Tobacco.org

• Airports not for tobacco ban 

CHANGI Airport has put its weight behind a global airports group opposing a World Health Organisation (WHO) proposal to ban the sale of duty-free tobacco products on airport premises.

The Airports Council International (ACI), which groups 1,679 airports worldwide, including Changi, maintains that this move will hurt airport earnings, as well as penalise the travelling public.

The issue surfaced at the group's annual meeting recently, in response to suggestions made by the WHO that such a ban would stem the illegal trade in tobacco products.

Member airports agree that they will not stand for such a ban and will work with their respective governments to protect the interests of passengers and the rights of airports and retailers.

This was one of several resolutions approved at the end of the ACI's two-day gathering in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Jump to full article »

• They started smoking at 11 

THEY were caught for littering and fined $300 each last month. Their offence: Throwing away cigarette butts after smoking.

What's shocking is their age: They were only 12.

Underage habitual smokers Rina and Candy (not their real names) picked up the habit last year - when they were 11.

The friends started out of curiosity but soon got hooked. When they were caught, they were smoking at least a cigarette a day.

Their parents only found out when National Parks Board (NParks) rangers caught the girls three weeks ago in Ang Mo Kio.

Smoking by anyone below 18 is an offence, but NParks did not take action as underage smoking falls under the purview of the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). . . .

from 20 per cent in 1984 to 13 per cent in 2004, it has gone up again in the last three years to 14 per cent.

This has prompted the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to consider stiffer penalties and other amendments to tobacco regulations.

Jump to full article »

• More deceptive smugglers 

SMUGGLERS are adapting their methods to elude the border authorities. From hiding contraband in broken-down buses being towed across the Causeway to concealing cigarette cartons within concrete slabs, smugglers these days are a different breed from those of old who simply stowed the stash in makeshift vehicle compartments, for example.

The observation on their modus operandi came as officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) thwarted a record number of smuggling attempts in the first half of this year.

The 23,800 smuggling cases - which included weapons, cigarettes and animals - were the highest number handled by the officers since the ICA was set up in 2003. The figure also represented a 35 per cent spike from the 17,700 cases the ICA detected in the first six months last year.

The ICA credited the spike to the skill and vigilance of its officers, and the deployment of technology like its X-ray screening systems in detecting the contraband items.

In releasing the figures on Friday, ICA Commissioner Eric Tan, said: 'While these ingenious disguises usually involve contraband cigarettes today, we are mindful that other more sinister persons or items may similarly attempt to get into the Republic.' The ICA noted how smugglers have become more 'deceptive'.

Jump to full article »

• Curbing younger smokers 

THE screws against smoking - particularly among the younger set - are to be tightened further.

The Health Promotion Board (HPB) and the Health Sciences Authority have drawn up proposed measures to discourage smoking and tobacco addiction among them.

These range from heavier fines for underage smoking and giving the Health Minister the clout to ban the sale of certain tobacco products, to barring some places from selling them, as well as lowering permitted tar and nicotine levels.

Four weeks have been set aside for public consultation, beginning today.

The trigger for these stricter regulations lies in statistics: The number of smokers aged between 18 and 29 jumped 40 per cent in three years from 2004; significantly, one in four males in this age bracket now smoke.

Nationally, smokers made up 13.6 per cent of the population in 2007, up from 12.6 per cent in 2004. More than 65 retailers were caught for selling to customers under 18 last year . . .

The public can give its feedback on the proposals at www.hpb.gov.sg or www.moh.gov.sg by Aug 28.

Jump to full article »

• Online counselling to be mandatory for underaged smokers 

The National Health Surveillance Survey 2007 showed that 13.6 per cent of Singapore residents aged 18 to 69 smoked daily, compared to 12.6 per cent in 2004.

The survey also found that about one in four males smoked daily, compared with one in 27 females. The males were lighting up 13 cigarettes a day on average, compared to nine cigarettes for females.

Furthermore, daily smoking was most prevalent in young adults aged 18 to 29, with many of them experimenting with cigarettes at the age of 16.

Hence, there is going to be a revamp of the mandatory counselling framework for underaged first--time smoking offenders.

From May 1, first--time offenders will be required to undergo a mandatory brief online intervention that encourages them to consider quitting smoking. There will also be more concerted efforts to reach upper primary level students.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking up despite ban, hike 

SMOKERS in Singapore lit up 16 million more cigarettes a month last year despite being banned from smoking in more public places and being hit by record-high cigarette prices in 2007.

According to figures from the Singapore Customs, about 2.17 million kg of cigarettes - or 2.17 billion sticks - were sold last year - more than the 1.98 billion sticks sold in 2007. Last year's sales also hit a three-year high, crossing the two billion mark for the first time since 2005, when 2.09 billion cigarettes were sold.

Though sales dipped in 2006, a year after tobacco taxes shot up by 20 per cent, they went up in the last two years.

This is despite two price hikes in 2006 and 2007

Jump to full article »

• Graphic warnings appear on Malaysian cigarette packs 

Singaporeans buying a pack of cigarettes across the Causeway may soon be faced with a familiar - if discomfitting - sight.

From March, all cigarette packs sold in Malaysia have to carry graphic pictures to warn people of the dangers of smoking, reported The Star.

The packaging regulation is part of the government's latest blitz against smoking.

In Singapore, cigarette packs started carrying graphic images such as diseased lungs and bleeding brains in August 2004. . . .

The findings of a first ever cross-cultural survey in Singapore and Scotland released last year suggested that graphic health warning labels may just be the extra push smokers need to kick the habit.

Jump to full article »

• Stub it out, please 

SMOKERS in Singapore have even fewer places to enjoy a puff now, as a nationwide ban on lighting up in a new list of public areas took effect yesterday.

About 100 plain-clothes enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) fanned out across the island yesterday to issue friendly reminders to smokers who were still puffing away in now out-of-bounds areas such as lift lobbies and carparks.

As at 5pm, 245 smokers in about 280 places checked had received reminders. . . .

The ban was widened yesterday to include areas such as non-air-conditioned offices, hotel lobbies, multi-storey carparks and places within 5m of the entrances and exits of buildings.

The widened ban is part of a drive since 1970 to stamp out smoking in Singapore. Already, lighting up is forbidden in all hawker centres, restaurants and community clubs, among other places.

Jump to full article »

• Singapore to mark cigarettes to snuff out illegal sales 

Singapore will put special markings on every cigarette sold legally starting next year as the city-state steps up the fight against contraband sales, the government said.

From January 1 2009, every cigarette on sale will come with the letters "SDPC" stamped near the filter, Singapore Customs said in a statement monitored on its website on Thursday.

SDPC stands for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarettes.

"All unmarked cigarettes will be deemed to be duty-unpaid and illegal," the statement said.

Anyone caught with an unmarked cigarette will be committing an offence and will face a fine of 500 Singapore dollars (352 US) for every packet found in their possession, it said.

Jump to full article »

• Tobacco companies advertise in F1 with barcodes 

When the F1 night race revs up in September, don't expect to see vinyl stickers of Marlboro adorning the side of the vehicles. Complying with Singapore's law that no advertising, promotion or sponsorship by any tobacco companies are allowed, race teams have found a way to get around them.

Instead of the usual in-your-face stickers, the companies have resorted to using strips of barcodes for their campaigns. The Ferrari team and Marlboro have adopted this form of advertising since 2005 and we can expect them to do the same when they zoom down the streets in Singapore.

Jump to full article »

• LETTER: NEA check found no smokers 

I REFER to last Monday's letter, ' Smoking ban flouted in public places' by Mr Justin Kan.

National Environment Agency (NEA) officers conduct routine checks of places where smoking is prohibited by law to ensure compliance. During our checks, we also give priority to places where public feedback on violation is often received. NEA continues to take firm enforcement action against any smokers or food-shop operators who violate the law. Since the implementation of the smoking prohibition in coffee shops and hawker centres on July 1, 2006, we have taken enforcement action against more than 3,700 smokers and 400 food-shop operators for infringing the prohibition.

Following the feedback, our officers checked the food shops at Keong Saik Road referred to by Mr Kan. Although we did not find anyone violating the smoking prohibition, the management of the food shops in the vicinity were sternly reminded . . .

-- S. Satish Appoo

Director, Enviromental

Health Department

National Environment Agency

Jump to full article »

• 26-year-old smoker goes smoke-free for three days on Orchard Road  

SINGAPORE: A 26--year--old smoker who has been smoking for nearly half her lifetime has managed to spend the weekend free from cigarettes.

Cheyenne Lu spent three days and two nights living in a glass house set up by the Health Promotion Board (HPB).

Ms Lu said this weekend was her longest time without a cigarette since she was 14.

She said her previous attempts to quit failed because she did not tell her family or friends she was trying to give up. . . .

The project is part of HPB's Fresh Air for Women campaign to counter the growing trend of smoking among young women.

Jump to full article »

• WHERE HAVE ALL THE TOUTS GONE? ALL QUIET ON THE CIGARETTE FRONT  

CALL it Operation Smoke-Out.

The police hunt for Jemaah Islamiyah fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari has more than just flushed out illegal immigrants hiding in the forested areas.

The increased presence of the law is also hurting those peddling contraband cigarettes. Many of them have vanished for fear of being spotted by police patrols.

As a result, The New Paper learnt, the price of duty-unpaid cigarettes has shot up by as much as $1.20 per packet, from $5 to $6.20.

Cigarettes sold legally at coffeeshops cost about $11 a packet. . . .

A former cigarette tout, a 25-year-old who wanted to be known only as Mr Mohammad, said: 'The increased checks at the borders make it harder for supplies to reach Singapore.

'Also, nobody wants to volunteer to sell the cigarettes in open areas like before. These are the reasons for the price hike.'

Checks by The New Paper this week found that the touts often seen waving packs of cigarettes at passing motorists on Upper Bukit Timah Road were gone. . . .

Since Mas Selamat's escape on 27Feb, more than 50 forested areas across Singapore have been searched, with at least 66 illegal immigrants being arrested.

Attempts at smuggling contraband into Singapore during this period have also been exposed.

Jump to full article »

• Singapore's ban on tobacco ads will apply to Grand Prix: report 

Singapore's strict laws banning tobacco advertisements will apply to the city-state's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in September, a report said Sunday.

The sport's first-ever night race around Singapore's streets will take place on September 28.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Trade and Industry told the Sunday Times "the publication or display of any acknowledgement of sponsorship of a tobacco company would, as a general rule, be prohibited."

Jump to full article »

• Empty packs clue to illegal cigarette trade in S'pore 

TOBACCO companies here could soon be digging through piles of rubbish in a bid to gauge the size of the illegal cigarette trade.

Singapore's tobacco association is awaiting the final nod from the authorities to collect empty cigarette boxes islandwide, including hotspots for peddlers like Geylang and Woodlands Road, said representative Manminder Singh.

The study - which could begin by the end of next month - involves sifting through packages for tell-tale signs, like a lack of health warnings.

Two smaller studies were done by British American Tobacco (BAT)

Jump to full article »