Members of the European Parliament are split over plans to revise the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive, according to a story by Dave Keating for the European Voice.
Almost 1,500 amendments have been proposed by the European Commission, but the most serious divisions have been caused by a proposal to ban flavored cigarettes, and another to require that three quarters of cigarette packs are covered in graphic health warnings.
Electronic cigarettes are also proving to be controversial. The Commission’s proposal would emasculate electronic cigarettes, which some MEPs see as useful anti-smoking tools.
R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., a subsidiary of Reynolds American, is bringing its Vuse Digital Vapor Cigarette to retail outlets throughout Colorado, USA.
“This is a game-changing product in the e-cigarette category,” says Stephanie Cordisco, president of RJRV.
“There is strong awareness of the category among adult smokers and many are trying e-cigarettes, but few adult smokers are switching to them entirely. That’s because the products currently on the market aren’t providing everything adult smokers are looking for. We believe Vuse will change that.”
Developed in-house by R.J. Reynolds R&D experts, Vuse uses innovative digital technology, ensuring it delivers consistent flavor and a satisfying vapor experience.
“Vuse is powered by smart technology designed to monitor and regulate the power, heat and cartridge performance to ensure a perfect puff first time, every time,” Cordisco says. “To date, adult smokers who have tried e-cigarettes haven’t found a product that performs consistently. With its digital technology, Vuse gives adult smokers considering e-cigarettes an innovative, high-quality product from a leading tobacco company.”
Unlike other e-cigarettes currently on the market, Vuse is completely designed and assembled in the United States, and, as an additional quality step, Vuse incorporates automated manufacturing to ensure a consistently reliable cartridge every time. Vuse will be sold in a rechargeable format.
“Vuse has been designed to offer the affordability and convenience of a disposable e-cigarette, while providing on-going cost savings and reduced environmental impact by being rechargeable,” Cordisco says.
The Vuse Solo and Vuse System will be sold in retail outlets in Colorado beginning in July. Vuse Solo includes a flavor cartridge, original or menthol, a rechargeable Vuse power unit and a USB charger. The Vuse System includes three flavor cartridges—two original and one menthol—a rechargeable Vuse power unit, both a USB charger and an AC wall adapter, and a carrying case.
Vuse cartridges will also be sold separately at retail outlets. Depending on use, a cartridge lasts about as long as one pack of traditional cigarettes. Every Vuse vapor cigarette comes pre-charged and ready to use right out of the pack. The price for a Vuse Solo will be around $10, the Vuse System will likely cost around $30 and cartridges will be sold in two-packs for around $6.
“As the preferences of adult tobacco consumers change, we are leading the transformation of the tobacco industry, providing high-quality products for them to consider,” Cordisco says. “Some Wall Street analysts have predicted significant growth for the e-cigarette category during the next few years. With our Vuse Digital Vapor Cigarette, we intend to be a market leader in the category.”
The Italian health ministry’s top advisory body has recommended a prohibition on the smoking of electronic cigarettes in public places and a ban on their sale to pregnant women and minors, according to a story on the Indo-Asian News Service.
The recommendation by the ministry’s Superior Health Council came after France’s Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, said she was planning similar restrictions.
HM Revenue and Customs (HRMC) has failed to meet any of its targets on reducing the smuggling of illicit tobacco into the UK, according to a story by Angus Crawford for BBC Online, quoting an official watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said HMRC’s latest strategy, launched in 2011, had so far prevented tax revenue losses of £328m – less than two-thirds of the total projected.
And its target of saving £1.4 billion over four years now seemed ‘unachievable’.
HMRC said it was committed to tackling tobacco smuggling and had invested an extra £25 million in doing so.
HMRC has estimated that in 2010-11 alone, duty was not paid on 9 per cent of the cigarettes and 38 per cent of the hand-rolling tobacco smoked in the UK, at a cost of £1.9 billion in lost revenue.
The report acknowledged HMRC had achieved some success in building up its intelligence network overseas, resulting in the seizure of an estimated 1.27 billion cigarettes and 56 tonnes of tobacco overseas in 2012-13.
But it said key initiatives to curb smuggling had been delayed or cancelled – in part due to legal concerns – while HMRC lacked a ‘good understanding’ of the volume of prosecutions and other legal sanctions needed to provide an effective deterrent.
Despite legislation in 2006 aimed at cracking down on tobacco manufacturers facilitating smuggling, the NAO said the supply of some hand-rolling tobacco brands to certain countries was still estimated to exceed legitimate demand by 240 per cent.
The job of HMRC is not made easy by government policy, which uses taxation to raise the price of licit cigarettes to the point where the poorest smokers cannot afford them; in the knowledge that those smokers are addicted to a tobacco habit that, on average, takes five years and seven attempts to break.
A city council in California, US, has agreed to ban tobacco smoking on bar and restaurant patios adjacent to city streets, according to a story by Promise Yee for the Coast News.
But it could have been worse for the smokers of Oceanside. A motion calling for a ban on smoking at all bar or restaurant patios and within 25 feet of such patios was narrowly defeated.
As it stands (the ordinance will be the subject of a final vote on July 27), smoking will be banned on bar and restaurant patios adjacent to city streets, and within 10 feet of patios where smoking is banned.
But it will be permitted on patios located on private property and not adjacent to city streets, an exemption that includes non ground-level balcony patios and golf course restaurant patios.
Smoking will be permitted, too, at cigar social events.
Altadis is to axe about eight per cent of its workforce in Spain, according to stories in El Pais and Agence France Presse.
The 114 job cuts form part of the company’s plan to ‘increase efficiency and competitiveness’ in the face of ‘the complex situation the tobacco market in Spain is going through’.
Seventy six of the 114 people set to lose their jobs work at the Cadiz factory, which is to be closed.
Most of the workers to be laid off are to be offered early retirement and those at the Cadiz factory who are not eligible for early retirement will be found work at other factories.
The company, which is owned by the Imperial Tobacco group, said that its sales had fallen by 40 per cent during the past four years due largely to regulatory pressures and the rise of the illicit trade, which now accounts for about 12 per cent of the market.
The South Korean Air Force has decided to disqualify smokers from applying for its pilot selection test, according to a story in the Yonhap News Agency.
Starting next month, applicants who test positive for nicotine will not be eligible for flight training.
And to force pilots who smoke to quit the habit, the military authorities plan to suspend those who test positive for nicotine during their regular check-ups.
The decision to disqualify smokers is said to be aimed at selecting pilots who have ‘a strong willingness to maintain a sound body,’ unnamed Air Force officers were quoted as saying.
The Air Force has been pushing to implement a number of non-smoking measures, including the designation of all military bases and barracks non-smoking zones from July 1.
This move at least has drawn fire for possibly violating the rights of service people and the Air Force has changed its course so as to allow smoking rooms to be set up at least 50 meters away from barracks.
A Vermont Superior Court judge has ordered RJ Reynolds Tobacco to pay the state of Vermont $8.3 million in penalties for violating the state’s consumer protection laws, according to stories in the Vermont Business Magazine and Bloomberg News.
Judge Dennis Pearson imposed penalties based on Reynolds’ advertising of one of its tobacco products, Eclipse, as a “risk reduction” cigarette.
The judge issued an injunction that prohibits Reynolds from making ‘risk reduction’ claims for its tobacco products without supporting studies that have been accepted by the scientific community.
RJ Reynolds could appeal the decision.
“This decision is a multi-million-dollar wakeup call for Reynolds and other tobacco companies,” said Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell. “If you make unsubstantiated health claims about your deadly products, you will pay dearly.”
Incada – becoming whiter, lighter and stiffer. Photo by Rolf Andersson, Bildbolaget
Iggesund Paperboard says that its Incada folding box board will, from the Northern Hemisphere autumn, be whiter and lighter, and incorporate a number of improved properties affecting printability.
Incada Exel, which is targeted more as a packaging board, will have too improved stiffness. For grammages over 300 g/m2, this gain will be as much as 10 to 15 per cent. “This enables our customers to reduce their packaging weights while keeping the same protection for the contents,” said Robin Lewis, technical product manager for Incada.
‘Other substantial improvements have been made to the odour and taste properties so that Incada now comes in under the Robinson test’s detection limit of 0.6,’ an Iggesund press note said. ‘The whiteness is increased by 7.5 units to 120 on the CIE scale. Improvements are found in the L value which is critical for colour reproduction. Runnability is also improved, so Incada will now be able to function even better in customers’ processes.’
“Incada was introduced in 2001 and since then we’ve made many small changes to improve its quality,” Lewis says. “This is a big leap forward and it will definitely strengthen our market position.”
