Author: Marissa Dean

Tom Briant Retires as NATO Director

Image: National Association of Tobacco Outlets
Tom Briant will be retiring from his position as the executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO).
Briant was instrumental in founding NATO 23 years ago and has grown the association to be a leading voice in the industry, according to a press release.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of those NATO members that I have worked with over the years and who supported the association since it was formed in 2001, and I look forward to seeking new challenges in the industry,” said Briant.
NATO’s mission is to enhance the business interests of retailers that sell tobacco and nicotine products, support the legislative and regulatory interest of its members and encourage the expansion of the retail tobacco and nicotine market in a responsible manner. NATO currently has 66,000 members.
The board of directors has begun a search for the next executive director, and interested candidates should contact Chris Beaulier, board president.
June 14, 2023
South Africa: Illicit Products Destroyed

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The Customs Division of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has begun destroying illicit and smuggled cigarettes at the Beitbridge border post, reports SA News.
According to SARS Deputy Commissioner Johnstone Makhubu, 2,000 master cases, or 20 million cigarettes, will be destroyed.
The illicit products were seized in multi-agency and intelligence-driven operations led by Customs’ National Rapid Response Team.
“SARS has a zero-tolerance for persons or organizations that are involved in tax crime or illicit trade, and SARS will pursue them relentlessly,” said Makhubu.
Customs has put into place measures to grant benefits to compliant traders through the Accredited Economic Operator Model, according to Beyers Theron, SARS director of customs and excise. SARS is also implementing SMART border technology to increase detection capability and response.
“Since the inception of its coordinated and focused investigations Customs has been conducting over the past three years in the tobacco and cigarette industry, there has been a noticeable shift to increased cross-border smuggling using ‘runners.’ These are not individuals smuggling these cigarettes as an entrepreneurial opportunity but organized criminal syndicates exploiting the unemployed and the poor by employing individuals as runners to carry goods, often for miles, across borders,” said Theron.
“These runners carry at least two master cases of illicit cigarettes on their backs per run, often repeating these trips multiple times. These cigarettes are then loaded into trucks, small goods vehicles, cars and taxis that wait at locations along the border for distribution to their intended destinations on the local market.”
June 14, 2023
Cambodia: New Tax Stamp Introduced

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Cambodia has revealed the features of the new stamp tax to vendors in prime locations across the country, reports Khmer Times. According to the General Department of Taxation (GDT) in a working group with the General Department of Customs and Excises (GDCE), the dissemination and presentation of the obligations and features of the new stamp tax have been conducted in 1,305 places in five different areas.
Tobacco products produced in Cambodia need to be labeled with a tax stamp issued by the GDT, and products imported from other countries need to be labeled with a tax stamp issued by the GDCE, said Ming Ban Kosal, the GDT’s deputy director and co-chief of the working group.
“Both stamp tax for domestically produced and imported tobacco products were produced using a kind of high-quality paper with QR code and safety features that cannot be copied or fraudulently duplicated,” said Kosal.
June 14, 2023
Tobacco Smuggling Costs Billions

Image: somemeans | Adobe Stock
Cigarette manufacturers estimate that tobacco smuggled across Canada costs billions in lost taxes, according to a report to Parliament, reports Western Standard.
“The excise reporting gap was estimated to be on average $400 million of federal excise revenue for the tax years 2014 to 2018,” the Cabinet wrote in an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The $400 million figure included tax revenue lost to contraband of all kinds.
“How much does the government collect in tobacco taxes annually, and what is the amount of federal tax revenue that is lost from the sale of illegal, untaxed tobacco?” asked Conservative Member of Parliament Philip Lawrence.
“Illegal tobacco costs around $2 billion annually in lost tax revenue with that money diverted to some of Canada’s most notorious organized crime groups,” wrote Ralf Wittenberg, Imperial Tobacco Canada CEO. “Despite this, the federal government has barely mentioned illegal tobacco since 2015, let alone taken any measures to address it.”
“Canada’s illegal tobacco problem is now a national issue that spills beyond our borders, with illegal Canadian product turning up in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America,” said Wittenberg. “Domestically, after several years of relative stability, the illegal market is growing again.
“This has been driven mainly by persistently high rates in Ontario estimated at 35 percent to 40 percent and a recent explosion in British Columbia, where we estimate the rate has grown to 35 percent.
“Numerous reports from law enforcement agencies, think tanks and media have drawn clear links between illegal tobacco and other criminal activities, including drug and weapons trafficking.”
June 14, 2023
Higher Cigarette Taxes in Bangladesh

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Cigarette manufacturers in Bangladesh will likely pay higher taxes on gross receipts from the next fiscal year as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) collects more taxes to discourage the “health hazardous” business, reports The Daily Star.
The proposed tax increase is part of the Income Tax Bill 2023 introduced to Parliament by Finance Minister A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal earlier this month. The proposed bill will replace the current Income Tax Ordinance 1984.
The new bill would have manufacturers of cigarettes, bidis or handmade cigarettes, chewing tobacco and smokeless tobacco paying a 3 percent tax on turnover at minimum, up from the current 1 percent. It would also place a flat 10 percent tax deducted at source (TDS) traders supplying tobacco leaf to tobacco companies, replacing the multiple rates of TDS.
“We have proposed a hike in tax rates to discourage tobacco use,” said a senior official of the NBR.
“We appreciate the NBR for responding positively to the call of raising tobacco taxes by the social activists,” said Atiur Rahman, chairperson of the think tank Unnayan Shamannay.
June 14, 2023
Zimbabwe Leaf Sales Approach $800 Million

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Since Zimbabwe’s tobacco auction and contract floors opened in March, at least 256.6 million kg of leaf worth $774.4 million have been sold, according to ZimLive.com. During the same period last year, 165.4 million kg of leaf worth $500.5 million were sold.
The government’s target for tobacco sales was 230 million kg.
The increase in sales has been attributed to good rains and an increase in farmers planting tobacco.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, sales have increased 54.72 percent from the same period in 2022.
The average price at auction and contract floors was $3.02 per kilogram, with the highest price at $6.20 per kilogram and the lowest price at $0.10. Rejected bales rose to 88,057 this year from 63,842 in 2022.
“We have surpassed our 2022/2023 target of 230 million kg and are bound to break the all-time record of 259 million kg,” said John Basera, lands and agriculture permanent secretary.
June 14, 2023
Golden Tobacco Directors Face Prison

Image: jtanki | Adobe Stock
The Madras High Court in India has sentenced four Golden Tobacco directors to prison for contempt, according to The Hindu. The case involves a trademark dispute between Golden Tobacco and market leader ITC over the Gold Flake trademark.
Despite a July 2018 interim injunction, Golden Tobacco continued imitating ITC’s Gold Flake cigarette brand, according to ITC.
“Merely because of subsequent statutory requirement as indicated by the learned counsel on either side, this court is unable to hold in favor of respondent/company and its directors,” the judges wrote. “As a result, this court finds that there is willful disobedience of the order of injunction granted by this court.”
The court adjusted the length of the prison sentence to take account of the high ages of the defendants.
The punishment will come into force from July 15, 2023, to allow the directors to appeal before the Supreme Court.
June 13, 2023
Scotland: Calls for Individual Cig Warnings

Image: sezerozger | Adobe Stock
Ministers in Scotland are being urged to add health warnings to individual cigarettes, reports Metro.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is pushing for the government to follow countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand in reforming the country’s anti-smoking plans. Scotland aims to create a “tobacco-free” generation by 2034.
ASH is also recommending limiting visibility of tobacco products in retail spaces and giving accessible support to people with high tobacco usage.
“With the Scottish government refreshing its tobacco action plan later this year, it is vital that Scotland matches the level of bold and ambitious measures set by New Zealand, Australia and Canada in recent months if we are to achieve the goal of a tobacco-free generation by 2034,” said Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland. “We need measures to be introduced that will save lives and address the substantial inequalities in our communities facing the greatest challenges during the cost-of-living crisis.”
“Removing addictive nicotine from cigarettes, adding health warnings to cigarettes, reducing the visibility and availability of tobacco and related products, implementing evidence-based public health campaigns to motivate people who use tobacco to quit smoking, and providing increased easily accessible person-centered support to those in communities with a high prevalence of tobacco use are just some of the measures that merit strong consideration,” said Duffy.
A Scottish government spokesperson said, “A range of world-leading tobacco control measures have already been introduced in Scotland, which are steadily reducing the proportion of people smoking.
“We remain committed to a tobacco-free Scotland by lowering smoking rates in our communities to 5 percent or less by 2034. Achieving this ambitious target will allow us to protect children born since 2013 so that when they turn 21, they will be tobacco-free and will come of age in a Scotland that will remain tobacco-free for generations to come.
“We are considering a range of next steps to reach this target, which will be published as part of our refreshed tobacco action plan in the autumn.”
June 13, 2023
Guantanamera Loses Duo Trademark Lawsuit

Image: Swedish Match
Guantanamera has lost a dispute over the Duo trademark with Swedish Match, reports Halfwheel.
The lawsuit alleged that Swedish Match, Sam’s Club and Costco infringed on the Duo trademark with the sale of White Owl Duos.
Judge Jonathan Goodman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that Guantanamera “was able to establish two of seven factors used to determine whether there is a likelihood of consumer confusion among cigar customers; it failed to tip the scales in its favor.” He said the company “concedes that it has no evidence of even a single instance of actual confusion, which is often cited as among the most important of the seven factors.”
“GCC did not provide any survey evidence or expert witness testimony concerning actual confusion or even a likelihood of confusion,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “Given the length of time that the parties’ products coexisted and White Owl duos’ ample sales figures, the court would certainly expect evidence of actual confusion if any consumers were actually confused. But there was none.
“Plaintiff’s failure to come forward with evidence of actual confusion is not from a lack of effort. The president and founder of GCC testified that he and his lawyers actively monitored the marketplace for potential infringers of its Duo mark. The president also testified that he had continuous, daily interactions with his customers and that he had personally visited convenience stores and gas stations on almost a weekly basis throughout the relevant time period. Yet, he admitted that he first learned of White Owl duos cigarillos only through his attorneys in April 2021, a year after their introduction. This factor weighs in favor of Swedish Match.”
June 13, 2023
Streaming Sites Protest India’s Health Warnings

Image: Tada Images | Adobe Stock
Streaming sites including Amazon, Netflix and Disney are pushing back against India’s tobacco warning rules, stating that they are impossible to implement on streaming sites and that they will impinge on content creators’ freedom of expression, reports Reuters.
India’s health ministry ordered streaming platforms to insert static health warnings during smoking scenes and at least 50 seconds of anti-tobacco disclaimers, including audio-visual, at the start and middle of each program.
According to Reuters, Amazon, Netflix, Disney and Indian streaming platform JioCinema had a discussion on options to push back against the measure, including a legal challenge, as the companies worried that the tobacco rules would require editing millions of hours of Indian and Hollywood content.
In a letter to the Indian government, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) makes clear that because the multilingual content on streaming platforms “is very high … there is a practical impossibility associated with including such warnings across content.”
The IAMAI asked the health ministry to revisit the “onerous” rules. Content descriptors—a label saying “smoking” alongside the title—were more effective, according to the IAMAI. “Disruptions” caused by the new rules are “problematic for creators that put in considerable investments,” according to the group.
Activists welcomed the new rules, saying they would discourage smoking. Cinema and TV require health warnings for smoking and alcohol, but streaming services do not have the same regulations.
Digital platforms should be no different from cinema and TV in terms of health warnings, according to Sanjay Seth from the Sambandh Health Foundation. “They must implement this. It will save lives.”
June 13, 2023