Author: Staff Writer

The number of tobacco users in Turkey has fallen by about 7.5 percent since 2008, while cigarette consumption has fallen by more than 10 percent, according to a Cihan News Agency story quoting data from the Turkish Statistics Institute.

In 2008, 31.2 percent of people aged 15 or over—about 16 million people—used tobacco on a regular basis.

But this figure has dropped to 27.1 percent—about 14.8 million people.

Tobacco use among men fell from 47.9 percent to 41.5 percent, while tobacco use among women dropped from 15.2 percent to 13.1 percent.

Turkey’s ban on tobacco smoking in enclosed public places took full effect from July 2009.

Hundreds of shops would be forced to close and more than 3,000 jobs would be lost if the Scottish government were to go ahead with its plans to introduce standardized packaging for cigarettes, according to a story by Eddie Barnes for The Scotsman quoting new research.

A paper by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), commissioned by Philip Morris, says the plans would deal a “body blow” to high streets.

“Our findings show that the potential impact of this plain packaging policy could be traumatic for the high street,” Oliver Hogan, CEBR head of microeconomics, was quoted as saying.

“In Scotland alone, CEBR would expect the loss of some £30 million in tobacco and nontobacco revenues to small independent retailers and the loss of over 3,200 jobs and up to 700 shops.”

“The evidence supports our conclusion that tobacco customers will flock to illegal street vendors, buy bulk from abroad and make purchases from larger stores.

“Thousands will lack the patience to queue for the till in a local shop as a small staff tries to find the right cigarettes among the plain packaging,” he said.

British people caught farming their own tobacco have been warned they could face a hefty penalty if they do not pay duty on it, according to a story in The Star.

With 20 cigarettes retailing at about £7-£8 and 25 g of fine cut retailing at about £8, some smokers have taken to growing their own tobacco from seeds, which are readily available.

A standard-sized allotment of 500 plants was enough, The Star said, to yield up to 54 kg of tobacco.

But a spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was quoted as saying that anyone growing tobacco at home and smoking it had to ensure they paid the duty legally due, otherwise they could face a fine or have the tobacco seized.

This requirement applied even if the tobacco was for private use.

It was not clear why this story has arisen because it seems unlikely that the number of people growing their own tobacco and smoking it in Britain would be sufficient to attract the attention of the HMRC. Tobacco can be grown in Britain, but it is questionable whether such tobacco could be cured and processed at home in a way that would result in a product acceptable to the modern smoker, especially the cigarette smoker.

Turkey is expected this year to export tobacco worth more than $1 billion, which would represent an 18.3 percent increase on last year’s exports, worth $845 million, according to a Hurriyet story quoting data supplied by the Turkish exporters’ association.

In July, the value of the country’s tobacco exports surged to $90.3 million, up 120 percent on that of July 2012, $41.0 million.

The tobacco sector was the second-highest export earner in July, after the olive and olive oil sector.

The Altria Companies Employee Community Fund (ACECF) said last week that it had awarded more than $2.9 million in grants to 140 nonprofit organizations based in some of its operating communities.

“Given these difficult economic times, many nonprofits are in more need than ever to continue their missions to address acute needs in their communities,” said Jennifer Hunter, chairperson, ACECF board of directors. “With this unique opportunity, Altria companies’ employees are able to help make a difference in the places they call home through their commitments of money and time.”

The ACECF—an employee-funded charitable giving program managed and supported by Altria companies’ employees—is one of the only employee-driven, workplace-giving programs publicly reported among US companies, according to the Changing Our World organization.

Throughout its history, the ACECF, which is based in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and which has been in existence since 2000, has awarded 1,452 grants totaling $40 million to nonprofit organizations in some of the communities where Altria companies’ employees live and work.

Employee committees in each community select the ACECF grant categories, review the grant requests and select the nonprofit organizations for funding.

The recent focus areas for grant requests were domestic violence, emergency services, hunger relief, homelessness and youth and adult services.

Since Altria makes a contribution to cover ACECF’s administrative costs and also makes a contribution to the fund, every employee dollar raised goes directly to supporting local nonprofit organizations.

Lorillard on Friday declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock of $0.55 per share, payable on Sept. 10 to stockholders of record as of Aug. 30.

EU legislation does not prohibit the testing of tobacco products on animals.

This was the gist of an answer given by the European Commission to a number of questions posed by Polish MEP Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa.

In introducing his questions, Wałęsa said that while the testing of cosmetic products on animals and the importation of such products into the EU had been largely regulated, the testing of tobacco products on animals, in particular on rats, monkeys or dogs, remained a gray area.

Although tests that involved exposing animals to tobacco smoke for many years under atrocious conditions were prohibited in the EU, he said, there were no such restrictions on tobacco products imported into the EU “by the well-known manufacturers which carry out these tests.”

Wałęsa asked:

1. How does the Commission intend to promote EU practices outside its borders in such a way as to influence the actions of tobacco groups and producers?

2. Does the Commission intend to block imports of tobacco products tested on animals?

3. How can the Commission argue in favor of maintaining the European Union’s cooperation with tobacco companies when the above proves them to be indifferent to the fate of animals?

But the MEP was mistaken in believing that the EU protected animals from such tests, even within its own territory.

The Commission answered:

“The EU legislation does not include a prohibition for testing tobacco products with animals. However, Directive 2010/63/EU, that took full effect on 1 January 2013, provides a legal framework to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals used for scientific purposes in the EU.

“At this stage the Commission has not taken any specific action against imported tobacco products in this respect, nor are there any immediate plans to do so.

“Article 5(3) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) obliges the EU and its Member States to protect their public health policies from any commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.”

Imperial Tobacco said on Thursday that it was continuing to make “good progress” with its initiatives in the “e-vapor sector” through its subsidiary Fontem Ventures, and that it remained on track to launch its own products in 2014.

In publishing an interim management statement, Imperial reported that its stick equivalent [cigarettes and fine-cut] volume fell by 7 percent and its underlying volume [excluding the effect of trade destocking] was down by 5 percent during the nine months to the end of June.

The company’s key strategic brands were said to have outperformed market trends, but reported volume for these brands was down by 4 percent and underlying volume was down by 1 percent.

Within the overall trend, fine-cut tobacco performance was described as “excellent,” while there was said to have been good growth in premium cigars and snus.

“I’m pleased with the significant progress we’re making with the strategic transition of the business, which is strengthening our sustainable sales growth capabilities and optimizing our costs in line with our strategy,” said CEO Alison Cooper.

“Our full-year expectations remain unchanged. We continue to focus on maximizing opportunities for our total tobacco portfolio in the EU against a backdrop of weak industry volumes and are driving good in-market performances in Asia-Pacific and Africa and Middle East, with our share improving in many markets.

“Whilst opportunities to grow sales in the short term are being impacted by the environment challenges, we remain focused on generating high-quality returns and sustainable growth from our portfolio.”

Japan Tobacco Inc.’s domestic cigarette sales volume during July, at 10.5 billion, was increased by 3.3 percent on its July 2012 volume, 10.2 billion, which was down by 18.5 percent on that of July 2011, according to preliminary figures issued by the company on Friday.

Volume during April–July, at 39.8 billion, was up by 0.7 percent on that of April–July 2012, 39.5 billion, which was increased by 28 percent on that of April–July 2011.

JT’s market share stood at 60.7 percent in July, at 60.6 percent during April–July, and at 59.6 percent for the full year to the end of March.

JT’s domestic cigarette revenue during July, at ¥57.6 billion, was increased by 2.9 percent on its July 2012 revenue, ¥55.9 billion.

Revenue during April–July, at ¥218.5 billion, was up by 0.3 percent on that of April–July 2012, ¥217.7 billion.

Hong Kong is the main source of fake electronic cigarettes and e-liquids entering the EU, according to the European Commission’s 2012 annual report on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).

A commission press note said that last year EU customs “detained” almost 40 million products valued at nearly €1 billion “suspected of violating” IPR.

Cigarettes were said to have accounted for 31 percent of “interceptions.”

Postal and courier packages accounted for about 70 percent of customs “interventions,” with 23 percent of the “detentions” in postal traffic involving medicines.

China was said to be the main source of fake goods entering the EU.