Author: Staff Writer

Imperial Tobacco employees in Taiwan volunteered to help bring in the local rice harvest with their friends and families as part of a major community project.

Imperial was one of the first businesses to join the country’s rice land adoption program in 2009.

By purchasing rice at a guaranteed price, the program enables local farmers to earn a stable income, while the crop is then donated to those in need.

The harvest day began with a guided tour of a museum, where the participants learned about rice growing and made traditional rice cakes.

Then they were divided into groups and took part in a competition to see who was the fastest and the best at reaping the harvest.

“This was a wonderful way to enhance recognition and awareness of our commitment to local agriculture,” said Blanche Cheng, head of corporate affairs in Taiwan.

Seven U.S. public health and medical organizations yesterday called for a new national commitment to end the country’s “tobacco epidemic” for good.

They say they are looking for “bold action by all levels of government” to achieve three goals:

* to reduce smoking rates, currently at about 18 percent, to less than 10 percent within 10 years;

* to protect all U.S. citizens from secondhand smoke within five years;

* and ultimately to eliminate the death and disease caused by tobacco use.

The seven groups issuing the call to action are the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Legacy.

Their call has been made ahead of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, issued on Jan. 11, 1964.

But while the groups are celebrating “the remarkable progress of the past 50 years,” they say that the battle is far from over.

“Tobacco use is still the number one cause of preventable death in the United States,” the groups said in a press note issued through PR Newswire.

“Smoking kills more than 440,000 Americans each year, sickens millions more and costs the nation $193 billion annually in health-care expenditures and lost productivity.

“About 44 million adults still smoke, and more than 3,000 kids try their first cigarette each day.

“It is unacceptable that tobacco still kills so many Americans, lures so many children, devastates so many families and places such a huge burden on our nation’s health-care system.”

India has made progress in reducing the prevalence of daily smoking among men, according to a Times of India story quoting from a new study led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in the U.S.

The study, Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 countries, 1980–2012, found that smoking among Indian men decreased from 33.8 percent to 23 percent between 1980 and 2012.

During the same period, smoking among Indian women was almost unchanged at 3.2 percent.

The study was published on Jan. 8 by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A senior executive at the Philippines-based cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. has said that the tax payment the company made for last year should put to rest false accusations that it had not been paying the correct level of duties and taxes, according to a story in the Manila Bulletin.

Mighty Corp. was said to have paid excise tax of PHP8 billion for the year 2013, up from PHP300 million the previous year.

“The tax we paid for the year 2013 reflects the jump in our market share and our fair share in the increased taxes on ‘sin’ products during last year,” said Oscar Barrientos, the company’s executive vice president.

Barrientos, a retired regional trial court judge, said that despite charges made in the news media and by some members of Congress against the company for non-payment of taxes, no case had been filed in court.

He said Mighty Corp. had paid PHP300 million in 2012 when its share of the local cigarette market was just 3 percent.

However, the company’s market share had shot up since the government put into effect Republic Act 10352, otherwise known as the sin tax law.

Worldwide population growth has meant that more people smoke today than was the case in 1980, according to a story by Kerry Sheridan for Agence France Presse, quoting figures from a new study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

China had nearly 100 million more smokers in 2012 than it had three decades ago, even though its smoking rate fell from 30 percent to 24 percent during that time, said the study findings published  in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study was published as part of a series of tobacco-related articles to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. surgeon general’s report on the risks of smoking.

“Since we know that half of all smokers will eventually be killed by tobacco, greater numbers of smokers will mean a massive increase in premature deaths in our lifetime,” co-author Alan Lopez, of the University of Melbourne, was quoted as saying.

The study, led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, measured data from 187 countries.

It found that the global smoking rate among men was 41 percent in 1980 but has since declined to 31 percent.

Among women, the estimated prevalence of daily tobacco smoking was 10.6 percent in 1980 but 6.2 percent by 2012.

The most rapid decrease began in the mid-1990s, but, since 2010, smoking has been rising again among men.

China’s health authorities are aiming to roll out a nationwide tobacco smoking ban in enclosed public places by year’s end, according to a story by Zhuang Pinghui for the South China Morning Post.

Zhuang said this was the first time that the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) had set a target date to meet its commitment to cut down on indoor tobacco use.

NHFPC spokesperson Mao Qunan reportedly said the agency was working on the regulation with the State Council. A ban had been on the agenda of China’s cabinet since last year.

Mao said the commission was also trying to have the National People’s Congress pass a law aimed at containing the harm caused by tobacco use.

The announcement represents the closest that Beijing has come to a timetable for meeting its pledge to create a smoke-free indoor environment as part of its obligations under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Meanwhile, according to an Ecns.cn story, the NHFPC has said that “over 1 million Chinese people die of smoking-related diseases every year, and 100,000 people die of diseases caused by passive smoking.”

At least 5,000 Saudi men and women became nonsmokers last year after taking part in “rehabilitation programs” across the country, according to an Arab News story.

Throughout 2013, the Makkah Kafa Society, tasked with raising awareness about the dangers of smoking and drug use, was in contact with more than 800,000 people, Abdullah Al-Othaim, the organization’s chairman, reportedly told the Saudi Press Agency.

The number of people who quit smoking and became more aware of the dangers of narcotics had doubled over the past few years.

“The Kafa society’s activities included various programs targeting youth gatherings and associations, children’s theatres and exhibitions, and mobile clinics that toured the Makkah region,” Al-Othaim said.
“Makkah is the holiest city on earth [according to Islamic beliefs] and must be smoke-free,” he said.

The Kafa Society, which has branches in Jeddah, Al-Leeth and Qunfudah, asked on
its Twitter account that parents monitor their children carefully during exam times because they could fall prey to peer pressure to use cigarettes and drugs.

Imperial Tobacco has staged a tour of its Antsirabe factory in Madagascar to help attract potential new investors from France to the Indian Ocean nation.

The visit was organized at the request of the local authorities to demonstrate investment opportunities for manufacturing in the area.

The SACICEM plant is seen as one of the most advanced sites in the highland region of the country.

The invitation to visit the site was taken up by 30 people, including politicians and economic partners from France as well as representatives of the French embassy.

General Manager Jean-Claude Starczan helped lead the tour and outlined Imperial’s ongoing commitment to Madagascar.

“The added value that is created in the country by our operations here, especially from the SACICEM team, is an example for others to follow,” he said.

“The French community is very important to the economic development of Madagascar, which we are delighted to help support.”

Savio Kwan has joined the board of British American Tobacco as a nonexecutive director.

During his extensive career, Kwan, who was said in a note posted on BAT’s website to have “significant business experience of Greater China and Asia,” has worked “broadly in technology for General Electric, BTR PLC and Alibaba Group, China’s largest internet business, where he was chief operating officer and later, a nonexecutive director.” He is a founding partner and CEO of A&K Consulting Co. Ltd., advising entrepreneurs about start-up businesses in China.

Born in Hong Kong, Kwan speaks fluent Mandarin and English. His international career has seen him live in China, the U.S., Singapore and the U.K. He is a visiting professor at Henley   Business School, U.K., and a regular lecturer on Chinese business strategy and leadership.

“I warmly welcome Savio to the board of British American Tobacco,” said chairman Richard Burrows. “I have no doubt he will bring his profound commercial approach, international orientation and deep knowledge of China and Asia to bear, further strengthening British American Tobacco and the board.”

Jorge da Motta, the U.K. chief executive of Japan Tobacco International, believes Scottish ministers would think again about bringing in anti-tobacco policies if the Scottish government received directly the duty levied on tobacco sales in Scotland, according to a story by David Maddox for The Scotsman.

Da Motta was said to have told Scotland on Sunday that he believes control over duties would make members of the Scottish parliament think again over bringing in anti-smoking measures such as the display ban in shops, plain packaging and the banning of smoking in publicly accessible buildings.

He believes that these measures are harming small businesses in Scotland and that his comments reflect concern in the industry that Holyrood, the Scottish parliament, is leading the way on tobacco control and then being followed by Westminster, the U.K. parliament.

Da Motta made it clear he was not taking sides in the debate on the Scottish independence referendum due to be held on Sept. 18, but argued that even in the event of a no vote, further devolution should see duties delivered to Holyrood.

“In post-referendum Scotland, whether it is devo-max [maximum devolution] or independence, a new era of responsibility could see Edinburgh collecting tobacco duty, and with that Holyrood will have to quickly learn about the unintended consequences of regulation draining the public purse of much-needed money,” he said.

The full story is at http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/tobacco-chief-fires-up-debate-over-duty-1-3256130.