Tobacco.org

• Asia's pushback to big tobacco 

Assailed by the western world's laws, taxes and anti-smoking mores, the global tobacco industry has little choice but to keep pushing eastward into Asia.

Tobacco bosses learned this week that some Asians are ready to push back.

This week, more than 500 screaming protesters converged outside TabInfo Asia 2009, the region's largest tobacco summit in years. More than an expo, the event is also a strategy session conducted in secrecy.

"As rules, regulations, and perceptions of tobacco change around the globe, Asia Pacific has become one of the world's most important tobacco markets," according to promotional materials.

The event, set up by the Raleigh, N.C.-based Tobacco Reporter magazine, invited major industry players gathered to discuss "operating in a world of bans" and "ingenious ways of operating in an increasingly regulated, plain-pack, dark market environment."

"Asia is the fastest growing tobacco market in the world. They can't afford to ignore this region," said Prakit Vathesatogkit, executive secretary of the Bangkok-based Action on Smoking and Health Foundation.

"We can't really stop them from coming," Prakit said, "but we can try to stop them from circumventing regulation."

On Wednesday, the summit's first day, attendees were beset by a loose coalition of Southeast Asian anti-smoking protesters. Outside the event doors, a 500-plus crowd of mostly college students screamed at men in suits entering Bangkok's largest convention center.

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• TTM withdraws products from Tabinfo Asia 

The Thai Tobacco Monopoly is withdrawing its tobacco products from the Tabinfo Asia 2009 expo which kicks off today.

The TTM board decided on Monday to use the gathering of global tobacco producers and distributors to promote tourism rather than tobacco products.

TTM's spokeswoman Prapassorn Pongpansal said the agency decided to shift its emphasis after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva instructed state agencies not to support the event.

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• Organiser fined over cigarette ads at tobacco exhibition  

A Thai advertiser who organised an international tobacco exhibition was yesterday fined Bt20,000 for allowing banners carrying images of cigarette brands and logos at the event.

The unnamed company was fined Bt20,000 for violating a 1992 law that prohibits pictorial or narrative displays of brands of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The violation took place at the Tabinfo Asia exhibition, which was held at a Muang Thong Thani exhibition hall, from Wednesday until yesterday.

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• Thai Protests at Global Tobacco Industry Conference 

Thailand may have a reputation for indulging visitors in their various vices, but smoking is no longer one of them. On Tuesday, more than 600 fired-up protesters invaded a convention center in Bangkok in an attempt to smoke out representatives of the global tobacco industry, who were holding a conference in a country with some of the strictest tobacco controls in Asia.

"They've come here because they want to target women and children in Asia with products that kill," says Bangorn Ritthiphakdee, director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, a civil-society group, referring to attendees of Tabinfo 2009, a three-day conference organized by Tobacco Reporter, a U.S.-based magazine. "Their presence is a nightmare. We came to tell them they are not welcome here." (Watch a video about France's smoking ban.)

The tobacco industry sees Asia as its most promising market, says Bangorn. Though Thailand has strict controls on smoking in public places and bans advertising of tobacco products, more than 14 million of its 65 million people are smokers. In Southeast Asia, 125 million -- or 31% of adults -- smoke, and China alone has some 350 million smokers. The alliance claims that 2.4 million people in Asia die each year from tobacco-related causes, the equivalent of 6,575 people a day.

Billed as "the biggest tobacco exhibition in Asia," Tabinfo 2009 has been years in the making. Nonetheless, the meeting apparently caught Thailand's government by surprise.

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• Hundreds of Thais protest tobacco congress in Bangkok  

Hundreds of Thais on Wednesday protested outside a tobacco industry congress in Bangkok aimed at expanding cigarette consumption in Asia, already the fastest-growing market for tobacco products.

"We would like the world to see we are opposed to the tobacco industry using Thailand as a base to promote and expand its markets in Asia among youths and women," said Chawala Pawaputanond, a coordinator for the Thai Network Against Tabinfo Asia 2009.

The network gathered 86,238 signatures of people opposed to the annual tobacco industry congress, Tabinfo Asia, held in Bangkok at the Muang Thong Thani Convention Centre.

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• Thais protest against tobacco event 

According to news reports, hundreds of Thais on Wednesday protested outside a tobacco industry trade fair and congress in Bangkok.

"We would like the world to see we are opposed to the tobacco industry using Thailand as a base to promote and expand its markets in Asia among youths and women," said Chawala Pawaputanond, a coordinator for the Thai Network Against Tabinfo Asia 2009. The network gathered 86,238 signatures of people opposed to the tobacco industry exhibition and conference held in Bangkok at the Muang Thong Thani Convention Centre.

The reports also said that the Thai Tobacco Monopoly, a main sponsor with the largest stand at the exhibition, was withdrawing its tobacco products from the show. The TTM board decided on Monday to use the gathering of global tobacco producers and distributors to promote tourism rather than tobacco products.

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• Industry dodges ad bans by pushing smokes online 

The tobacco industry is using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote its products and persuade people to become smokers, a study revealed yesterday.

"The ban on advertising does not mean the tobacco industry has stopped advertising its products," said Becky Freeman of Australia's University of Sydney, who conducted the study.

She presented her findings in Bangkok at a threeday regional training workshop held by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Freeman said most tobacco companies were interested in viral marketing (using preexisting social networks to increase brand recognition) to persuade or influence audiences to pass products on to others.

A million people had visited video clips on YouTube reviewing cigarettes, she said, and thousands more had become fans of the products on Facebook. "The Internet has made it easier to engage consumers by allowing them to contribute directly to marketing campaigns and brand development," she said.

The use of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, podcasts and RSS would be one of the main topics up for discussion at Tabinfo Asia 2009 . . .

Another marketing device was the use of product and pack designs - such as colourful and glowinthe dark packs - to entice specific groups.

"For example, we found cigarette packs designed like lipsticks or wallets - a new way to lure more and more women to become smokers," she said. . . .

A group of 650 people, including teenagers, led by Action on Smoking and its alliances, will today demonstrate against the Tabinfo Asia 2009 at Impact Arena.

"This is a nightmare for our people," SEATCA's director Bungon Ritthiphakdee said

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• Philippine health NGO slams tobacco expo; warns more tobacco-related deaths among Asians  

MANILA -- Members of the Philippine health NGO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) slammed the ongoing conference of the tobacco industry in Bangkok and warned of increase in tobacco-related deaths in Asia as the industry enhances its hold in the Asia Pacific market.

“The tobacco industry is training its guns and armor not for battle but to entice our young children to smoking addiction and lead them to suffer from tobacco-related deaths. Expect the industry to launch more sophisticated marketing and public relation gimmicks to penetrate the Asia Pacific market where governments are starting to implement stricter bans on smoking and tobacco advertising and promotions,” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP Executive Director. . . .

In the press briefing conducted by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) in Bangkok, FCAP showed to the media Philip Morris Philippines Managing Director Chris Nelson donating check to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) after the typhoons that have hit the country recently.

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• Roll your own smokes popular but no safer, research finds  

The number of tobacco smokers currently in Thailand has reached 14.3 million, the latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey revealed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry is considering a proposal to the Finance Ministry to increase the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products after finding over 7.4 million people smoke this style of cigarette. The remainder smoke manufactured cigarettes.

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey is a national household survey launched in February 2007.

Sixteen countries, home to more than half the world's smokers and bearing the highest tobacco use, were involved in the study: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Thailand was the first country to complete and release its survey . . .

He said most cigarette manufacturers are now producing more smokeless cigarettes after noting an increasing trend in smokeless tobacco use among teenagers worldwide.

To reduce the number of hand-rolled cigarette smokers, Prakit has asked the government to increase the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products and collect tax excise to 70 per cent of product price from the current rate.

Deputy Minister of Public Health Manit Nopamornbodee said he will consult with the Finance Ministry about increasing the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products and ya nat - traditional medicine that contains hand-rolled cigarette products. . . .

Meanwhile, Thai Network Against Tabinfo Asia 2009, led by Dr Hatai Chitanont, has submitted an open letter to Deputy Finance Minister,Prasit Pattaraprasit asking him to withdraw from the tobacco industry event he is due to open on Wednesday at Impact Arena Moung Thontani Exhibition Centre.

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• WTO hears RP complaint against Thailand  

The Philippines and Thailand were given a final opportunity until December 7 to comment and respond to questions before the WTO Dispute Settlement Panel is set to issue a ruling early next year over the countries cigarette tax dispute.

Philippine Ambassador to Geneva/WTO Ambassador Manuel AJ Teehankee relayed this in an email after the panel conducted the second substantive meeting last Nov. 4 to 6 in Geneva.

The panel hearing the (DS 371 Philippines versus Thailand on cigarette customs valuation), is chaired by H.E. Ambassador Roberto Acevedo, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO, and its two additional members are Alvaro Hansen of Uruguay and Richard Gottlieb of Canada.

The panel heard rebuttal arguments and fielded searching questions on the facts, claims, and defenses presented by both parties since the first substantive meeting last June.

During the meeting, Teehankee highlighted issues of transparency, discrimination, and domestic protection in Thailand's regulatory regime

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• Where there is smoke, there will be fire 

The Public Health Ministry is warning the organiser of an Asian tobacco exhibition against breaking the laws covering the advertising of tobacco products and smoking during its three-day event next month.

The Disease Control Department has sent a letter to the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre asking it to inform the organiser, US-based Tobacco Reporter magazine, about the restrictions on tobacco promotion, public health spokesman Supan Srithamma said.

Mr Supan yesterday said public health officials would work with police in "inspecting and arresting" violators of the law at Tabinfo Asia 2009 in mid November.

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• Thai police push tax charges against Philip Morris  

Thai police have submitted a case to state prosecutors charging that the local arm of Philip Morris, the world's largest cigarette maker, evaded more than $2 billion in import taxes, an allegation strongly denied by the company.

Police Col. Thawatchai Suansida said Thursday that the Department of Special Investigation, or DSI, determined that Philip Morris (Thailand) United Co. Ltd. had underreported the value of its imports and underpaid import taxes between 2003 and 2007.

The same matter, concerning cigarettes exported by a Philip Morris plant in the Philippines to Thailand, is the subject of a trade dispute.

Manila in November last year filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization claiming that Thailand's tariffs on the cigarettes are not calculated according to internationally accepted standards. A preliminary report from the trade organization is expected to be circulated to the parties involved early next year.

The office of Thailand's attorney-general, which received the tax evasion case on Wednesday from the police, said it will decide on Oct. 2 whether to bring it to court.

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• Tobacco fair tests Thai anti-smoking efforts 

Thailand's reputation as a Southeast Asian country with strong anti-smoking laws faces a direct challenge from the tobacco multinational companies that are due to gather in the Thai capital in November for a major industry congress and exhibition.

The organizers of the cigarette promotion gathering, TABINFO Asia 2009, are not leaving anything to the imagination as to why Bangkok has been chosen as the venue for the Asia-Pacific region's "own dedicated tobacco show".

"The Asia-Pacific region has not escaped the global credit meltdown. But its cigarette market remains more buoyant than elsewhere," declares the Tobacco Reporter trade publication in its

website. "The region remains one of the world's most promising cigarette markets."

Participants are promised an event, which runs from November 11-13, that will feature "The Big Issues. The Big Players", trumpets the conference website. It will offer "a very diverse representation of industry players up and down the supply chain. The expanded list of participants makes this a must-attend event for networking, showcasing, discovering, buying, and selling".

The market opportunities of four countries in the region - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand - are already being highlighted by the trade publication to swell the number of cigarette enthusiasts for the Bangkok trade show. . . .

The choice of a developing country as a venue for this flagship event for tobacco multinationals comes at a time when the tobacco market in the developed world is shrinking due to a battery of tobacco control policies and the world's dominant cigarette producers are looking to the developing world to boost their fortunes.

This trend is reflected in the places where the tobacco industry has gathered every two years prior to Bangkok. The 2007 tobacco trade fair was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil; in 2005 it was the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

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• Policy denounced as 'smoke and mirrors' 

The credibility of Thailand's anti-smoking policy is being questioned after it was revealed the country is hosting a major tobacco promotional event in November.

Anti-smoking activists are strongly opposing the staging of Tabinfo Asia 2009, which will be held from Nov 11 to 13 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

They say it makes a mockery of the nation's anti-smoking stand.

They said the event was a fresh effort by multinational tobacco companies to expand their business in the region, which is seen as the world's most lucrative market for tobacco consumption.

"The tobacco industry is acting like cigarettes are normal and that the Tabinfo Asia 2009 event is just an ordinary trade expo," said Prakit Vathesatogkit, secretary of the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation (ASH Thailand). . . .

A network of anti-tobacco advocates in Thailand would hold activities to condemn an event which they say is aimed at directly and indirectly influencing the country's policy on tobacco control.

Dr Prakit said staging the promotion was in contravention of Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention of Tobacco Control in protecting public policy from tobacco industry influence.

He urged government agencies - particularly the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly - to follow the WHO pact. . . .

US-based Tobacco Reporter magazine, the organiser, said the reason for holding the event was "to learn how the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly manages to survive under heavy legal restrictions".

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• Alternative cigarette raises concerns  

Authorities will have to watch out for nicotine gel, an alternative cigarette that looks set to attract smokers but may be harmful to health.

By just rubbing the gel in one's hands, one will be able to experience having a cigarette within 30 seconds.

The nicotine gel is touted as a solution to people who feel the urge to smoke in smoking-free places.

"The problem is that there is no research to confirm that this product is really safe," Thailand Health Promotion Institute president Dr Hatai Chitanondh said yesterday, "This is not a certified quit-smoking product."

According to him, the nicotine gel is already available at more than 400 retail shops in Malaysia. Despite its ban in Thailand, the product has the potential to find its way to Thai smokers via Internet advertisements.

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