Author: Taco Tuinstra

Zimbabwe Farmers Demand Premiums

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Following a 30 percent increase in tobacco export earnings to $1.3 billion in 2023, Zimbabwean tobacco farmers are pushing for increased premiums, according to The Herald.
In 2023, Zimbabwe exported tobacco products worth $1.3 billion, up from $998.1 million in 2022, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStats). In volume, the increase was 20 percent for the same period.
“The huge gap between what ends in the farmer’s pocket and what exporters take home is a big anomaly that needs to be addressed,” said George Seremwe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA). “Participation of farmers in the value addition chain needs to be enhanced by making sure they take ownership of the crop all the way to the market.”
Seremwe stated that there should be a premium price paid back to farmers after the value addition process as happened in the past. He also argued for a model that rewards farmers in terms of export earnings.
“We used to have export retention schemes from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. This needs to be revived so that the farmer gets more value from the crop,” the ZTGA chair said.
“The grower is the weakest link in this matrix and needs protection from (the) government,” said Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Association (ZPTFA) president Mutasa Mutandwa.
“The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board needs to thoroughly monitor contractors as per the compliance administration framework in order to find out what inputs have been given to farmers versus the crop they are buying,” said Mutandwa.
“Our crop is fetching high prices on the international market, as it is used as a blender, but the farmer is not benefiting. There is need for massive investment in tobacco processing plants to increase exports of high-priced manufactured products,” explained the ZPTFA president.
The Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan aims to increase value addition from 2 percent to 30 percent by 2025 to reach a $5 billion tobacco industry.
“The price at the floors can only be enhanced by improving the quality of the leaf as buyers prefer clean and clear styles,” said Shadreck Makombe, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union. “There is need to have more investment in processing to enhance value addition.”
February 6, 2024
Botswana Awarded for Tobacco Control

Photo: sezerozger
Botswana received an integrity award from the World Health Organization for reaching a milestone in its tobacco control efforts, reports Xinhua News.
The award was given at the 10^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is being held in Panama Feb. 5 to Feb. 10.
“The award was in specific recognition of Botswana’s efforts to safeguard public health by ensuring that there was no undue influence or pressure from the tobacco industry, in any of its public health policy formulation or implementation processes, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),” said Christopher Nyanga, Botswana’s health ministry spokesperson.
Botswana’s Tobacco Control Act strictly prohibits any form of contributions or corporate social responsibility initiatives from the tobacco industry.
February 6, 2024
Thailand: Dual Tax Rates Decrease Revenue

Thailand’s dual cigarette tax rate has led to a decrease in government cigarette tax revenue, according to the Bangkok Post. The decrease is about THB23 billion ($646.8 million), according to Poomjit Pongpanngam, governor of the Tobacco Authority of Thailand.
The new tax structure has caused sales to drop dramatically. According to Pongpanngam, the finance ministry is likely to restructure the cigarette tax rate to a single tax system; however, illicit cigarettes will still pose a problem because they will still be less expensive.
Farmers contracted by the tobacco authority have seen a decrease in income due to the low sales of cigarettes. The authority has been buying 50 percent less tobacco from the farmers over the last three years. The tobacco authority recently stated that it plans to use THB1.3 billion for a production subsidy for tobacco farmers.
February 6, 2024
Plain Packaging Continues to Spread

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Legal requirements to sell tobacco products in generic, unbranded packaging continue to spread, according to a report released on Feb. 6 by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).
The CCS report, titled Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, details global progress on plain packaging, ranks 211 countries and territories on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages and lists the countries and territories that now require graphic picture warnings.
The report also features the new Canadian requirement for a warning on every individual cigarette. This world precedent setting measure will start to appear on cigarettes in Canada by April 2024. Australia is in progress to become the second country to adopt the measure.
“There is a strong global trend for countries to implement plain packaging,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the CCS, in a statement. “Australia was the first country to implement plain packaging in 2012, followed by France and the U.K. in 2016, and now more and more countries are implementing the measure. These developments are very encouraging as plain packaging is a key measure to protect youth and to reduce tobacco use.”
There are now 25 countries and territories that have adopted plain packaging, up from nine countries in 2018 and 21 countries in 2021.
The report reveals there are now 138 countries and territories that require picture health warnings on cigarette packages, an increase from 117 in 2018 and 134 in 2021. This represents 66.5 percent of the world’s population. Canada became the first country in the world to require picture health warnings in 2001.
“There is continuing progress for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the lethal health effects of smoking,” says Cunningham. “It is extremely positive for global public health that more than 130 countries and territories have required picture health warnings and have increased warning size and that so many are moving toward plain packaging. The international trend will reduce global tobacco industry sales and will save lives lost to cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.”
The release of the CCS report coincides with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama this week. The FCTC mandates that all parties require health warnings that cover at least 30 percent of the principal display areas and at least 50 percent of the display areas.
February 6, 2024
COP10 Warns Against New Products
Image: SL-Photography
Delegates from around the world gathered in Panama City on Feb 5. to open the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the FCTC Secretariat, welcomed attendees and warned of the increasing availability of novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products.
These are “becoming a very troubling problem with an alarming increase in the use of these products by young people,” Blanco Marquizo said in her opening address.
“Part of this increase is due to disingenuous tobacco industry messages portraying these products as a replacement for real tobacco control measures as the industry again tries to claim a seat at the table—as part of the solution to an epidemic that the industry created and continues to sustain.”
She also asked everyone to be alert to what she described as “the relentless interference of the tobacco industry in every corner of the world.”
At COP10, delegates will consider a wide range of work to direct the FCTC in its work.
Discussions at COP10 will include:
implementation of FCTC Articles 9 and 10 (regulation of contents and disclosure of tobacco products): reports by the Bureau, by the Expert Group and by the WHO;
tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship: depiction of tobacco in entertainment media: report by the Working Group;
novel and emerging tobacco products;
forward-looking tobacco control measures (in relation to FCTC Article 2.1);
implementation of FCTC Article 19, which relates to liability;
improving the reporting system of the FCTC;
Implementation Review Mechanism;
contribution of the FCTC to the promotion and fulfillment of human rights; and
the FCTC Investment Fund.
COP10 runs from today until Saturday, Feb. 10.
It is followed by the third Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, Feb. 12–15, 2024.
February 6, 2024
VTA Stands up for Lower-Risk Alternatives
The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) today announced the launch of a cable news ad buy in the U.S. targeting Senator Chuck Schumer and his proposed ban on Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad runs this week on FOX News and FOX Business during key programming slots, including “FOX and Friends,” “Kudlow,” and “The Five.”
The ad connects a proposed ban on e-cigarettes with a ban on all less harmful, tobacco-free nicotine products, such as Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad also calls out officials at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) for repeatedly blocking access for millions of Americans to e-cigarettes as harm reduction tools.
“Sen. Schumer and the FDA are simply wrong: wrong on e-cigarettes, wrong on Zyn, and wrong on the science,” said Tony Abboud, executive director of VTA, in a statement. “Rather than give adult smokers broader access to a greater number of lower-risk alternatives, the FDA and CTP have instead imposed a de facto ban on e-cigarettes—and Zyn is next.”
The ad states that Schumer’s proposed Zyn ban mimics his attempts to eliminate e-cigarette use nationwide, amounting to an assault on Americans’ personal freedom to choose lower-risk, tobacco-free nicotine products that overwhelming scientific and medical data demonstrates are effective at helping adults quit smoking.
“Why is the FDA denying access to a wide range of less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes that could otherwise be used by millions of adult smokers trying to quit?” asked Abboud.
“Cigarettes kill. Rather than even acknowledging the settled science in support of e-cigarettes and other less harmful, tobacco-free nicotine products in recent years, the CTP has instead authorized nearly 900 new cigarettes for Americans’ use—but Sen. Schumer thinks it’s Zyn you need to be worried about.
“The anti-nicotine FDA and congressional establishment has simply lost its bearings on the strategy of harm reduction, which it applies to every public health crisis, yet refuses to apply to the annual crisis of nearly half a million Americans dying from smoking every single year.”
“VTA is running this ad buy because Americans deserve to know that less harmful nicotine products exist that can help adult smokers trying to quit. VTA supports Americans’ freedom to choose,” said Abboud.
February 6, 2024
BAT Makes Board and Committee Changes

Photo: BAT
Sue Farr and Dimitri Panayotopoulos will step down from BAT’s board at the end of the company’s annual general meeting on April 24, 2024, having served as nonexecutive directors for nine years.
As a result of these departures, BAT is changing the role of senior independent director and the composition of the audit and remuneration committees.
After the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting, Holly Keller Koeppel will be appointed as senior independent director, succeeding Farr. Koeppel has been a nonexecutive director of the company since July 2017, and she is currently chair of the audit committee and a member of the nominations committee. Darrell Thomas will be appointed as chair of the audit committee, succeeding Koeppel, who will remain a member of the audit committee. Kandy Anand will be appointed as chair of the remuneration committee, succeeding Panayotopoulos.
Luc Jobin said, “I would like to thank both Sue and Dimitri for their extensive contribution to the board over their tenures. I would also like to thank Holly for chairing the Audit Committee since 2019. I look forward to welcoming Holly, Darrell and Kandy to their new roles.”
The above proposals are subject to reelection of each of the directors at the 2024 annual general meeting.
February 6, 2024
Diversification in Africa: FCTC No Help

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
While participants in the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are keen for tobacco growers to abandon the golden leaf, farmers around the world say they receive little support in switching to alternative livelihoods.
Interviewed by the International Tobacco Growers’ Association, Ryan Swales, president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA), said he has not witnessed any attempts from the global health body to assist with diversification.
“I do not see any help from the WHO FCTC helping the diversification of tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe,” he was quoted as saying. “We are on our own, and a big proportion of large-scale growers have diversified on their own, with no help from anyone else, be it the tobacco companies or the WHO FCTC. If you ask many growers if they know who the WHO FCTC are, you will be met with a blank stare!”
This sentiment was echoed by ZTA CEO Rodney Ambrose, who noted that for Zimbabwe’s tens of thousands of small-scale farmers, there simply are no viable diversification options. “Our ministry engaged in a study on behalf of WHO FCTC some years back, which clearly concluded that there are no economically viable crops other than tobacco for our small-scale farmers. Tobacco is their livelihood.
“However, we are always willing to further explore diversification options that the WHO FCTC may propose.”
In Malawi, tobacco growers have received support from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World as the country seeks to broaden its economic base.
February 6, 2024
Ozgo Steps Down as Cigar Group President

Photo: Pcess609
David Ozgo is moving on from his position as president of the Cigar Association of America (CAA).
In a statement, the CAA acknowledged Ozgo’s committed service to the association.
“In his time at CAA he modernized the association’s public relations and social media capability,” the organization wrote on its website. “His op-eds and interviews have been valuable in communicating industry positions. Additionally, his hard work brought in several new members. We wish David all the luck on his next venture.”
CAA’s board of directors will be embarking on a search for new executive leadership.
February 6, 2024
Erik Augustson to Direct FSFW Programs

Image: Monster-Ztudio
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) has appointed Erik Augustson as vice president of programs, responsible for management and oversight of the foundation’s global grantmaking portfolio.
In this new role, Augustson is poised to elevate the grant program, ensuring the foundation’s strategic priorities are addressed by overseeing the strategy, development and implementation of all programmatic work, including research strategy and grant generation.
Throughout his career, Augustson has made contributions within academic, clinical medicine, federal government and private sector contexts. For the past two decades, he has been a driving force in advancing population-level and public health interventions on both domestic and international fronts.
Notably, Augustson played a pivotal role in the development and leadership of the large-scale U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mobile health and behavior change program, Smokefree.gov.
In addition to those achievements, Augustson is recognized as a mentor and senior leader, known for his human-focused management style. His commitment to research, intervention program development, evaluation and management has earned him accolades and positioned him as a respected figure in the field.
“I am delighted to welcome Erik as the leader of this new team at the foundation,” said FSFW CEO Cliff Douglas in a statement. We have ambitious objectives to elevate the strength of our grantmaking and to diversify our partnerships and sources of funding. Erik’s experience delivering the highest-quality programs for the public and private sectors will be a great help in those endeavors.”
An alumnus of the University of New Mexico, Augustson holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in psychology. He also completed two postdoctoral fellowships—one in behavioral medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine and the other in epidemiology and cancer prevention at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
February 6, 2024