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BRITISH American Tobacco will continue supporting underprivileged students to attain their goals by providing scholarships for tertiary education, the company said last week.
Speaking at the presentation of two scholarships to two University of Zimbabwe students in Harare, British American Tobacco Zimbabwe Limited board member, Mr Jeremiah Tsodzai, said the company would continue to empower students especially those that were underprivileged.
"We subscribe to the business principle of good corporate conduct which captures how the company strives to manage the business. Business success brings with it an obligation for high standards of behaviour and integrity in everything we do and whatever the company is associated with," Mr Tsodzai said.
BAT Zimbabwe (Holdings) Limited managing director, Mr Lovemore Manatsa said so far 52 students had benefited from the Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme established in 2005.
The scheme is run with the blessing of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and has drawn participants from various State tertiary institutions and agricultural colleges around the country.
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A Lagos High Court has dismissed three applications seeking to strike out the names of International Tobacco Company Limited, British American Tobacco Plc and British American Tobacco (investment) Limited from the $21 billion suit instituted by the Lagos State Government and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN).
Ruling on the Notice of Preliminary Objection brought by the three defendants pursuant to Order 3 Rule 9 and Order 6 Rule 10 of the Lagos State [Civil Procedure] Rules 2004 and Section 98 and 99 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act. Cap 56, 2004, the trial judge, Justice Bukola Raliatu Adebiyi, held that the three tobacco companies are necessary parties to the suit and that their presence would be necessary to enable the court effectively and completely adjudicate on the suit.
The Judge said, "The court finds upon careful perusal of the Statement of Claim that the 3rd and 4th defendants are necessary parties to the suit as the presence will be necessary to enable the court effectively and completely adjudicate upon and settle all the questions in controversy.
" Following from the above reasoning, the court finds that the suit against the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants are not liable to be struck out. In accordance with the above findings the applications of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants fail in their entirety and are accordingly dismissed."
As Roger Federer sets out to win his fourth consecutive Swiss Indoors title in Basel, a debate has reignited over tobacco sponsorship in sport.
The tournament, which has been sponsored by Swiss luxury brand Davidoff since 1994 and starts on Monday, is one of the last in the world to be sponsored by a tobacco company – and health campaigners aren't happy.
"First of all, linking sport and tobacco is utterly perverse," Jürg Hurter, president of Pro Aere, Switzerland's largest organisation against passive smoking, told swissinfo.ch.
"Second, the tobacco industry – who aren't idiots – try to get around tobacco promotion laws by sponsoring sporting events or by branding various products."
Pascal Diethelm, director of the anti-smoking group OxyRomandie, said last year "players drowned in an advertising soup for Davidoff".
"At the end of the match the young ball boys and ball girls received a medal from Roger Federer in recognition of having served the cause of Davidoff so well. Each medal bore the Davidoff logo in order to make sure that these potential smokers would know which cigarette brand to choose," he said. . . .
"This discussion is like the Loch Ness monster – it comes back every year!" Jürg Vogel, a member of the Swiss Indoors organising committee, told swissinfo.ch.
"Davidoff sells not only tobacco but also perfumes and other accessories. I think you have to see the whole picture.
The CR Reporting and Communications Summit (http://www.ethicalcorp.com/reporting) is the largest gathering in Europe on this topic. For two days in late November, many of the world's biggest companies will gather in London to debate and discuss the future of corporate responsibility reporting.
The Marriott hotel in Swiss Cottage will play host to 18 individual workshops, where over 30 of Europe's leading companies will present their own CR/sustainability reporting and communications strategies.
Julia King, Vice-President of CR at GlaxosmithKline will demonstrate how the pharmaceutical giant embeds sustainability reporting throughout the company's many offices in the second plenary session of the first day.
Cigarette maker PT BAT Indonesia (BATI.JK) said Tuesday it plans to merge with sister company PT Bentoel Internasional Investama (RMBA.JK) in order to create a stronger entity.
"The combined market share of the two companies is expected to be around 8%," BAT Indonesia, a unit of British American Tobacco PLC (BTI), said in a joint statement with Bentoel.
It said each BAT Indonesia share will be exchanged for 7.68 Bentoel shares.
The merger proposal follows the 99.74% acquisition of Bentoel's shares in July by British American Tobacco.
Background: In 1992, British American Tobacco had its Canadian affiliate, Imperial Tobacco Canada, destroy internal research documents that could expose the company to liability or embarrassment. Sixty of these destroyed documents were subsequently uncovered in British American Tobacco's files. . . .
Results: Imperial Tobacco destroyed documents that included evidence from scientific reviews prepared by British American Tobacco's researchers, as well as 47 origin al research studies, 35 of which examined the biological activity and carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke. The documents also describe British American Tobacco research on cigarette modifications and toxic emissions, including the ways in which consumers adapted their smoking behaviour in response to these modifications. The documents also depict a comprehensive research program on the pharmacology of nicotine and the central role of nicotine in smoking behaviour. British American Tobacco scientists noted that "... the present scale of the tobacco industry is largely dependent on the intensity and nature of the pharmacological action of nicotine," and that "... should nicotine become less attractive to smokers, the future of the tobacco industry would become less secure."
Interpretation: The scientific evidence contained in the documents destroyed by Imperial Tobacco demonstrates that British American Tobacco had collected evidence that cigarette smoke was carcinogenic and addictive. The evidence that Imperial Tobacco sought to destroy had important implications for government regulation of tobacco.
A major tobacco company has rejected claims it is undermining the law by not following regulations on the use of graphic warnings on cigarette packets.
Researchers at Otago University said a new study of bought and discarded cigarette packs showed the regulations were not being met.
Graphic warnings became mandatory in August 2008 and tobacco companies are required to evenly distribute various images over all cigarette packs.
Otago marketing professor Janet Hoek said the most offensive graphics were printed less frequently than other "less disturbing" images.
British American Tobacco today rejected the findings.
British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT) (4162) wants the government to impose stricter penalties and slap moderate excise duties to curb illegal cigarette trade.
According to the Royal Malaysian Customs, illicit cigarette trade reached a record 36.7 per cent of the country's total cigarette industry.
"We plead to the government for more concrete measures to address the explosive growth of illicit cigarettes," BAT managing director Jack Bowles said in a statement.
Over 80 per cent of illegal cigarettes are found in Peninsular Malaysia. Less than a year ago, one out of four cigarette packs in Malaysia were illegal contrabands but now the situation has worsened into more than one in every three packs.
BAT managing director Jack Bowles said legal manufacturers have lost a significant 11 per cent in legal volumes during the first half of this year to illegal operators.
British American Tobacco, Rwanda (BAT) Friday awarded over Rwf 5 million to twelve needy students at the Kigali Independent University(ULK).
The Rwf 5,430,000 will cater for the students' education needs, scholarships and internships. The company's sub-Saharan Africa Area Regulatory Affairs Manager, Kabir Kaleechurn, underscored the role of the private sector in promoting community development.
He said BAT believes in adding value to the community in which it operates not only by being one of the major contributors in terms of taxes but also through helping the needy in Rwanda.
Richard Burrows has been appointed a Non-Executive Director at British American Tobacco p.l.c. from 1 September 2009. He will become Chairman on 1 November 2009, when Jan du Plessis steps down in the light of his own appointment as Chairman of Rio Tinto plc from 20 April 2009.
Richard’s executive career has been with Irish Distillers, where he was Chief Executive from 1978 – 2000, and at Pernod Ricard SA, where he was Co-Chief Executive from 2000 – 2005, based in Paris.
His current non-executive roles include Rentokil Initial plc and Carlsberg A/S, while he was Governor of the Bank of Ireland from 2005 – 3 July 2009.
Richard is a member of the Trilateral Commission which fosters closer co-operation among democratic industrialised nations. He served as President of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation from 1998 – 2000, as Chairman of the National Development Corporation from 1984 – 1988 and Chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association 2006 – 2007.
Commenting on the appointment, Sir Nick Scheele, the Senior Independent Director at British American Tobacco, said: “Richard’s executive career in the worldwide FMCG sector makes him an excellent choice, as does his proven ability to work with a team from various cultures and countries. He is also an experienced non-executive director and the Board of British American Tobacco looks forward to the additional perspective he will be able to bring.
Ash Ireland chairwoman Dr Angie Brown highlighted Mr Burrows links with sport and said she was surprised that "such an esteemed figure" had decided to link up with the tobacco industry.
"Mr Burrows will be well aware that millions of people die from the effects of smoking around the world each year and many of these cigarettes are developed and manufactured by BAT," she said.
"This is an industry which aggressively markets an addictive killer product - and still endeavours to maintain that passive smoke is harmless - despite it being graded as a class one carcinogen by the WHO . . .
A spokeswoman for BAT said Mr Burrows was on holidays and was therefore unable to respond to the criticism. She said there was no suggestion that Mr Burrows was going to promote smoking, or to link sport with tobacco, when he took up his new role.
The Arua-based Red Pepper reporter was on Thursday sentenced to a 10-month imprisonment for receiving a bribe.
Ronald Afeku pleaded guilty of taking sh1m from the British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU) manager for not running a story against the company last Thursday.
"You have acted against the ethics of journalism, a noble profession that informs, educates the masses. "You are sentenced to ten months imprisonment," the Arua Grade II magistrate, Marchelo Alioniin, read the judgement before a fully packed courtroom with the convict's relatives and journalists.
Alioniin urged journalists to clear their image from criminal acts if they wanted to get public confidence. . . .
On August 6, Afeku was arrested by plain clothed policemen from BATU offices after receiving a bribe to kill a story on a motor accident involving the tobacco firm, which claimed over 10 people and left many others injured.
The court heard that Afeku had asked for sh2m and the balance would be paid later after handing over the story to the manager
A 1978 document, recently made known, revealed the sleight used during that time by the tobacco industry of the United Kingdom in order to overcome the crisis in the sector before evidence that cigarettes were harmful: "We need something for people to die," said the report.
According to the consulting agency Campbell-Johnson for the British Association of Tobacco (BAT), tobacco consumption was functional for the Government, due to the fact that cancer and other illnesses associated to cigarettes limited "the number of dependent elderly that the economy must maintain."
The document's author recognizes that "obviously" those arguments "cannot be used publicly," but he insists: "with a general increase in life expectancy, we need something for people to die. In replacement of the effects of war, poverty, and hunger, cancer, considered the illness of rich and developed countries, has a role to play."
This idea, considered a "psychological factor in order to continue the taste people have of smoking as something pleasant, although it may be a dangerous habit, should not be under valuated," the document continued. . . .
One of the actions is to promote a code of conduct among smokers that, if followed, "would assure they wouldn't be accused by non-smokers of arrogantly assuming the right to contaminate the air around them."
"Their tone has to be frank and positive," and one of the objectives must be to "restore the smoker's image as an outgoing and sociable person, and not neurotic, smelly, and marginal as the non-smokers think," concluded the report.
During the recent Jinja Agricultural Trade Show, I went to the World Food Programme (WFP) stall to find out if our small farmer groups in West Nile can benefit from P4P initiative supported by Bill Gates and Melinda, unaware of the fact that the region is not a beneficiary because of her inability to produce, even feed her own people.
While Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest estimates put the number of chronically hungry people at 1.02b, up from 915m in 2008, Uganda’s West Nile region isn’t exempt from these global figures save for reasons that force people to go hungry. In an earlier article, I stressed the need for tobacco firms to be socially responsible, well aware of colossal cost we could one day pay for sticking to this cash crop.
Tobacco growing has partly contributed to the famine in West Nile. First and fore most, tobacco growing has led to destruction of forests and fruit trees to the point that the region now faces drought, reduced honey production and general environmental degradation-- a typical example of collapse Jared Diamond talked about in his book ‘Collapse: how Societies choose to Succeed and Fail’ in which he referred to Haitain society that ended up in cannibalism after destroying the vegetation on which their survival depended.
Because tobacco production also requires dedicating labour, land and other resources at the expense of growing subsistence crops, the potential for hunger and starvation is imminent.
As the harvesting season begins, West Nile farmers have positioned themselves to reap big from a cash crop that has come under severe criticism from political and civil leaders in the district.
Some farmers in Arua and Maracha-Terego districts rejected calls from local leaders to stop growing tobacco because the latter believes the crop is a major cause of poverty, particularly during periods of famine.
The BATU Manager in Arua, Mr Peter Mukisa told Business Power, last week, that the local incomes this season have been boosted by the high quality tobacco farmers are harvesting. Tobacco is the main cash crop in Arua and Maracha-Terego districts. Mr Mukisa said he was not sure of the tonnes the company expects to get since the season has just started but he said; “we want to ensure that farmers get high quality seeds to earn more income”. For instance, a high quality grade of tobacco is bought at Shs4,150 while the lowest grade fetches Shs1,500.