Author: Staff Writer

Imperial Tobacco’s business in Morocco this month celebrated the contribution made by its female employees with an event to mark International Women’s Day.

About 80 women who work for Société Marocaine des Tabacs (SMT) were invited to attend the event hosted by general manager, Paul Leggat, and his senior managers.

Women currently make up about 12 per cent of SMT’s workforce and 23 per cent of its management roles.

The aim of the event was to encourage more women to seek positions in areas of the business where they are currently under-represented, such as in the commercial and industrial departments, and also to recognise their achievements.

As part of the event, sociologist, Professor Soumaya Naamane Guessous, gave a talk on the evolution of the status of women in Moroccan society.

Meanwhile, Leggat said that he was proud of the work being done by SMT to bring more women into the workplace and to promote gender equality.

Swedish Match is due to hold its annual general meeting of shareholders at 16.30 hours Central European Time on April 25 at the Hotel Rival, Stockholm.

The board of directors is proposing a dividend increased to SEK7.30 per share.

The proposed record date for entitlement to receive a cash dividend is April 30.

The South African government will issue regulations this week aimed at restricting tobacco smoking outside public buildings, according to an iafrica.com story quoting a statement by Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi

Speaking at a World Health Organization meeting on non-communicable diseases, Motsoaledi said smokers gathered outside buildings in which the use of tobacco was prohibited and people entering or exiting these buildings had to walk through a “haze of smoke”.

Replying to criticism of the proposed regulations, he said, “We have not stopped in our regulation process and will not stop while people are still choosing to smoke tobacco”.

The deputy governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, has said that the Jakarta Health Card will not be available to people who do not take care of their health, according to a Tempo Magazine story.

Exclusion from the free health care program will be made on the grounds, for instance, of smoking, drinking alcohol and riding motorcycles without a helmet.

“We can come up with a policy that will not cover your expenses if you do not take responsibility for your own [health],” said Basuki.

As part of the program, family doctors will make house visits to study people’s lifestyles.

“Doctors can make recommendations about lifestyle choices so that we’ll know who to educate,” said Basuki.

Meanwhile, according to an official announcement, the Jakarta Provincial Government is to crack down on the issue of Jakarta Smart Cards for underprivileged students.

As well as checking on students’ academic achievements, Basuki said, they would be monitored for their behaviour.

Students who smoked or used smart phones would have their cards revoked.

Cigarette consumption in India during 2011-12, at 116,166 million, was increased by 4.19 per cent on that of 2010-11, 111,487 million, according to a Times of India story.

During 2009-10, domestic cigarette consumption was 111,860 million, 0.33 per cent higher that of 2010-11.

These figures were presented in a written reply to India’s lower house, the Lok Sabha, on Monday by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, D. Purandeswari.

Tobacco farmers and their families would soon reap the fruits of the passage of the Philippines’ Sin Tax Law as an additional P6 billion was being earmarked for the promotion of their welfare under this year’s budget, according to a story in the Manila Bulletin quoting Senator Franklin Drilon.

Drilon said the additional funding, which sprang from the passage of Republic Act 10351 – the Sin Tax Law – in December would benefit the tobacco farmers of La Union, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Pangasinan.

The P6 billion is said to be on top of the P4 billion allocated annually to these provinces under Republic Act 7171, which requires that ‘15 per cent of the incremental tobacco revenue collected from the excise tax on tobacco products should be set aside for tobacco farmers’.

Star Scientific yesterday reported net sales for the year ended December 31 of $6.2 million, up from $1.2 million during 2011.

The company said that sales of its Anatabloc® dietary supplement constituted the vast majority of its total sales for 2012.

Star reported a net loss of $22.9 million for 2012, compared with a net loss of $38.0 million for 2011. ‘The net loss for 2012 includes other income of $6.6 million, primarily in connection with the September 2012 settlement of the RJ Reynolds patent litigation matters,’ the company said in a note posted on its website.

Meanwhile, the company said that it had discontinued the sale of its low-TSNA smokeless tobacco products and completed its transition from the tobacco manufacturing business as of the end of December in order to focus exclusively on its dietary supplements, related cosmetic products, and potential pharmaceutical products.

‘This decision was made, among other reasons, because manufacturing dissolvable tobacco products negatively impacted the company’s ability to interest leading research centers in undertaking clinical research related to its dietary supplements and the principal compound in those products, anatabine citrate,’ Star said.

‘The company’s corporate intent is to embrace the biotech landscape as it focuses on a range of wellness products, both in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical areas.

‘At the same time, the company will continue to explore licensing opportunities for its patented StarCured® tobacco curing process and for its related low-TSNA dissolvable tobacco products and technology.’

Sweden should follow New Zealand’s declared intention of phasing out smoking completely by 2025, according to a story in The Local quoting the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

In an opinion piece published in the DN, four authors representing lung cancer groups in Sweden argued that a total ban on smoking would ‘prevent many human tragedies’ associated with smoking tobacco products.

‘We therefore urge the Riksdag to implement a decision that totally bans smoking from 2025 and works toward a gradual phase-out until then,’ wrote Ola Brodin, of the Swedish Lung Cancer Study Group; Tommy Björk, of the lung cancer patient advocacy group, Stödet (support); Gunnar Wagenius, of the Swedish Cancer Society’s (Cancerfonden) lung cancer planning group; and Roger Henriksson, of the Swedish Association of Oncologists (Svensk onkologisk förening).

‘Thereafter it should no longer be legal to import, distribute, or sell cigarettes or other tobacco products meant for smoking.’

However, the authors stopped short of advocating a ban on all tobacco products, saying that prohibiting smokeless tobacco such as Swedish snus would go too far.

The authors suggested a number of measures to reduce smoking in the lead up to the 2025 ban including the imposition of standardized packs with prominent anti-smoking warnings and free programs to help people quit smoking.

Another suggestion was to limit where cigarettes could be sold to pharmacies, so as to encourage smokers to switch to other forms of nicotine.

Electronic cigarette advocates believe that a proposed bill would make way for tobacco companies to start ‘regulating vapor shops’ in Oklahoma, according to a report by Heather Hope for News 9.

‘Those who’ve kicked the habit with the help of tobacco free electronic cigarettes say they are once again being targeted by “big tobacco”,’ the report said. ‘At issue is a bill that would turn stores that sell e-cigarettes into conventional cigarette vendors and tax them as such.

‘It would make all vapor shops only sell to people over 18 years old. But customers are upset the bill would add another tax on electronic cigarettes.’

The report quoted one electronic cigarette user as saying the bill would set it up so that shops selling electronic cigarettes would have to buy exclusively from tobacco distributors.

And it said that electronic cigarette advocates felt the bill would give way for tobacco companies to start ‘regulating vapor shops’.

“They’re losing customers and they want them back,” Vapor Hut employee, Allison Taylor, was quoted as saying. “So if people are going to buy electronic cigarettes, which they can’t stop, they want them to buy them from the tobacco company.”

The bill, which was passed by the Senate earlier this month, is currently with the House’s Public Health committee.

North American employers are increasingly discriminating against smokers, but some groups, including a non-smokers’ rights association, believe that penalizing smokers is not the right way to go, according to a Canadian Television report.

The report said that an increasing number of businesses, including Ottawa-based Momentous Corp, stipulated ‘non-smokers only’ on their job postings.

“Everyone knows smoking kills you and we prefer to work with very intelligent people who aren’t choosing to kill themselves with every puff,” Rob Hall, Momentous Corp’s president, was quoted as saying.

But he added that this hiring policy had slashed in half the cost of employee health benefits.

Meanwhile, Stewart Harris, a law professor at Appalachian State University, said that smokers cost more money, missed more workdays and had more health problems.

But Arthur Schafer, an ethics consultant for the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Health Sciences Centre, in Winnipeg, was quoted as saying that the policy of excluding smokers was the wrong approach for employers to take.

“I think most Canadians would recognize that most smokers are addicts and need assistance in breaking their addiction and shouldn’t be excluded as long as they are competent to do the job,” he said.

And Melodie Tilson, director of policy at the Non Smokers’ Rights Association, said not hiring smokers wasn’t going to help them end their addiction.

“Somewhere between two-thirds and three quarters of smokers, at any given time want to quit smoking, and they need help, they don’t need to be penalized,” she said.