Author: Staff Writer

The owner of a beauty salon in Kenmore, Washington state, US, is to serve time in federal prison for selling contraband cigarettes sourced from Vietnam, according to an Associated Press story.

It wasn’t stated how long Han Bui would be spending in federal prison, but she has been ordered by US district judge John C. Coughenour to pay about $250,000 in tax penalties and assessments to Washington state.

The US attorney’s office said the cigarettes were sold with familiar brand names and packaging, but were made in Vietnam.

Investigators found more than 400,000 contraband cigarettes and $115,000 in cash when they searched Bui’s home and business.

If consumption levels of banned products reflect seizures of those products, then consumption of electronic cigarettes in Singapore is increasing despite the ban there, according to a story by Poon Chian Hui for the Straits Times.

In the first five months of the year, Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority seized 2,428 electronic cigarettes, whereas, during the whole of 2012, 1,464 electronic cigarettes were seized, and, in 2009, the figure was only 10.

Local users are said to be able to buy electronic cigarettes from websites, when travelling in countries that permit their sale, or from local underground suppliers.

The Swedish government sees no hope of overturning the-near EU-wide sales ban on snus and so will concentrate on protecting the right to sell the product in Sweden; the only country where it isn’t banned, according to a Reuters News story quoting the Minister for Children and the Elderly, Maria Larsson.

Sweden pushed for the ban to be overturned in the run-up to the publication of the European Commission’s recommended revisions to its Tobacco Products Directive.

“In regards to the question of exports, there isn’t any chance of success,” the national news agency TT quoted Larsson as saying.

A Swedish Match spokeswoman said it was too early to say what Larsson’s comments meant. “But it would clearly be a disappointment should the Swedish government really have decided to abandon its long-running efforts to allow Swedish products to trade under equal terms as those from other countries, especially the most harmful of tobacco products – cigarettes,” Rupini Bergstrom said.

Tony Scanlan has been appointed to the newly-created role of CEO at the UK-based electronic cigarette manufacturer and distributor, Gamucci.

In a press note, the company said that Scanlan had a strong background and reputation in the traditional tobacco industry, having spent 17 years with Rothmans International in a number of senior roles, including strategic new brands director.

Scanlan will oversee Gamucci’s operations worldwide.

Meanwhile, John Dunne has joined Gamucci as head of sales.

Dunne was said to have had more than 13 years’ experience in the tobacco industry, including senior sales roles at Altria, with Philip Morris USA and John Middleton Cigars.

At the same time, Gamucci has appointed two former Imperial Tobacco executives to its senior team. Jonathan Cox will be leading Gamucci’s expansion into North America as CEO, USA. He was head of business development in Asia and Latin America at Imperial Tobacco for six years before moving on to head up Imperial’s US subsidiary, Commonwealth Brands.

And Jacqueline Burrows is advising the executive team as associate director of corporate affairs. Burrows has 25 years’ experience in the international tobacco industry. She was director of public affairs for Rothmans International before spending the past 11 years with Imperial Tobacco, most recently as head of public and political affairs. She now has her own public affairs consultancy, Lansdown Public Affairs.

Commenting on the appointments, Gamucci founders, Taz and Umer Sheikh said the company was operating in a rapidly growing market and its vision was to create a global electronic cigarettes brand. “These appointments add considerable depth of industry knowledge, experience and capacity to our senior team, which will blend very well with the entrepreneurial perspective we have as founders,” they said.

“We have already built a strong platform, which includes an exclusive manufacturing base and R&D division, and these appointments will act as a catalyst in taking the company to the next stage in its development. The fact that Gamucci is attracting tobacco industry professionals of such high calibre is testament to the opportunity that exists for us to grow the business internationally.”

Last week saw £312,000 of vintage cigars and cigar-related lots sold at C.Gars’ eighth auction at Boisdale Canary

Wharf, London. “Ninety-five per cent of the 347 Lots were sold, most above estimate,” said managing director, Mitchell Orchant. “It was one of the largest cigar auctions in the world, to date.“There was also a lot of new faces among the 80 dedicated cigar aficionados who had flown in to London’s Docklands for a chance to stock up their humidors with some of the finest cigars in world.

“Judging by their enthusiasm, they’ll all be rushing back for our ninth cigar auction, in November.”

Heavy rain has destroyed tobacco seedlings in Indonesia and caused farmers at Jember, East Java, to incur heavy losses, according to a story in The Jakarta Post.

The head of the Kasturi Tobacco Farmers’ Association, Abdurahman, was quoted as saying that as many as 600 farmers cultivating 800 ha had had to replant two or three times at a cost of Rp5 million (US$505) per ha each time.

“The conflicting weather forecast from the central Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, and from a similar organization in Australia confused us,” he said.

Meanwhile, a farming co-ordinator at the regional Forestry and Plantation Agency, Dian Retnowahyuni, acknowledged that the agency had announced that the best time to plant would be in April and May. But she admitted, too, that the weather patterns had fluctuated so much that their predictions were badly off the mark.

“We always co-ordinate with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency and we also have our own formula to gauge the planting time,” she said. “However, the weather has been beyond prediction. We don’t have the power to beat mother nature.”

Russia’s chief health inspector has told the World Health Organization it has no right to dictate how Russia should develop its tobacco pricing policies, according to a TV Novosti report.

The head of WHO’s office in Russia, Luigi Migliorini, had earlier expressed disappointment in plans for ‘lower than expected’ tobacco excise increases after 2016.

Migliorini wrote a letter to Health Minister, Veronika Skvortsova, suggesting that tobacco excise tax in Russia should grow sevenfold by 2020 to €90 per 1,000 cigarettes, bringing the average retail price of a cigarette pack to RB238 from the current RB46.

“I strongly disagree with this suggestion,” said Gennady Onishchenko in an interview with Echo Moskvy radio. The sevenfold increase is unacceptable and when the WHO tells us to do so it is a wrong approach.

“We are not the country to be told what to do…”

Russia’s Health Ministry said it would consider the WHO recommendations as well as suggestions by other experts in this area, while working out its own approaches toward tobacco excise policies.

More than 143 million kg of tobacco had been sold for US$527 million after 76 days of Zimbabwe’s auction and contract selling season, according to a story in The Zimbabwe Herald.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chief executive, Dr. Andrew Matibiri, said deliveries to the auction floors had declined, though contract deliveries were still high.

“We are still confident we will get to the 170 million kg mark that we set as the target,” he said.

Japan Tobacco Inc’s domestic cigarette sales volume during May, at 10.2 billion, was increased by 0.4 per cent on its May 2012 volume, also rounded to 10.2 billion, according to preliminary figures issued by the company today.

Volume during April-May, at 19.8 billion, was increased by 1.8 per cent on that of April-May 2012, 19.5 billion.

JT’s market share stood at 60.6 per cent in May, at 60.4 per cent during April-May, and at 59.6 per cent for the full year to the end of March.

JT’s domestic cigarette revenue during May, at ¥55.8 billion, was down by 0.6 per cent on its May 2012 revenue, ¥56.1 billion.

Revenue during April-May, at ¥108.8 billion, was increased by 1.4 per cent on that of April-May 2012, ¥107.3 billion.

Alliance One International said yesterday that Jeffrey A. Eckmann, Carl L. Hausmann and John D. Rice were being appointed to the board of directors effective June 14.

At the same time, the company announced the retirement of board members Joseph L. Lanier, Jr, B. Clyde Preslar and William S. Sheridan as of the 2013 annual shareholders meeting due to he held on August 8.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Jeff, Carl and John to Alliance One’s board of directors,” said Mark W. Kehaya, chairman of the board. “The experience of these proven leaders – Jeff in the tobacco industry, and Carl and John in the global agribusiness arena – will be a tremendous asset to the company and its shareholders. Their valuable perspectives and strategic advice will be a great contribution as we shape the future of Alliance One.”