Author: Staff Writer

Dr. Richard Tubb, a US citizen and former brigadier general, has been appointed as a non-executive director of British American Tobacco plc with effect from January 28.

A BAT press note said that Tubb was one of the longest serving White House physicians, with his leadership spanning more than 14 years and serving the administrations of presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.

By the time he retired from the White House in 2009, he had served as director, White House Medical Unit; physician to the White House; and physician to the president.

‘Dr Tubb is a leading public health figure actively involved in the science and policy development of tobacco harm reduction and alternative nicotine products,’ the note said.

Commenting on Tubb’s appointment, Richard Burrows, chairman of BAT, said he was delighted to be welcoming such a prominent and well respected expert in the field of tobacco harm reduction to the company’s board. “This appointment further demonstrates our commitment to putting science at the heart of our business and I am excited about the role Richard will play in the development of our strategy,” he added.

Vietnam is set to impose a ban in which those under 18 years of age will not be allowed to sell tobacco products at retail outlets, nor buy them, according to a Vietnam News story.

The ban is part of a long-term national plan approved by Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung.

It aims, in part, to reduce the number of smokers in the 15-24 age group from 26 per cent to 18 per cent.

The plan will use also taxes and stricter measures on cigarette trading in an attempt to limit consumption.

It requires the Ministry of Health to co-operate with relevant agencies and come up with specific programs to improve people’s awareness of the harm caused by smoking, so as to effect a gradual change in attitudes. A steering committee on fighting tobacco consumption will be formed in each locality.

Zimbabwe’s tobacco marketing season is due to start with auction sales on February 15 and contract sales the following day.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairperson, Monica Chinamasa, told journalists yesterday that four auction floors and seven buying teams would be operating this year.
The auction floors are: Tobacco Sales Floor, Boka Tobacco Auction Floors, Millennium Tobacco Floors and the new player, Premier Tobacco Auction Floors.

The initial crop target was set at 150 million kg, but an estimate will be made in about a month’s time when the board has had time to assess whether unhelpful weather has reduced that amount.

Reynolds American Inc. is due to host a conference call and webcast following the release of fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 financial results before the market opens on February 12.

The conference call and webcast will start at 09.00 hours Eastern Time and be hosted by Daniel M. Delen, president and CEO, Thomas R. Adams, CFO, and Morris L. Moore, vice president of investor relations.

The webcast, for which registration is required at www.reynoldsamerican.com, will be available on a listen-only basis at the same website. It will be available also for replay.

The conference call will be available on (877) 390-5533 (toll-free) and (678) 894-3969 (international).

Lorillard is due to publish its fourth quarter and full year 2012 results on February 13.

A conference call for analysts and investors, which will begin at 09.00 Eastern Time, will be hosted by Murray S. Kessler, chairman, president and CEO, and David H. Taylor, executive vice president, finance and planning, and CFO.

Investors and analysts will be able to participate in the conference call by dialing (888) 239-6824 (domestic) or (706) 902-3787 (international) and using the pass-code: 87738735.

A news release and a live webcast of the conference call will be available also under the Investor Relations section of Lorillard’s website at www.lorillard.com.

The conference call will be available for replay in its entirety through February 27, either through the website or by dialing (855) 859-2056 (domestic) or (404) 537-3406 (international) and using the pass-code: 87738735.

British American Tobacco says that this year will see the evolution of track and trace systems that monitor and secure products across the supply chain.

In a note published on its website, the company’s head of anti-illicit trade, Pat Heneghan, said that, according to the World Health Organization, illegal tobacco trafficking cost governments at least US$40 billion in lost taxes last year.

“Our industry loses billions in revenue too,” Heneghan was quoted as saying. “As the illicit ‘industry’ grows, so will these mammoth losses.

“Society also suffers. Those who sell illegal tobacco do not care about regulation – they will sell their wares to children and, as they’re not regulated, their customers don’t know what they are buying.

“Interpol claim proceeds can be traced back to organised criminal gangs and terrorist organisations who are also responsible for trafficking people, drugs, guns and alcohol.

“The reality is illegal tobacco traffickers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in order to stay one step ahead of law enforcement and the legitimate industry.”

This year’s World Customs Organisation’s International Customs Day was due on January 26 to focus on innovation and Heneghan said technology had a vital role to play in catching the 21st century tobacco trafficker.

“We’ve invested heavily in innovative track and trace solutions, which monitor and secure products across the supply chain,” he said.

“However, this year we will see the evolution of these types of technology solutions.

“These state-of-the-art tools will become more user-friendly for customs officials, they’ll be able to handle increasingly sophisticated data, and enable governments to exchange information quickly and easily across borders.”

But Heneghan made the point that technology alone was not enough. He said increased collaboration between the industry, governments and law enforcement agencies was key to stopping criminals who sold more than 660 billion cigarettes a year – 12 per cent of the global market.

“We saw an important step in this collaboration in South Korea last November when 176 countries signed a major WHO protocol vowing to work together to stop this highly dangerous multi-billion dollar trade,” he said.

“We are closing in on the traffickers and they know it. Time is running out. Working together we believe we can make important progress in 2013.

But that will only happen if we all play our part. Together.”

One hundred Vietnamese officials and representatives from relevant ministries and agencies met on January 25 at Ha Noi to discuss how to implement a new government circular on handling the illicit trade in cigarettes, according to a story in Vietnam News.

The circular sets out strict penalties for trading, transporting and storing smuggled tobacco.

People who are found attempting to smuggle 1,500 to 4,500 packs are liable to criminal prosecution and may be imprisoned for between six months and three years.

Those who attempt to smuggle between 4,501 and 13,500 packs face the prospect of imprisonment for between three and seven years.

And those who try to smuggle more than 13,500 packs are liable to be incarcerated for seven to 15 years.

The seminar was told that Jet and Hero cigarettes had been smuggled into the country for 15 years and that the quantity of smuggled cigarettes had increased significantly year by year.

‘These cigarettes are produced by Sumatra Tobacco Company in Indonesia, but are rarely used by Indonesians,’ the story said. ‘The cigarettes are imported legally into Cambodia due to its preferential tax policy and then exported illegally into Viet Nam.’

The story implied that the scale of the smuggling was such that domestic agriculture had suffered and that 180,000 people formerly employed by the tobacco sector were now unemployed.

Cigarette manufacturing, packaging, printing and box production had all been badly affected.

Smuggled cigarettes account for about 20 per cent of the Vietnamese market.

The public debate over a bill to amend Bangladesh’s 2005 tobacco products control act seems likely to be one sided.

Ruhul Amin Rushd, convenor of the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, a journalists’ platform said to represent all media outlets in Dhaka, was reported by bdnews24.com to have said that his organization was demanding tough laws to curb tobacco use.

It wanted the amending bill to be passed during the current session of parliament, which started on Sunday.

If the bill is passed, tobacco companies will have to include pictorial warnings covering 50 per cent of the two major faces of tobacco packs.

At the same time, smoking would be banned in certain public places, though provision would be allowed for designated smoking sections.

As was reported here yesterday, however, anti-tobacco lobbyists are calling for this provision to be ousted from the bill.

They don’t want any provision to be made for smokers.

Researchers in Japan have suggested that Asian women might be discouraged from smoking if it could be shown that smoking were associated with a darker skin color.

An abstract of the paper was published by Tobacco Control at: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/01/25/tobaccocontrol-2012-050524.abstract?papetoc.

In a paper that seems to court controversy, the authors said that having a lighter skin tone was highly valued among many Asian women. ‘If skin colour is affected by smoking, women may be motivated to avoid tobacco or quit smoking,’ it said.

Information on smoking habits was said to have been obtained through a self-administered questionnaire completed by 939 Japanese women aged 20–74 in Gifu, Japan, during 2003–2006. Skin colour was examined on the inner side of the upper and lower arm and on the forehead using a narrow-band reflective spectrophotometer, which expressed results as a melanin index and erythema index.

The results were said to have shown that current smokers had higher melanin indices than never-smokers and former smokers for all measured sites. ‘The number of cigarettes smoked per day, the years of smoking and pack-years were significantly positively associated with melanin indices for all measured sites after adjustments for age, body mass index, lifetime sun exposure, and room temperature and humidity,’ the abstract said. ‘Smoking was also significantly associated with erythema indices on the inner upper and lower arms.’