http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/glh.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/exclusive-tobacco-giants-tell-whitehall-to-hand-over-its-secret-minutes-2347907.html http://tobacco.org/news/325672.html The tobacco industry is targeting the Department of Health to extract information about meetings between government officials and researchers who are investigating the public-health implications of new smoking policies. One leading tobacco company has asked for - and been given access to - the minutes of a confidential meeting between health department officials, cancer experts and foreign government officials - to the surprise of those who attended the private discussions. The Freedom of Information requests are part of a global campaign by tobacco companies to fight any further legal restrictions on cigarette sales and promotion, particularly the introduction of plain cigarette packets devoid of company logos and branding. Yesterday, The Independent revealed that the world's biggest tobacco company, Philip Morris International, has demanded access to confidential interviews with British children about their smoking attitudes and behaviour, collected as part of a research project at Stirling University funded by the charity Cancer Research UK. It used the Scottish Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to request the information. . . . The Department of Health has been subject to a series of FOI requests from tobacco companies, including one from Gallaher, which is part of Japan Tobacco International . . . Although tobacco companies can use FOI legislation to access government documents, the tobacco industry itself is not subject to the legislation. . . . In its FOI request, Gallaher wanted all information that the health department kept that could be viewed as evidence in favour of introducing plain-packaging legislation. It also wanted all correspondence between the department and outside organisations, such as the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies - a consortium of nine UK universities - and the scientific research charities Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation. The Independent UK Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.smokerswelcome.co.uk/About.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/302826.html This site was established to assist existing adult smokers (18 years and above) to be compliant in the new regulatory environment from 1 July, by providing factual information, free of charge, on venues in the UK with outdoor areas where adult smokers may smoke, drink, eat and socialise while remaining legally compliant. . . . This site is funded by British-American Tobacco (Holdings) Limited, Gallaher Limited and Imperial Tobacco Limited to ensure smokers are compliant with new laws. Smokers Welcome askus@smokerswelcome.co.uk UK Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6fcc9700-5866-11df-9921-00144feab49a.html http://tobacco.org/news/301073.html When Japan Tobacco bought Gallaher in 2007, there were more than a few rank and file workers at the UK cigarette maker’s Weybridge headquarters who harboured concerns about the £7.5bn deal. . . . Gallaher, whose brands include Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, was seen to be a good strategic fit for JT, which had little presence in the UK and Europe. But sceptics questioned whether the buyer, a former state-owned monopoly that is 50 per cent owned by the Japanese government, had the managerial acumen to make the returns to justify the price. . . . Yet three years on, JT’s gambit appears to be paying off, and has delivered more than $400m (£265m) in cost savings and other synergies ahead of schedule. Financial Times UK Wed, 05 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=JAPAY%3AUS&sid=aCZNxwCpGcL0 http://tobacco.org/news/300269.html Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Gallaher Group Ltd. and 10 retailers were fined 225 million pounds ($346 million) for coordinating cigarette prices between 2001 and 2003, a U.K. antitrust regulator said. Imperial, the maker of the West, Davidoff and JPS brands, received the largest penalty of 112.3 million pounds, the U.K. Office of Fair Trade said today in a statement. Gallaher, a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., was fined 50.4 million pounds. The fines are the largest of their kind by the regulator. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda unit was fined 14.2 million pounds and The Co-operative Group was fined 14.1 million pounds for their roles in a price-fixing scheme that the OFT says barred retailers from setting their own prices. The affected markets are worth about 13 billion pounds, the regulator said. Bloomberg News jmolenaar1@bloomberg.net (Jeroen Molenaar, Erik Larson and Sarah Shannon) UK Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5d07bc32-49b9-11df-9060-00144feab49a.html http://tobacco.org/news/300226.html Chas Manso de Zuniga, analyst at Evolution Securities, said assuming two years of potential appeals, the proposed £112.3m fine on Imperial would equate to the shares falling 8½p. Even under the worst case scenario, under which Imperial could be fined £229m, or 10 per cent of its turnover over the period in question, the amount would just equate to 17p, Mr de Zuniga added. Shares in Imperial fell 43p to £19.44 yesterday. Gallaher, now owned by Japan Tobacco, the world's second-biggest listed cigarette maker, had originally agreed to pay £93m two years ago as part of the same long-running investigation by the OFT. However, it saw its fine reduced by nearly half to £50m because of its co-operation. Financial Times Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aCZNxwCpGcL0 http://tobacco.org/news/300224.html Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Gallaher Group Ltd. and 10 retailers were fined 225 million pounds ($346 million) for coordinating cigarette prices between 2001 and 2003, a U.K. antitrust regulator said. Imperial, the maker of the West, Davidoff and JPS brands, received the largest penalty of 112.3 million pounds, the U.K. Office of Fair Trade said today in a statement. Gallaher, a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., was fined 50.4 million pounds. The fines are the largest of their kind by the regulator. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda unit was fined 14.2 million pounds and The Co-operative Group was fined 14.1 million pounds for their roles in a price-fixing scheme that the OFT says barred retailers from setting their own prices. The affected markets are worth about 13 billion pounds, the regulator said. “Practices such as these, which restrict the ability of retailers to set their resale prices for competing brands independently, are unlawful,” OFT Senior Director Simon Williams said in the statement. “They can lead to reduced competition and ultimately disadvantage consumers.” Bloomberg News jmolenaar1@bloomberg.net (Jeroen Molenaar, Erik Larson and Sarah Shannon) UK Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04c3aec4-4922-11df-8e4f-00144feab49a.html http://tobacco.org/news/300141.html 9:24 The Office of Fair Trading on Friday announced that it has imposed a fine on Imperial Tobacco and four retailers of just under £150m for tobacco pricing practices that it deemed to have breached competition law. . . . The pricing practices deemed illegal by the OFT involved arrangements by which the prices of a tobacco brand were linked to the price of a rival brand. The infringements spanned periods between 2001 and 2003. The new fines announced on Friday were dominated by a £112m penalty imposed on Imperial, whose brands include John Player Special and Golden Virginia. Financial Times UK Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa27b258-0ca9-11df-b8eb-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html http://tobacco.org/news/296192.html Debenhams moved to fill its soon-to-be vacant chairman’s post by announcing that it had appointed Nigel Northridge, a tobacco industry veteran, as John Lovering’s successor. Mr Northridge, 53, is a former chief executive of Gallaher, the cigarette maker that was bought by Japan Tobacco in 2006. He is chairman of Paddy Power, the bookmaker, and also a non-executive director at Aggreko, Thomas Cook and Inchcape. Debenhams, which operates 144 department stores in the UK and Ireland, had already appointed Mr Northridge to its board as a non-executive director, a post he formally took up at the start of the year. Financial Times Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/23/tobacco-perks-display-legislation http://tobacco.org/news/279235.html The world's third largest tobacco company is offering entertainment perks to parliamentary researchers as legislation that will ban the display of cigarettes is before peers and MPs. Japan Tobacco, the firm behind brands such as Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Camel and Winston, offered a "fun evening" watching the Strictly Come Dancing tour at the 02 Arena at the Millennium Dome in London. The company invited at least two MPs' aides, including the researcher for Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman. The aides turned down the chance to see Holby City star Tom Chambers, this year's winner, the entertainer Julian Clary, presenter Gethin Jones and former rugby player Kenny Logan. With tickets still on sale for £47.25, the offer is not the most lavish hospitality offered by the cigarette industry, but its timing will raise eyebrows when parliament is due to debate a health bill that will clamp down on the sale of cigarettes. . . . The offer to the researchers was made by Nick Harris, the corporate affairs manager of Gallagher, the British subsidiary of Japan Tobacco. The Guardian business.editor@guardian.co.uk (David Hencke, Westminster correspondent) UK Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thegrocer.co.uk//Articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=196752 http://tobacco.org/news/277628.html More than 15,000 small shops could go under if the government’s proposals to hide tobacco under the counter become law. In a worst-case scenario, it could leave 75,000 people unemployed – two-and-a-half times the jobs lost when Woolworths closed. That’s the stark warning from Japan Tobacco International, formerly Gallaher, which has given its damning verdict on the proposals as they reached the Lords this week. JTI said the figure had been estimated using data from Canada where a display ban was already in place. There, 30% of smaller independents were at risk of closure, and if this was translated to the UK, it put 15,000 indies in jeopardy. Sales would be displaced to the illicit trade which, JTI estimated, could rise to 30% of all tobacco smoked. The Grocer UK Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.talkingretail.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11316:new-silk-cut-squares-campaign-from-gallaher-for-independents&catid=5:product-news&Itemid=10 http://tobacco.org/news/273735.html "Silk Cut Squares" is set to hit independent and convenience retailers across the UK as Gallaher launches an innovative campaign in the lead up to Christmas for Silk Cut. The campaign will see retailers bagging thousands of pounds in prizes. This month, Galleher also released price marked Sterling packs for retailers. Commencing November 3rd, a Silk Cut Squares kiosk will tour tobacco rooms in over 40 cash & carries throughout November offering retailers the opportunity to win over £80,000 in prizes, with one lucky retailer winning a guaranteed prize of £10,000. Other prizes available include Sony TVs, Digital Cameras and MP3 players as well as cash prizes. Every retailer who purchases an outer of Silk Cut in participating depots will get the chance to play the Silk Cut Squares game in the kiosk. Talking Retail UK Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bdc02d94-a392-11dd-942c-000077b07658.html http://tobacco.org/news/272875.html An avid art collector, also owns other camel paintings by Chinese contemporary artist Zhou Tiehai, including Joe Camel as Mona Lisa which hangs in his private dining room. But it is the sly subversion of the iconic Marlboro image in his office that best hints at the scale of Pierre de Labouchere’s ambitions for Japan Tobacco, the world’s third-biggest publicly listed cigarette maker. “Our goal is to overtake PMI as the industry’s number one,” says Mr de Labouchere with a laugh. “So yes, I guess you can say there’s a subliminal message there [in the painting].” As the head of a division that has been the main driver of profit growth for JT over the past four years, the 54-year old Frenchman has reasons to be ebullient. JT, which also owns food and pharmaceuticals businesses, still has some way to go before it topples PMI . . . But the challenge for Mr de Labouchere will be whether he can internationalise any of Gallaher’s brands – most of which are relatively local in nature - in the same way he has with Winston. No less important is how trading in Russia - now its largest market by volume and second-largest by profit - will be affected by the fallout from the market turmoil. In the longer term, JTI still faces gaps in its portfolio, notably in Asia and Africa, and particularly in Latin America - a situation Mr de Labouchere says he would like to remedy. “At the moment our priority is to combine Gallaher into JTI’s existing operations,” Financial Times Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/tobacco/articles/entry/759/ http://tobacco.org/news/272667.html Since a series of press exposés in 2000-2001 documented the tobacco industry's extensive history of smuggling, the industry has seemingly retreated from the practice. Yet for Britain's largest cigarette manufacturer, Gallaher Tobacco, the smuggling may have continued. According to lawsuits brought by former Gallaher distributor Ptolomeos Tlais, the company used companies like his to funnel large quantities of cigarettes to developing countries with no real market -- and then smuggle them back into the European Union. Here are some of the key documents related to the lawsuits: The Affidavit -- Former Gallaher executive Norman Jack reveals how the company set up its smuggling strategy. The Verdict -- A British judge rejected Tlais's breach of contract suit against Gallaher, but found the company's practices "gave rise to a risk of smuggling." The Dirty Deal -- Gallaher arranged with Tlais to dump tons of moldy cigarettes overseas, while U.K. customs officials signed off on the deal. The Moratorium -- When Japan Tobacco International bought Gallaher in 2007, it also got a two-year moratorium on European Union enforcement of smuggling laws against Gallaher. Center for Public Integrity UK Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/tobacco/articles/entry/764/ http://tobacco.org/news/272665.html In 2004, Cyprus-based tobacco distributor Tlais Enterprises Limited (TEL) was told it had received a "red card" from British customs, a warning that the company was suspected of cigarette smuggling. TEL's owner, Ptolomeos Tlais, was surprised. Born in Lebanon to a wealthy trading family, Tlais was doing, he said, exactly what his supplier, Gallaher Tobacco, had told him to do: quickly dumping large amounts of cigarettes onto developing countries. Everyone involved, he insists, knew that some of these smokes -- especially their low-end Sovereign brand -- would find their way back to the U.K., where avoidance of high tobacco taxes guaranteed smugglers a windfall. In fact, Tlais had even signed a unique deal with both Gallaher -- the U.K.'s largest cigarette manufacturer -- and the U.K. customs service, giving them unprecedented access to his shipping records. In the deal, Tlais agreed to unload tens of millions of moldy cigarettes by mixing them with new cigarettes and selling them overseas. If anyone deserved a red card, Tlais felt, it was Gallaher for coming up with the plan. . . . Gallaher has denied any impropriety. Last April, in fact, the company prevailed in its U.K. legal dispute with TEL when Judge Christopher Clarke ruled that Gallaher had sufficient cause to cancel its contract with the distributor, and had, in fact, attempted to clean up its record on smuggling. Indeed, the judge fingered TEL, not Gallaher, for indiscriminately selling cigarettes to known smugglers. Judge Clarke, however, did not let Gallaher off the hook. In his 326-page ruling, he took the company to task for its past involvement in smuggling, and noted that the company's later practices "gave rise to a risk of smuggling" -- including Gallaher's supplying of a distributor without "any due diligence," goods that "were shipped to Cyprus and not to their ultimate destination," and export of cigarette packs with health warnings only in English, not in local languages. Center for Public Integrity Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=62824&d=254&h=5&f=3 http://tobacco.org/news/272410.html Tobacco companies are targeting financially vulnerable consumers with the launch of cheap cigarettes. The move by Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher comes in the wake of a government consultation that could restrict the promotional activity of tobacco giants. Imperial Tobacco, which makes brands such as Lambert & Butler, will launch a new brand called JPS Silver next month at a price of £4.21 for a pack of 20. Meanwhile, Gallaher, which makes Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, will reduce prices on its budget brand Sterling by 7% to £4.20 a pack. Marketing Week UK Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT