Author: Staff Writer

A German member of the European Parliament has said that Tonio Borg,Malta’s foreign minister, should not be allowed to join the college of European commissioners, according to a story by Toby Vogel for the European Voice.

Borg, who has been put forward by Malta as a replacement for John Dalli, who resigned last month from his position as European Commissioner responsible for health and consumer affairs, is due to appear before two Parliamentary committees today.

Holger Krahmer, a German Liberal MEP, said the commission president José Manuel Barroso should not have accepted Tonio Borg as a candidate for the job of health commissioner.

If Malta did not withdraw Borg as candidate, Barroso should reject him even before Borg’s hearing in the European Parliament he added.

Borg has come under criticism for his views, on women’s rights, homosexuality and abortion. He now also faces questions over a Kazakh citizen who was granted residency inMaltaat a time whenKazakhstanwas seeking his extradition. Borg denies any wrong doing.

“A court should decide over the allegations against Borg,” said Krahmer, the spokesman on the environment for the German Liberal MEPs. “I do, however, think it is remarkable that the president of the commission should make such a proposal to the European Parliament.”

The European Parliament is consulted on commissioners’ nominations but does not have the power to reject candidates.

Krahmer, according to a story in the Malta Independent, has been among those expressing their doubts on introducing tougher restrictions and bans as part of the revision of the commission’s tobacco products directive, now under review.

Asked for his views on the matter the Krahmer was quoted as saying that “the revision of the tobacco products directive was now likely to be off the table for this legislative period”.

“It is good that we now have more time to reflect on the meaning of further sales restrictions on tobacco products,” he said.

Meanwhile, Matthias Groote, chairman of the European Parliament’s environment committee, fears a revision of the tobacco products directive will not be proposed before the end of the year as planned, according to a story by Dave Keating for the European Voice.

But he then went on to say that this “important legislation has been postponed time and time again”. “The European Parliament and European public will not tolerate further delays,” he added.

An unnamed commission spokesperson was quoted as saying that though the directive would still be proposed as planned, it would not be put forward until a new health commissioner was in place.

Philip Morris International has welcomed the passing by the World Health Organization of the first international protocol aimed at fighting the illicit trade in tobacco.

“With sales estimated at more than 600 billion cigarettes a year – more than one in every 10 consumed – all black market tobacco products combined make up the third largest tobacco supplier in the world, said vice president of communications, Peter Nixon, in a statement.

“While the passage of this protocol is not the silver bullet to resolving this serious issue, it is a step toward addressing a problem that not only harms governments but fuels organized crime and terrorism.

“The long term solution to this challenge lies in governments implementing effective policies and providing sufficient enforcement resources to disrupt the global illegal supply chain through which these unlawful products are manufactured, transported and sold. In addition, preventative measures not covered under today’s agreement, such as regulating the essential materials used to produce tobacco products, should be considered by governments in the national implementation of this protocol.”

More information about PMI’s views on the illicit tobacco trade is at: http://www.pmi.com/eng/tobacco_regulation/illicit_trade/pages/illicit_trade.aspx.

Imperial TobaccoCanadahas congratulated the government of Manitoba for its leadership in addressing the supply of untaxed and unregulated tobacco sold by the First Nations-owned Chundee Smoke Shop.

“Manitobais leading the way on this important and complex societal issue,” said Caroline Ferland, Imperial’s vice-president corporate affairs.

“The province has taken decisive action to confront a problem that other provinces, most notablyOntarioandQuebec, have shied away from for fear of political fall-out.

“It is reassuring to see that at least one province believes that there should not be two sets of tobacco laws in this country.

“It is time for other provinces to follow suit.”

In a note posted on its website, Imperial said it recognized that the sale of tobacco by First Nation communities was a complex issue to resolve but that ignoring the problem only made it worse. It was now time, it added, for governments to show real leadership and find concrete solutions that would resolve this problem once and for all.

“First Nations have a significant role to play in addressing this issue and the federal and provincial governments must work with them to find solutions that will ensureCanada’s tobacco laws are respected,” said Ferland.

“Whatever your position on tobacco products, it is incontestable that legal tobacco – taxed, regulated, and subject to hundreds of restrictions under the law – pours millions of dollars into provincial coffers each year.

“Today, tobacco products sold by First Nations do not respect the tobacco laws and pay nothing back.”

Imperial said that a court order sought by the Manitoba Attorney General and issued on November 5 would allow theManitobagovernment to take ownership of the ‘controversial First Nations-owned Chundee Smoke Shop’.

The provincial government was quoted as saying that the court ruling “further validates our position that the possession and sale of non-Manitoba ‘marked’ tobacco products are illegal, as specified under the provisions of the Tobacco Tax Act. The Act applies to all tobacco sales on- and off-reserve, by both Aboriginal owned and non-Aboriginal owned businesses.”

With more than 350 smoke shacks inOntarioandQuebec, it is estimated thatOntarioloses approximately $500 million in tax revenue every year because of untaxed and unregulated tobacco whileQuebec’s estimates are at $225 million.

Members of the European Parliament are refusing to take no for an answer from the European Commission chief on access to a report on John Dalli, who resigned last month from his position as European Commissioner responsible for health and consumer affairs.

German Liberal MEP, Michael Theurer, the head of the budget control committee, reportedly told the EUobserver that political groups had asked parliament president, Martin Schulz, to “insist” on “full access” to a report by the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, on why Dalli lost his job.

Commission chief, José Manuel Barroso, in a letter to Schulz on 30 October, said he was legally bound to withhold the file.

“It’s not a question of the commission refusing access to the report; it’s a question of the commission fulfilling its legal obligations,” his spokeswoman, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, was quoted as saying.

OLAF’s investigation, which followed a complaint by Swedish Match, allegedly linked Dalli to a Maltese businessman who allegedly approached Swedish Match and offered to meet with Dalli regarding the EU’s policy on snus in exchange for €60 million.

OLAF did not find conclusive evidence of Dalli directly participating in the approach. Dalli resigned on October 16 denying any wrongdoing.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics’ national health survey shows that smokers make up 45.8 per cent of Tasmania’s men aged 25-34, according to a Mercury story relayed by the TMA.

This figure compares with an Australian average rate of 26.7 per cent for men in the same age group.

ASH’s national chief executive, Anne Jones, urged the federal government to raise cigarette excise tax and provide additional grants to the Tasmanian government for smoking prevention programs.

Kathryn Barnsley, who is a member of SmokeFree Tasmania, said the state government should double its funding for mass-media anti-smoking programs.

Responding to a Channel 4 (UK) documentary, Unreported World, British American Tobacco said on Friday that children were not, and would never be, its audience.

The company said that it, too, had been shocked to see the tragic situation of a six year old smoker whose mother had said he had been smoking since an even younger age.

‘We do not want children to smoke,’ BAT said in a note posted on its website. ‘Our marketing is aimed at adult consumers who are able to make an informed choice as to whether they smoke and which brand they choose.

‘It’s important to point out that we comply with all laws in all of the countries we operate in and would support government regulations prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the legal minimum age in their country.

‘We firmly agree that children must never be exploited, exposed to danger or denied an education. We make it clear to all of our contracted farmers and suppliers that exploitative child labour will not be tolerated.

‘British American Tobacco is a founding member and supporter of the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation – a multi-stakeholder partnership, advised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) committed to helping stop exploitation that deprives children of an education and risks their health.

‘Reflecting the ILO’s stance, it recognises that in poor communities, often on small family farms, low risk work that doesn’t interfere with schooling and leisure time can be a normal part of growing up in a rural environment.’

The Altria Group has been ranked number 30 amongAmerica’s most community-minded companies in The Civic 50 survey – the first comprehensive ranking of S&P (Standard & Poor’s) 500 corporations that best use their time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business.

The survey was conducted by the National Conference on Citizenship and Points of Light, the nation’s definitive experts on civic engagement, in partnership with Bloomberg LP.

“For Altria, our companies and employees, investing in our communities means more than just writing a check,” said Jennifer Hunter, senior vice president of corporate affairs, Altria Client Services. “We’re committed to helping make our communities better places to live, work and play. We work to find long-lasting solutions to the challenges facing our communities – an important part of how we pursue Altria’s mission and make our business more successful.”

More details of The Civic 50 are at: www.civic50.org.

The Irish government has been asked to appoint a regulator who would limit the profits of the tobacco industry and, in doing so, generate around €150m a year for the exchequer, according to a story by Eilish O’Regan for the Irish Independent.

The request was made by the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society when they outlined their pre-budget submissions to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children.

Under the scheme, the regulator would limit the amount of profit tobacco companies could make and any additional surplus made would go to the state.

Chris Macey, the Irish Heart Foundation’s head of advocacy, was reported to have said that this system had “worked effectively for other industries”.

“It would mean the tobacco manufacturers had less money to invest in smooth marketing techniques, public relations agencies and other initiatives aimed at undermining the government’s efforts to reduce the smoking rate,” he added.

Macey estimated that €150m would cover the wages of 4,167 extra nurses, 4,853 new primary school teachers, 5,480 new Garda recruits, 7,188 new special needs assistants; 165,000 extra hospital bed days, or 100 new MRI scanners.

The Sri Lankan Health Ministry says the government suffers an annual loss of Rs4 billion due to non-communicable diseases caused by smoking and that the ministry is committed to reducing the habit, according to a story in the Daily Mirror.

The tobacco industry filed action against Health Minister, Maithripala Sirisena, in the Court of Appeal on November 2 requesting an order preventing the implementation of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs, as ordered by the minister in a gazette notification issued in August.

Ministry spokesman, W.A.D Wanninayake, said the ministry had issued a gazette notice to introduce warnings with images of illnesses caused by smoking, along with warning texts in three languages, to prevent the increasing rate of non-communicable diseases.

“About 75 per cent of deaths that occur each day in the country are due to non-communicable diseases caused by the use of cigarettes,” he said. “Our objective in issuing the gazette notice is to ensure a healthy society.”

A research review by scientists at British American Tobacco suggests that the regulatory functions and inherent stability of microRNAs make them suitable biomarker candidates for early detection of the molecular and genetic changes associated with smoking-related diseases (Biomarkers Med. (2012) 6(5), 671–684).

‘MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNA molecules that play key roles in regulating gene expression,’ according to a BAT press note issued yesterday. ‘They are involved in a wide range of biological processes such as cell cycle control, apoptosis and several developmental and physiological processes.

‘Chronic cigarette smoke causes various molecular and genetic changes in the respiratory tract and is a high risk factor for such smoking-related diseases as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular disease.

‘The potential of miRNAs as effective biomarkers of biological effect is borne out by the results of several studies demonstrating that miRNA expression patterns differ in diseased and normal tissue. miRNAs also play a vital role in inflammation, which contributes to development of these diseases, and serve as key regulators of immune response.

‘It is cancer in particular in which miRNAs have so far shown the most promise as biomarkers. Some miRNAs act as oncogenes, some play important roles in tumour invasion and metastasis, while others suppress tumours.

‘Research shows that cigarette smoke impairs the regulatory function of a variety of miRNAs in all stages of lung cancer formation, but that resulting changes in miRNA expression only become irreversible after exposure to high doses of smoke for some time.’

Changes in miRNA expression can indicate not only the presence of a tumour but also its origin and stage of development. “By measuring miRNAs in several types of body fluids, it is possible to robustly discriminate between patients with disease and healthy controls, and reliably identify patients with good from poor prognosis,” said chief scientific officer, Dr. Chris Proctor. “Additionally, miRNA expression changes are identified at early stages of disease development. Therefore the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers of biological effect appears extremely promising.”

In addition, miRNAs – unlike messenger RNAs (mRNAs) – are highly stable in tissue and blood, are resistant to RNA degradation, and can be found in blood, saliva and urine, enabling easy, non-invasive detection.

“The changing profile of miRNA expression in diseased and normal tissues, the dysregulation of a variety of miRNAs throughout all stages of pulmonary carcinogenesis by cigarette smoke, non-invasive sampling methods and the reversibility of miRNA expression on smoking cessation reported indicate the relevance of miRNAs as potentially ideal biomarkers of biological effect,” said the review author, BAT’s Anisha Banerjee.

The researchers note that further studies are required to identify the miRNAs most relevant to specific diseases and to develop robust isolation and detection methods.