http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/asia-pacific.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61769-4/fulltext http://tobacco.org/news/290985.html Member states of WHO's Western Pacific region have unanimously agreed on a new action plan to tackle the huge burden of tobacco-related illness in the region. Margaret Harris Cheng reports. To the surprise and delight of tobacco-control campaigners, a plan to operationalise the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was passed with barely a murmur of dissent at the WHO's Western Pacific regional meeting held in Hong Kong last month. Although representatives of three of the world's biggest tobacco producers—China, the USA, and Japan—were present when the plan came up for discussion, only China voiced any misgivings about the plan. “The action plan should offer guidance—it should not be a mandatory requirement for member states”, China's representative told the meeting. The ease with which the plan was accepted was a surprise because it is considered a radical departure from its predecessors (this is the fifth such plan for the WHO's Western Pacific region). For the first time, the plan sets out objectives for member states and a timeframe (2010—14) in which those objectives should ideally be reached. All member states are expected to attend a progress review in 2012, and be ready and willing to explain what stage they are at with tobacco control and why they have, or have not, achieved their objectives. It was this, the setting of very specific objectives, that made China somewhat uncomfortable. The Lancet China Asia-pacific Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=67771 http://tobacco.org/news/290324.html Kota Baru: There will be no tariff reduction on the export of rice, tobacco and alcohol from Malaysia when the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) is fully implemented on Jan 1, 2010. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said these items were included in Afta's sensitive list and were exempted from the tariff reduction obligation as agreed to earlier by Asean member countries. . . . "There will also be no tax cut on other sensitive items such as alcohol and tobacco as this has been discussed with member countries of the grouping," he told reporters after hosting a Hari Raya gathering here, Wednesday. Daily Express Malaysia Asia-pacific Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=442552 http://tobacco.org/news/290281.html PASIR PUTEH, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Tobacco planters, especially those in the districts of Bachok and Pasir Puteh, should not continue to depend on the crop after the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) comes into effect starting Jan 1, next year. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said the government would not encourage planters to continue after that and instead was working on the introduction of alternative crops. "This is because the production cost is too high compared to neighbouring countries," he told reporters during the Pasir Puteh Parliamentary constituency Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations here, on Saturday. Over 500 people including those of Chinese and Siamese descent participated in the celebrations, which was also attended by the Pasir Puteh Umno Division Chief Zawawi Othman. Malaysian National News Agency ramjit@bernama.com Malaysia Asia-pacific Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.radiofiji.com.fj/fullstory.php?id=22679 http://tobacco.org/news/290167.html The World Health Organization (WHO has denounced the tobacco industry's attempts to undermine global efforts to reduce smoking. WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo, stresses that "governments must recognize that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interest. To strengthen the fight against smoking, WHO's governing body in the Region has endorsed the Regional Action Plan (2010-2014) for the Tobacco Free Initiative. The Plan aims to strengthen government tobacco control programmes as well as protect public policy processes from interference from the tobacco industry. . . . One third of the world's smokers reside in the Western Pacific Region, which has the greatest number of smokers, among the highest rates of male smoking prevalence, and the fastest increase of tobacco use uptake by women and young people compared to the other five WHO regions. FBCL Radio Fiji Asia-pacific Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KH29Ae01.html http://tobacco.org/news/289046.html 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. Asia Times Thailand Asia Asia-pacific Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mb.com.ph/node/202766 http://tobacco.org/news/284695.html Myanmar is asking the Philippines for zero duty access for the exports of tobacco and cigarette products. Similar requests were also filed by Myanmar to Thailand and Malaysia. The Tariff Commission will conduct a public hearing today on the Myanmar request along with the review of the expiring zero duty rates on imported cement and wheat. At present, Tariff Commission official said that tobacco and cigarette products are included under the ASEAN Integration System of Preferences and as such ASEAN slapped tobacco with three percent tariff and cigarette at five percent. The AISP is a scheme where ASEAN 6 gives unilateral import duty exemption to products of export interests to the CLMV ( Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam ). Manila Bulletin Asia Burma/Myanmar Asia-pacific Thu, 28 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121509442/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://tobacco.org/news/284373.html Conclusions: In Asia-Pacific, overall mortality and morbidity rates are high and trends in mortality and morbidity vary between countries/regions. Differences in rates and trends for men and women most likely reflect the different trends in historical and prevalent smoking profiles for COPD in the different countries and regions. Wiley InterScience Asia-pacific Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/nicogel/Article/ http://tobacco.org/news/283753.html IT WILL take more than the global financial crisis to slow down Dermtek Sdn Bhd, the exclusive distributor of Nicogel for Asia, as it is on an aggressive mode this year. By using Malaysia as its production hub, the company plans to sell the cigarette-alternative product to 10 countries in Asia by year-end. "We are looking at Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. We will start by repackaging the gels into sachets and sell it directly to these countries. "After that, we will be appointing distributors for each country. We may also look into having an equity stake in the overseas company," Dermtek director Alastair Campbell told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur recently. The company, which imports the gels from the UK and then repackages it into sachets in its plant in Shah Alam, also has high hopes for the Malaysian market. Business Times nms@nstp.com.my (Goh Thean Eu) Malaysia Asia Asia-pacific Mon, 11 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=408633 http://tobacco.org/news/283238.html For the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca), smoke is getting into its eyes, so to speak. It is gravely concerned over the current trend of Asean countries -- home to 125 million smokers -- continuing to be cash cows for the world's largest transnational tobacco companies. Seatca senior policy advisor Dr Mary Assunta said the industry was seeking more smokers among Asia's young, especially in Indonesia, the region largest cash cow where 46 per cent of Asean's smokers reside, and the fourth largest market in the world. "While many countries in the region are tightening up tobacco control legislation, the industry has launched an all-out attack, especially in Indonesia," she said in a statement issued by the Bangkok-based organisation today. She said for Indonesia, the smoking epidemic was a tragedy of colossal proportions as about 200,000 Indonesians die annually from smoke-related diseases and there were now about 60 million smokers, half of whom would die prematurely in the coming years. "An even bigger tragedy is that the tobacco industry's plan for Indonesia is to increase smoking and tobacco sales in the coming years. Hence, the industry is fighting tobacco control efforts in Indonesia viciously," she said. Malaysian National News Agency ramjit@bernama.com Indonesia Asia Asia-pacific Mon, 04 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.apact2010.org/Scientificprogram/tabid/1271/Default.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/279795.html The program will comprise 2.5 days of sessions, including plenary and keynote presentations, as well as a number of concurrent oral presentation sessions. In addition to the invited plenary and keynote speakers, a number of oral and poster presentations will be selected from a call for abstracts process. . . . Major conference topics include: * Tobacco industry conduct * Advertising, promotion and sponsorship * Tobacco products and harm reduction * Smoke-free places * Warnings and public information * Taxation and economics * Cessation aids and services * Preventing uptake * Progress towards meeting FCTC commitments and aspirations * Regional findings from recent research * Bloomberg/Gates funding and national impacts Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco science@apact.org.au Australia Asia-pacific Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.apact2010.org/ http://tobacco.org/news/279794.html 6 - 9 October 2010 Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre . . . We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney for what promises to be a memorable event in Tobacco Control. Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco Australia Asia-pacific Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/template.NDM/news/all/?javax.portlet.tpst=ccf123a93466ea4c882a06a9149550fd_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_ccf123a93466ea4c882a06a9149550fd_viewID=news_view_popup&javax.portlet.prp_ccf123a93466ea4c882a06a9149550fd_newsLang=en&javax.portlet.prp_ccf123a93466ea4c882a06a9149550fd_ndmHsc=v2*A1230728400000*B1233357857000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N1000003*Ztobacco&javax.portlet.prp_ccf123a93466ea4c882a06a9149550fd_newsId=20090129005426&beanID=2133606841&viewID=news_view_popup&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken http://tobacco.org/news/277948.html Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/aa7243/tobacco_in_asiapa) has announced the addition of the "Tobacco in Asia-Pacific" report to their offering. The Tobacco in Asia-Pacific industry profile is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the tobacco industry. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, plus textual and graphical analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, leading companies and demographic information. Business Wire press@researchandmarkets.com Asia-pacific Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/2373669/Article/index_html http://tobacco.org/news/272383.html MALAYSIA aims to become an anti-smoking advocacy role model for the Asean region by 2010. The Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) gave this assurance at the recent Regional Workshop on Tobacco Control and Sustainable Development organised by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca) here last week. Its president K. Koris Atan said Malaysia recognised the harmful effects of tobacco use not only on smokers but also on the public. Koris said Malaysia took seriously the World Health Organisation's findings that two people die each minute from tobacco-related diseases in the Western Pacific region. He said another shocking statistic was that a third -- or 430 million -- of the world's smokers are found in the region. "Malaysia is complying with the three-pronged measures of phasing out tobacco growing, increasing tobacco tax and restricting smoking in public areas. New Straits Times mailed@nstp.com.my (R. Sittamparam) Malaysia Asia-pacific Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics3_oct9_2008 http://tobacco.org/news/272285.html AN anti-tobacco organization in Southeast Asia yesterday called on health ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to pressure their governments into increasing taxes on cigaretters to make it difficult for people to buy them. Bungon Ritthiphakdee, director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, said that in the Philippines, even an 8-year-old child can buy cigarettes from the neighborhood store. “It’s very easy. Most store owners assume the child or teenager has been sent by an adult to buy cigarettes for them. And, of course, cigarettes are so cheap that a young child with P2 (about 4 US cents) would be able to buy one cigarette stick,” said Bungon. The Seatca said not all of the 160 countries that signed the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control have been able to enforce control measures. Manila Standard Today Philippines Asia-pacific Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.pinoypress.net/2008/09/26/who-more-efforts-needed-to-beat-tobacco-scourge/ http://tobacco.org/news/271672.html The World Health Organization warned today that countries will need to be much more aggressive in their attempts to stamp out smoking if they are to counter the tobacco industry's marketing techniques. Unless urgent action is taken, WHO warned that tobacco use could kill one billion people worldwide this century, with 80% of those deaths in developing countries. Worst hit will be WHO's Western Pacific Region, where it is estimated that two people die every minute from tobacco-related diseases. Compared with other WHO regions, the Western Pacific has the greatest number of smokers, the highest rates of male smoking prevalence, and the fastest increase of tobacco uptake by women and young people. In addition, studies show that up to 50% of all young people in the Region are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke pollution in their homes. In a report to the Regional Committee, Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said the WHO Regional Office continues to put the highest priority on providing technical assistance, capacity-building and other support to countries in keeping with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which seeks to reduce cigarette consumption. PinoyPress Asia-pacific Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT