago and the court ordered custody to Elena Ursu, 28, but that may now be reviewed if dad Gabriel Burulea, 30, gets his way. . . .

"When I am allowed to visit her I can see that she is so desperate for a cigarette that she even grabs the ends of cigarettes and puts them in her mouth. It's sick."

The video shows the girl smoking and her mother Elena Ursu, 28, encouraging her to do so.

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Cigarette black market reaches 16 percent in H1  

The cigarette black market increased to 15.7 percent in June, up from 12 percent in the previous month, according to data from Novel Research Company.

The historic high in cigarette smuggling hit 36.2 percent in January 2010, due to a massive increase in excise tax on tobacco products. Since then, the illegal cigarette trade went on a decreasing trend, reducing to 22.5 percent in January 2011, and further to 11.5 percent in March 2011. This decrease in cigarette smuggling was obtained with joint efforts from state authorities and tobacco industry representatives.

Gilda Lazar, Corporate Affairs & Communications director at JTI Romania, argues that restructuring and wage reduction processes in the law enforcement institutions, that have to dismantle the criminal groups, may contribute to the rising trend in cigarette smuggling.

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Romanian homes raided in cigarette smuggling case  

Organized crime prosecutors have raided 140 homes as part of an investigation into an alleged cigarette smuggling ring involving Romanian and Ukrainian citizens.

The office of the prosecutor's office for organized crime and terrorism said the homes were raided early Thursday.

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Romania: African diplomat suspected of involvement in Serbian cigarette smuggling ring 

Prosecutors found 1,800 cartons of smuggled cigarettes on Monday in the car of an African diplomat's wife, who claimed diplomatic immunity and only left the vehicle when police smashed its windows.

The woman and her husband, the second counsellor at the Congolese embassy in Belgrade, are suspected of working with a Serbian crime ring that smuggled tax-free cigarettes from Montenegro to Romania.

Congolese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Patrick Mutombo said if the accusations are true, the counsellor and his wife will be recalled to the Congo to face disciplinary measures.

After a two-hour standoff, officers smashed the windows and discovered the cigarettes stashed in the car, which had been specially altered to transport the contraband. Some cartons were stacked where the back seat had been and covered with a black cloth to avoid detection. There was no estimate of the value of the cigarettes.

The woman, identified as Esther Pascaline, and her Serbian driver were detained. Two Serb citizens, who were in another car, were also detained. Eleven Romanians who are suspected of being part of the smuggling ring are currently being questioned, said Mircea Andres, a regional prosecutor responsible for combatting organized crime and terrorism by telephone.

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Congo diplomat's wife 'smuggled cigarettes' in Romania 

The wife of a diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested in Romania on suspicion of cigarette smuggling, Romanian prosecutors say.

Police found more than 18,000 cigarette packets hidden in her car.

Esther Pascaline Bombeto, whose husband is accredited in Serbia, reportedly claimed diplomatic immunity before police forcibly searched the car.

She was arrested while returning from Serbia.

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• DRCongo diplomat's wife detained in Romania over contraband 

The wife of a Congolese diplomat in Serbia has been detained in neighbouring Romania for alleged cigarette smuggling, prosecutors said Monday.

Esther Pascaline Bombeto was arrested during the night soon after crossing the Serbian border.

Police found some 18,500 cigarette packages concealed in her car.

According to local media, the woman and her driver refused to leave the car or open the doors, arguing they benefited from diplomatic immunity.

The police had to break the window in order to search the vehicle bearing diplomatic licence plates.

The husband, Marc Marius Itela Elombola, second counselor of the Democratic Republic of Congo's embassy in Belgrade, has also been charged with smuggling. He is currently in Serbia.

"The authorities did what they had to, detaining a person suspected of contraband," a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office told AFP. . . .

Andres added that the Congolese couple had been monitored for three months.

They used to cross into Romania once or twice a week, and, availing themselves of their diplomatic passports in order to avoid customs controls, smuggled large amounts of Albanian cigarettes into the country, he said.

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Cigarette contraband falls to 14 percent, says Philip Morris 

The local branch of cigarette producer Phillip Morris International has a new managing director, Sergey Slipcenko, who came to the helm of the company this January. He declared today that the cigarette contraband in Romania has fallen to 14.7 percent from the staggering 36 percent registered last year. He stated that the company's sales have therefore increased and that his main mission is for the company to reach the first position on the local market.

Slipcenkohas he held various management positions in marketing and sales in the Ukraine, among others. There he witnessed the growth of the company from the third to the first position. His long-term goal is therefore to do the same in Romania and as he added, he will stay here "for as long as it takes" in this purpose.

Slipcenko also added that PMI does not intend to extend its product portfolio for the moment in Romanian, but to focus on the existing brands. He also spoke of a change in the company's distribution system, which is now based on a external logistics service and functions while maintaining a track and trace system, which allows the tracking of the Philip Morris products which are diverted for being sold in other markets than the the designated one.

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