Author: Staff Writer

Chewing the Fat
Our U.K. editor ponders the absence of health warnings on his calorie-laden ice cream bar
Recently, I had an ice cream bar from a stash in our freezer. I appreciate the own-brand product in question because the supermarket that offers it has gone to the trouble of catering for vegans such as me and is offering a tasty ice cream bar whose production is almost certainly more environmentally friendly than that of the usual animal-products-based ice cream bars. And while the vegan ice cream bars are wrapped in nonrecyclable plastic, the wrapping is thin, and the whole is offered in a recyclable cardboard box.
What’s not to like? Well, when I opened the box, the contents looked as if somebody fairly large had sat on it with intent. Packaging is supposed to protect products, but it cannot work miracles, and there must be a complex set of calculations that would have to be made to determine what is the ideal strength and efficacy of packaging, taking into account such things as the need to maintain product integrity in the supply chain, the danger of waste, the need to protect the consumer’s image of a brand, costs versus benefits, and a whole slew of factors impacting the environment.
Frankly, despite the forlorn appearance of my squashed ice cream bar, I cannot help thinking that the packaging of this own-brand was just about right. The type of packaging that would have been needed to protect the ice cream bars from the sort of pressure my box came under would make them too expensive at retail and far too damaging to the environment.
But there was something else about this packaging that made me think. Why was there no health warning on it? I’m sure these ice cream bars could become “addictive,” which means I could become obese eating them; so, using the sort of logic applied to cigarettes, these ice cream bars could kill—me, for one! Cigarette packs are strewn with huge, grizzly warnings while ice cream bar packs are not, which is perhaps part of the reason why only about 14 percent of adults in the U.K. smoke while more than 50 percent are overweight or obese.

I have lived a long time, but I have never seen teeth so badly damaged as some of those depicted on cigarette warning labels.
Okay, you might argue, cigarette consumption causes all manner of health issues—but then so does being overweight or obese. According to my rough-and-ready research, smoking is associated with 16 cancers, but being overweight or obese is associated with 12 cancers. And take a look at our current situation. I see a lot of stories about how smokers who contract Covid-19 are at higher risk of severe outcomes than others in the population, though these reports are often quiet on smokers’ risks of contracting the disease in the first place. But, in fact, “increased body weight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalization and a high risk of death for people suffering from Covid-19,” according to the World Obesity Foundation website.
And what is the greatest factor? Smoking? No, age.
So why are there health warnings on cigarettes and none on the sorts of food associated with overweight and obesity. One argument could be that you can eat sugary and fatty foods sensibly and not become overweight or obese just as, according to the government, you can—don’t laugh—drink alcohol responsibly. This, I imagine, is poppycock. The ideas that you couldn’t safely consume one cigarette a day, but you can consume one ice cream bar or one glass of wine and not be tempted to have another, are beyond reason to my way of thinking.
Am I advocating sensible, responsible smoking? No. Definitely not. But then I wouldn’t encourage either the responsible drinking of alcohol or the sensible consumption of ice cream bars.
What I find unacceptable is the fact that while the packaging of other consumer products that raise serious health concerns bear more or less no ill-health messages, cigarette packaging does have such messages, and many of those messages, I suspect, are bogus. The trouble is that on cigarette packs that I see, there is no indication of what percentage of smokers ever suffer from the types of complaints depicted or what proportion of smokers suffer those complaints to the level depicted, so what is being conveyed in many of these graphic warnings is misleading at best, wrong at worst.
One example comprises some of the oral problems portrayed. I have lived a long time, but I have never seen teeth so badly damaged as some of those depicted on cigarette warning labels. In this case, I have to assume that such afflictions affect only a small proportion of smokers, so, to my way of thinking, this should be stated on the warnings. That way, smokers might take note.
At the same time, it might be worth pondering whether ice cream bars are good for your teeth.
Oh yes, and one other thing. Purely by chance, I wrote this piece on World No Smoking Day, March 10, so I thought I might check whether there was a similar day in the calendar for obesity. There isn’t. Well, that’s not quite true. There is no World No Obesity Day nor any World No Eating Day. But there is World Obesity Day (March 4 this year), which sounds odd to my way of thinking—almost as if it’s a celebration. —George Gay
April 1, 2021
Fighting Fakes

Chinese law enforcement officers destroy confiscated equipment that was used to manufacture counterfeit cigatrettes (Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive)
As illicit trade thrives in the pandemic, demand for security devices is expected to grow.
By Stefanie Rossel
Reduction in trade, restrictions on movement—while many legal businesses are suffering in the difficult conditions brought about by governments’ attempts to halt the proliferation of Covid-19, the pandemic has provided fertile ground for the activities of criminal organizations. A 2020 report by Euromonitor International found that the pandemic led to a surge in illicit trade, particularly in the tobacco industry, where organized crime is causing governments to lose billions in tax revenue as well as severely affecting legitimate businesses.
“The pandemic has created the ideal conditions for illicit trade in general to grow by amplifying the underlying key drivers that contribute to market imbalance,” says Nicola Sudan, general secretary of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA). “These include disrupted supply chains combined with global demand going off balance and government interventions, such as closed borders and consumption bans.
“There is also altered consumer behavior as a result of increased economic hardship and lockdowns. In North America, for instance, we have seen an exponential increase in illegal tobacco—and drug—trafficking direct to consumers while they are locked down at home. This is expected to continue as a way of avoiding taxes. And in France, interestingly, changes in sales patterns during times when borders were closed has also shown the extent of cross-border shopping in normal times when customers take advantage of differential tax regimes in the European Union to circumvent tax measures.”

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Stretched government resources have curtailed enforcement efforts. “Indeed, the pandemic impacted the traditional work practices of tax authorities, leading to decreased inspection visits to factories and reduced audit performance. This weakened state capacity might have emboldened producers to mis-declare and under-declare their production,” says Sudan.
Criminals have been quick to exploit these opportunities to expand their activities in scope and scale. “While legitimate businesses were struggling to maintain business operations during the pandemic, criminal elements adapted to the altered conditions with remarkable speed. With air traffic and air cargo significantly reduced, traffickers increasingly utilized land shipments, international small parcel shipments and relocated production facilities closer to destination countries.”
Increased illicit trade in excise goods also resulted as an unintended consequence from well-intentioned efforts to blunt the impacts of the pandemic. Several countries, including South Africa, banned both the sale of liquor and tobacco products during lockdown, leading to unprecedented levels of illicit trade. “According to news reports, over 90 percent of smokers were able to buy their cigarettes from illegal sellers [in South Africa],” says Sudan. “Many people fear these levels of illicit trade will persist long after the pandemic finally subsides as they will have the effect of further entrenching in different countries an already thriving illicit tobacco and alcohol market.”

The pandemic has created the ideal conditions for illicit trade in general to grow by amplifying the underlying key drivers that contribute to market imbalance.
Nicola Sudan, general secretary, International Tax Stamp Association
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The massive rise in counterfeiting during the pandemic is expected to boost demand for security and authentication devices to better protect brands. Sudan notes that requests for security devices, including that for tax stamps and marks and secure traceability systems, come primarily from national governments. “Given the devastating impact of the pandemic on economies across the world, it has never been more important for governments to be able to raise significant levels of revenue—and raise them quickly—in order to rebuild their ravaged economies. To do this, however, they will likely need to increase tax rates, including excise taxes.”
Sudan warns that before imposing tax increases, especially in the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic, governments should ensure they have robust tax administration, border management and supply chain control systems in place to recover the taxes and duties already due to them that are lost to illicit trade. “This is where security mechanisms such as tax stamps and traceability schemes have a significant role to play as confirmed by authoritative bodies such as the World Bank and as demonstrated by systems already in place in a number of countries.”
Sudan anticipates the greatest need for security devices to come from developing economies, mainly throughout Asia and Africa, where weak tax administration and supply chain control have led to widespread acts of noncompliance and tax evasion by domestic operators and where porous borders have facilitated smuggling and other forms of illicit trade. “Robust tax administration and supply chain control systems are generally characteristic of advanced economies because of their well-established practices. In developing countries, there is an appetite for new technologies such as the use of tax stamps and other security devices to strengthen tax administration and increase compliance by economic operators involved with excisable products.”

With air traffic and air cargo significantly reduced, traffickers increasingly utilized land shipments, international small parcel shipments and relocated production facilities closer to destination countries.
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Sophisticated solutions
In recent years, authentication technologies in the tobacco sector have made great strides. The implementation of a tracking and tracing regime is a requirement of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s (FCTC) supplementary treaty, the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which entered into force in September 2018. Traceability of the movement of legal tobacco products from the field to the consumer has already become obligatory in the EU, which, as part of its revised Tobacco Products Directive, requires cigarette packs and other tobacco products packaging to be labeled with an individual ID code, a so-called unique identifier (UID) since May 2019.
An authentication system using a UID involves the generation, capture, encryption, application, recording, interrogation and verification of the code. “Such systems are designed to provide crucial data to revenue and customs authorities for the effective control and enforcement of their excise management programs,” says Sudan. “Comprehensive track-and-trace systems, which go a stage further by following the product all the way from manufacturer/distributor to retailer/consumer are not yet the norm. However, the building blocks are there, and an increasing number of such systems are now being implemented—not only because it makes financial and logistical sense to do so but because, in a few years’ time, the more than 60 parties to the WHO FCTC Protocol will in any case be obliged to implement tracking and tracing as part of their commitment to the Protocol.”
An all-digital solution, as opposed to one based on the use of paper-based security labels, cannot be used to cover the traceability, authentication and tax collection needs of a government, she clarifies. “Although there are some very good digital systems currently in place that provide a lot of data for national excise management programs, tobacco products in particular are susceptible to acts of fraud and manipulation due to the high levels of tax associated with them. Such illicit acts involve the cloning of a UID on a pack of cigarettes to make it look like the real thing and ostensibly perform the same function as a legitimate code.”
To mitigate the risk of code duplication, ISO standards recommend incorporating an intrinsic, physical security layer into the UID as an authentication element. “However, although it is possible to incorporate some security into digital codes, a lot more security can be carried by a label such as a tax stamp. The stamp provides better protection and higher visibility as well as providing an anti-tampering function and catering to a wider range of stakeholders. So, while a digital solution may be suitable for low-tax or no-tax products, tobacco products in particular need a more robust solution to deal with the fraudulent practices that affect this high-risk market.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

April 1, 2021
Coping with Covid

Photo: Transcom Sharaf
Accustomed to dealing with unforeseen situations, tobacco storage and logistics companies take the pandemic-related disruptions in stride.
By George Gay
During a telephone call on April 10, 2019, Guy Harvey, the CEO of logistics company Transcom Sharaf Group, which is based in Beira, Mozambique, told me that while his business had suffered “a few blows” from Cyclone Idai, it would come out of it stronger than it went in and better equipped to deal with any future extreme weather events (see “After the Storm,” Tobacco Reporter, May 2019). The port was operating, and the infrastructure was there, “so it’s business as usual,” he added.
It is astonishing how resilient some companies are. For those who need reminding, Cyclone Idai, which struck Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in the middle of March 2019, was described by the U.N. as one of the worst weather-related disasters in Africa. Other agencies rated it as one of the worst in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Given what happened two years ago and Transcom’s response to those events, I wasn’t surprised when, at the end of February this year, I was in touch with Harvey again and learned that, while the Covid-19 pandemic too had delivered a few blows to the company’s tobacco business, these had been fended off with judicious changes to normal and planned methods of operation. Nor was I surprised that, in one sense at least, there was a feeling that the business might come out of the pandemic stronger than it went into it.
As part of an email exchange, and in answer to a question, Harvey told me the pandemic had to some extent disrupted leaf tobacco delivery times on those markets that use Transcom’s facilities. There had been a delay in getting sample test results and, as a consequence, delays in obtaining sales confirmations and shipping instructions, which had resulted in longer-than-usual storage periods of higher volumes, he said. In addition, some destination countries also had higher-than-usual tobacco stocks at ports or storage facilities, the result of their own shutdowns; so they could not accept new-crop tobaccos as soon as would normally have been the case. “A lot more shipments had to be carefully scheduled to limit volume arrival per month, which required careful planning,” said Harvey. “In some cases, financial pressures meant sales were rolled to 2021 completely.”

Guy Harvey
Different ways of working
Meanwhile, Rene Luyten, a director of b-Cat, which, as part of its business activities, works closely with tobacco warehouse and logistic companies, made the point that whereas the pandemic had affected all businesses, this didn’t mean necessarily that business activities were down in all areas; in some cases, it just meant that different ways of working had had to be adopted. Before the pandemic, it was usual to visit customers’ sites, whereas now, some of those “visits” had gone virtual—were being made via video calls, which in most cases worked well. And though some new projects had had to be put on hold last year, the company had been able to send technicians to install its Controlled Atmosphere Chambers, which, for instance, are used by some warehouse operators to control insects in tobacco stocks.
Rene Luyten
Harvey pointed out that Transcom had been fortunate in at least one respect because Mozambique had suffered fewer restrictions than other countries in southern Africa and, indeed, than those in much of the rest of the world. The only strict shutdown in Mozambique had occurred in April and May 2020, which was in any case the normal “off season” for tobacco. And while temporary government office closures and restricted working hours had added some documentation delays, the movement of cargo from Transcom’s facilities to and into the port of Beira had hardly been affected.
By the same token, Luyten considers b-Cat to have been fortunate to operate out of the Netherlands, which has operated a “Smart Lockdown,” thereby allowing the company to operate its factory as normal throughout the pandemic. On the negative side, he said, supplier delivery times had been extended, but even this had not affected b-Cat’s operations materially. One upshot of this business continuity is that, not only has the company been able to retain all its employees, but it is expecting to have to take on additional skilled technicians.

Due than higher-than-normal tobacco stocks at ports and storage facilities, some shipments had to be carefully scheduled to limit volume arrival per month during the pandemic.
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While getting tobacco to the port of Beira has been relatively straightforward for Transcom, shipping it out of Beira has presented challenges. During the past three months, some shipping lines have been moving their empty containers to Asia to meet the high demand there, regardless of export contracts already in place, and, in some cases, customers have had to pay higher ocean freight rates than those for which they would have budgeted.
Bart Brouwerens
And in this respect, it might be some time until things return to normal. Bart Brouwerens, a director of the Netherlands-based Andromeda Forwarding & Logistics, told me in an email exchange at the beginning of March that rates for containers from the Far East had quadrupled during the past year. Lots of clients were holding shipments in the hope that rates would decrease, Brouwerens said, but “regretfully this is not the case yet.” Vessels were fully booked and, for as long as shipowners were able to attract high levels of freight, they would require their clients to pay premium prices. “I do not foresee any changes to this in the near future,” he added.
As is suggested above, while for most industries and business sectors the pandemic has been hugely negative overall, some individual businesses, while suffering, have been able to take advantage of new opportunities. Transcom, for instance, has seen an increase in tobacco from Zimbabwe being routed through the Beira corridor because of the strict lockdowns and border closures that have been in place on the more traditional routing to Durban, South Africa. “This is an opportunity for us to show the services we can provide and hopefully grow more market share,” said Harvey. In a similar way, while pandemic-inspired restrictions on travel have been largely negative for a company that values face-to-face meetings and believes they cannot be replaced completely with virtual meetings, it believes also that, in the future, regular conference calls will comprise a useful addition to in-person meetings.

Despite the pandemic, b-Cat has been able to send technicians to install its controlled atmosphere chambers.
The importance of face to face
Luyten seems largely in agreement. He believes that making on-site contacts will remain important (and more fun than remote interactions), but that the travel this involves can be reduced and, indeed, rendered more efficient and effective by augmenting it with video calls, which he sees as being fast and efficient.
One aspect of b-Cat’s business that lends itself well to such ways of working is its vQm (modified atmosphere) packaging system, which is used mainly in the food industry and which is said to be taking off hugely. Luyten explained that this was a simple and flexible system that didn’t need installation support on-site. The client could operate the system without the physical presence of b-Cat personnel.
While dispatching tobacco has created challenges for Transcom, so, too, has ensuring receipt of the supplies necessary for conducting its business. Imports of spares and maintenance items from China and South Africa have been a lot slower than pre-pandemic, and the company has had to get used to holding higher stock levels than it would like to do and to planning further ahead. At the same time, it has been challenging getting the overseas contractors needed to work with some of the company’s specialized equipment and new project developments, which means that it has had to put some projects on hold and make alternative plans in respect of others.

Making a plan
Despite these setbacks, Transcom has retained and protected all its staff, none of whom had tested positive for Covid-19 by the time of our email exchange. Nevertheless, Harvey was not being complacent. Mozambique was currently facing its highest rates of infections, so preventative measures had been increased accordingly, he said. Transcom had introduced a program of continuous education and awareness, something that it hoped had benefitted society beyond the work environment. Strict sanitary measures had been introduced while the wearing of face masks and social distancing had been made compulsory. In addition, the company had introduced takeaway meals from its canteen according to a rotational shift system and increased the number of work shifts with lower staff numbers per shift. It had cancelled all external, noncritical visits to site for a long period, assessed on a case-to-case basis. Additionally, it had stopped all nonessential staff travel, and, where travel was essential, post-trip, home quarantine had been made a requirement.
It is a similar situation at b-Cat, where there have been no positive Covid-19 tests among employees, even those who have been travelling. Many precautions had been taken, said Luyten, both by b-Cat and by the clients on behalf of whom b-Cat had been operating. Strict protocols were in place, and all b-Cat’s employees had been provided with personal protective equipment while, at the same time, receiving clear instructions, including those concerning the need to respect the precautions being taken by client companies. Of course, Luyten added, none of this could eliminate completely the risk created by Covid-19, but, so far, maintaining high standards of hygiene and applying common sense had kept employees safe.

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It is too early to say what will be the full financial impact of the changes that have had to be made because of the pandemic, but this should be clearer by the end of this year. Harvey did say, however, that the pandemic had been a tough pill to swallow given that Transcom was still recovering from the effects of Cyclone Idai. The company had been proactive in business diversification planning and had taken advantage of the extra volume coming through the corridor due to the restrictions in South Africa. “We hope to show our new clients that we are a better alternative and establish long-term relationships with them,” he said.
So, what about the future? When, if ever, shall we be back to “normal”? Well, Harvey doesn’t think things will ever return to “normal” but that businesses, such as Transcom, will adapt to the “new normal,” perhaps by the end of this year, by which time, it is hoped, vaccination programs will have been rolled out regionally. Certainly, some protocols introduced because of the pandemic will remain in place indefinitely.
In addressing the question of the future, Luyten put his faith in science and, particularly, in the development of vaccines, though he said that the rollout of such vaccines to everybody was still some way in the future. And even then, he questioned whether life would return to what it was pre-pandemic. In the meantime, he added, it was incumbent on people to make the best of the situation and hope for an end to the loss of family members and friends to Covid-19.
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

April 1, 2021
Alternatives for Adolescents

Iro Schunke Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
Youth empowerment, the main objective of the Growing Up Right Institute, is a key element for transformation in Brazil.
By Stefanie Rossel
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The United Nations has declared 2021 the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor. Although child labor decreased by 38 percent in the past decade, it still affects 152 million children worldwide. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), around 70 percent of child laborers work in the agricultural sector. Tobacco cultivation plays an inglorious role in this issue—child labor still occurs in developing countries, such as Malawi and Indonesia, but also in rich countries, such as the United States.
Brazil, the world’s No. 2 tobacco producer, which in 2020 exported $1.4 billion in leaf, according to Statista data, is familiar with the issue too. In 2008, the country barred children under 18 from any work with tobacco and imposed penalties for child labor violations for farmers, factories and companies that purchase tobacco leaves from fields that employ children. Through extensive information campaigns, the government has raised tobacco farmers’ awareness about the hazards of nicotine and pesticide exposure, particularly for children. Despite the country’s understaffed labor ministry and lack of resources to carry out sufficient inspections, Brazil has been praised for its progress in addressing the problem.
“The tobacco sector is, without any doubt, a model of child labor eradication in the rural areas in Brazil,” says Iro Schünke , president of the Growing Up Right Institute (Istituto Crescer Legal, or ICL). “The fact has already been acknowledged by the ILO. For over two decades, we have been fighting the problem, and it is no exclusivity of the tobacco sector in the rural area.”
Between 2000 and 2010, the greatest reductions in child labor reduction took place on smallholder tobacco farms, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. During that decade, the sector lowered the rate of child labor in the tobacco supply chain by 58 percent in Rio Grande do Sul, even as the area dedicated to tobacco cultivation doubled. The national average reduction of child labor, Schünke points out, is 10 percent.
Numerous awareness initiatives on farmers’ health and safety and child and adolescents’ protection, launched by Brazil’s tobacco industry since 2009, have contributed to this development. According to Schünke , the tobacco industry is the only agricultural sector in Brazil to require school enrollment forms and school attendance certificates of school-age children as a condition for the renewal of commercial contracts with farmers.
“The main challenge to the theme in the rural area, especially in family farming, is a cultural question,” says Schünke . “During all those years of holding seminars, we perceived a feeling of great anxiety among the farmers about what to do with their children once they conclude their elementary school. The shortage of rural schools is just another problem in the rural area and, along with the problem of drugs and idleness, the parents end up contributing toward a cultural viewpoint that places great value on work, thus encouraging the children and adolescents to engage in activities inappropriate for their age.”

Creating better chances
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Awareness work was necessary to help parents place greater value on education while public policies were needed to strengthen the schools in rural areas, according to Schünke . In 2015, SindiTabaco, Brazil’s Interstate Tobacco Industry Union, and its associate companies established the ICL. Supported by experts and organizations involved with education and the fight against child labor, the initiative provides young people with opportunities in rural areas.
It is currently focused on southern Brazil—a major tobacco cultivation region—and provides children between the ages of 14 and 17 who want to follow in the footsteps of their tobacco-growing parents with training programs in rural administration and entrepreneurship. The curriculum includes studies of the rural properties, diagnosis of the municipality and region based on the local productive arrangements, mapping of local partnerships and strategic alliances. It also involves the development of group work, engaging the families and communities, as well as product creation and viability studies.
The adolescents are hired as apprentices by tobacco companies and are remunerated in compliance with the country’s learning law. Instead of working, the participants carry out theoretical and practical activities within the premises of the school, geared toward the reality of their families and communities, thus stimulating life projects and personal development without leaving the rural areas. Exclusively focused on rural management and entrepreneurship, there is no training relative to any specific type of rural activity, not even tobacco, Schünke explains. “The young are provided with tools to think about their life projects, whether in the rural setting or in town, with an eye on sustainability.”
The training takes place in the shift opposite regular school hours and comprises 900 hours of tuition in one year. “The young apprentices [enjoy] the same benefits as the apprentices in town,” says Schünke . “This is a way to keep them away from inappropriate activities for their age and, at the same time, provide them or their families with a source of income,” says Schünke . “The course also provides the adolescents with a new vision on the countryside—they come to know about possibilities that have not yet been explored by their family members; they come to grips with the value of the land and acknowledge the farm as business. “Within this context, it is not a rare thing to see a change in the way some young people look at the rural activities and at the countless chances to do business in the countryside, whether as farmers, service providers, educators or leaders in their communities, for example.”
Rural exodus is a major issue in Brazil, which is one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America. According to Statista, almost 87 percent of the population lived in cities in 2019; their share has continuously increased over the past decade.
Toward more gender equality
In its six years of operation, nearly 500 young people have benefited from the ICL’s rural professional learning program. The initiative, says Schünke , has gained momentum at national and international levels. “When they finish the course, the youth are more qualified to understand that it is through qualification and education that they can improve their quality of life. Furthermore, they are in a better position to understand which tasks are appropriate to their respective age and the importance of their extended and continuing education, carrying on with their studies of both their elementary education and higher education. As a result, they are better prepared to make their choices for the future and engage in professional work as soon as they achieve the minimum age required.”
Apart from the training program, the institute offers courses focused on gender equality and on entrepreneurship in education. “Us for Them—The Female Voice in the Countryside” is a program designed to develop the communication skills of young rural girls. One of its objectives is to keep all rural communities informed through local radio programs. “Four editions of the program have already been conducted, starting in 2017, focused on former girl students of the rural professional learning program.”
In 2020, the institute launched a pilot of its program “Good Practices in Entrepreneurship for Education” in the municipality of Cangucu, Rio Grande do Sul. The initiative consists of sharing methodological tools tested and approved by the pedagogical team of the Growing Up Right Institute with the aim to qualify teachers able to multiply these practices geared toward administration and entrepreneurship.
For the time being, all the activities take place exclusively in Rio Grande do Sul, Schünke says. “We have plans to extend the activities of the institute to other tobacco growing regions in Brazil.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

April 1, 2021
JTI to Upgrade its Romanian Factory

Photo: gavia26210 from Pixabay
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) will invest €60 million ($70.43 million) to upgrade the production capacities of its factory in Romania, reports SeeNews.
The investment program will be deployed over the next three years, increasing the volume of JTI cigarettes manufactured in Romania.
The factory located in Bucharest’s Pipera industrial area is expected to play a key role in JTI’s sourcing to the EU markets.
“JTI Manufacturing will be provided with cutting-edge equipment in terms of technology and production standards,” JTI Romania factory lead Jamie Dunlop said.
Romania is the third-largest cigarette manufacturer in Europe after Germany and Poland. At present, some 70 percent of JTI Manufacturing Romania’s production is exported to some 50 countries.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, in 2020, exports totaled over €1.3 billion.
JTI Manufacturing will be provided with cutting-edge equipment in terms of technology and production standards.
Jamie Dunlop, JTI Romania factory lead
Currently, JTI employs more than 1,200 people in Romania, including 500 at the Bucharest factory.
The company’s two entities in Romania—manufacturing and trading—paid over RON4.77 billion ($1.14 billion) in excise, VAT and other taxes, duties and contributions to the Romanian state in 2020, up 12 percent from the previous year.
JTI started operating in Romania in 1993 as R.J. Reynolds International and was one of the first multinationals to invest in the local tobacco industry. The company has invested over €250 million in Romania to date.
March 31, 2021
Bulgaria: Illegal Cigarettes Seized

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Bulgarian law enforcement officers seized more than 13 million smuggled cigarettes in the port city of Burgas, according to Xinhua Net. The cigarettes were destined for Hungary.
The illegal products were found in a semi-trailer that arrived by ferry from Georgia, according to the National Customs Agency (NCA) and Bulgaria’s prosecutor’s office.
The total value of the seized cigarettes is about $3 million.
Due to its location, Bulgaria is a favorite destination for traffickers, with 16.1 million illegal cigarettes seized by the NCA in 2020.
March 31, 2021
Industry Should Pay for Cleaning Cigarette Litter

Photo: Pixabay
The United Kingdom is considering a plan to force big tobacco companies to pay the annual cost of cleaning up discarded cigarette butts.
The move comes after fresh evidence reveals that cleaning up littered cigarette butts currently costs U.K. local authorities around £40 million ($55 million) per year. Despite smoking rates being at their lowest recorded level, cigarette filters continue to be the most littered item in England.
Among the options being looked at by ministers is a regulatory extended producer responsibility scheme for cigarette butts in England, a new power currently being legislated for in the environment bill. This would require the tobacco industry to pay the full disposal costs of tobacco waste products, ensuring the sector takes sufficient financial responsibility for the litter its products create.
“Cigarette butts are a blight on our communities, littering our streets or ending up washed down the drain and polluting our rivers and oceans,” said Environment Minister Rebecca Pow in a government press note. “We must all take action to protect our environment. We are committed to making sure that the tobacco industry plays its part. That is why we are exploring how cigarette companies can be held fully accountable for the unsightly scourge of litter created by their products.”

We must all take action to protect our environment. We are committed to making sure that the tobacco industry plays its part.
Rebecca Pow, U.K. environment minister
“We are making excellent progress in our ambition to be a smoke-free country by 2030, with smoking rates at a record low,” said Public Health Minister Jo Churchill. “While this is making a substantial impact on the public health of the country, the environmental impact of smoking due to cigarette butt and package littering is still a major issue.”
According to Keep Britain Tidy research, smoking-related litter is the most prevalent form of litter in England, making up 68 percent of all littered items and found on around 80 percent of surveyed sites.
Most cigarette butts are single-use plastic and contain hundreds of toxic chemicals once smoked. Littered cigarette filters can persist in the environment for many years and release these chemicals to air, land and water, harming plant growth and wildlife.
According to the Litter Strategy for England, the most effective way to tackle smoking-related litter is by reducing the prevalence of smoking in the first place. The government is committed and will publish a new tobacco control plan for England later this year to deliver its ambition of a smoke-free country by 2030.
The environment bill will allow the government to legislate for extended producer responsibility schemes, which could be applied to tobacco products. Cigarette and tobacco product packaging is already covered by the proposed packaging producer responsibility scheme, which is currently undergoing a second phase of consultation.
At the September roundtable on smoking-related litter, Pow encouraged parties to consider whether a nonregulatory producer responsibility scheme could be developed for tobacco waste products. Having considered further evidence, the government has decided that a regulatory approach may be required to ensure that the industry takes sufficient financial responsibility for the litter created by its products and to prevent them from undermining public health policy.
In August, Pow threatened the tobacco industry with tough action unless it did a better job of controlling cigarette litter.
March 31, 2021
Bidi Vapor Enters Four New Markets
Bidi Vapor successfully completed the regulatory process to enter four new, significant markets. Bidi Vapor’s primary offering, the Bidi Stick is a closed system disposable electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS).
Bidi Vapor recently successfully received premarket authorization from the United Kingdom’s regulatory body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, to sell and market Bidi Vapor products through Kaival Brands in the U.K.
Moreover, Bidi Vapor has successfully completed all necessary certifications and finished the process for distribution approvals to market and sell products in Russia, New Zealand and Australia.

Once Kaival Brands solidifies local distribution agreements, we will begin to sell and market our full scope of products.
Niraj Patel, CEO, Kaival Brands
“We are extremely excited to roll out Bidi Vapor products in four significant, new markets for us,” said Niraj Patel, Kaival Brands’ CEO, in a statement. “Once Kaival Brands solidifies local distribution agreements, we will begin to sell and market our full scope of products. We believe our first sales in each of these new regions will occur within the next six months with U.K. being the first.”
Kaival Brands will showcase its Bidi Stick at the VOXPO virtual trade show on April 28–30.
“We believe the Bidi Stick will be a welcomed entry into the U.K. market as long-time adult cigarette smokers look to transition to ENDS products,” said Patel, who is also president and CEO of Bidi Vapor.
“While the VOXPO conference is our first international show, we anticipate participating in similar events in Australia, New Zealand and Russia. We see ample opportunity in these new markets, as the success we’ve seen in the United States shows us that once consumers discover an e-cigarette that can provide them a consistent, premium experience, they will welcome the option.”
March 31, 2021
PAX Labs Launches Era Life Cannabis Vaporizer

Photo: PAX Labs
PAX Labs has launched the Era Life cannabis vaporizer, created for the on-the-go consumer. According to the company, Era Life delivers an effortless experience without compromising on full flavor, vapor or consistency. The device brings together a high performing battery with PAX’s most compact device yet. Era Life works with any PAX Era pod, featuring curated, high-purity cannabis produced by one of PAX’s carefully selected partners across the country. Era Life is available in the colors Onyx, Grass, Blaze and Indigo.
“We designed the Era Life to provide a simple, fun way to enjoy cannabis while still carrying the PAX promise of iconic design and enduring quality that our customers have come to know and trust,” said Colt Stander, head of product at PAX Labs, in a statement.

We designed the Era Life to provide a simple, fun way to enjoy cannabis while still carrying the PAX promise of iconic design and enduring quality.
Colt Stander, head of product, PAX Labs
“Cannabis is one of today’s fastest-growing industries, and we’re seeing new consumers enter the space rapidly. We’ve taken the best PAX has to offer, perfected the core functionality and packaged it up in our most portable design yet—perfect for those who want the easiest possible experience but still care about durability, aesthetics and safety in the products they use.”
PAX’s temperature control checks the temperature 125 times per second, ensuring a consistent temperature that delivers a full, never-burnt flavor throughout the life of the pod. Whether using lower temperature for more flavor or higher temperature for more vapor, Era Life creates smooth airflow through laser cut sidings and achieves better hits every time.
Era Life provides more than 150 puffs per charge and an easy-to-read LED low battery indicator ensures it’s never without juice. The product is UL-certified, meeting the leading safety standards.
Priced at $35, Era Life is available for purchase by those 21 and over on pax.com and at licensed retailers in legal U.S. states where PAX products are sold.
March 31, 2021
Bidders Ask Egypt to Adjust Terms of Auction

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Several tobacco manufacturers have asked the Federation of Egyptian Industries to change the conditions of a manufacturing license auction issued by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), reports Zawya.
According to the companies, the IDA conditions protect Eastern Co.’s market share by preventing the new company from producing cigarettes at the same price point as the monopoly’s mass-market Cleopatra brand, which accounts for 98 percent of Eastern’s revenues.
On March 21, the tobacco manufacturer announced that the IDA has invited companies to the tobacco industry through tendering a new cigarette production license.
Eastern could own 24 percent of the to-be-established company without paying its share in the cost of the license.
The monopoly reported a 14 percent year-on-year increase in its net profit in the second half of 2020, recording EGP2.54 billion ($161.52 million).
Eastern company’s product portfolio includes cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and molasses tobacco as well as cigarette filter rods and homogenized tobacco.
March 30, 2021