Death’s-head killing duty-free sales

The requirement that a death’s-head symbol has to appear on all cigarette packs sold in Bahrain could cost Bahrain Duty Free (BDF) 20 per cent of its profit this year, according to a Gulf Daily News story.

BDF is currently not able to sell duty free cigarettes at the airport because international tobacco companies are refusing to supply them if the death’s-head has to be on their products, said company chairman Farouk Yousuf Almoayyed.

Bahrain is the only Gulf Co-operation Council country that requires the death’s-head to be included on duty free cigarettes, he added.

Speaking outside the BDF annual meeting being held at the Gulf Hotel, he said cuts at Gulf Air and the closure of Bahrain Air would also hit business.