Category: News This Week

At the Tobacco End Game conference in New Delhi, India, the World Heart Federation (WHF) on Monday called for countries worldwide to follow the example set by nations such as Finland, New Zealand and Scotland in setting a target year for the ending of tobacco use among their populations, according to a Science Codex story.

“Ending” tobacco use in this sense, the WHF said,  meant reducing the prevalence of smoking to 5 percent or below, as well as implementing further measures included in the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

“Finland (2030), Scotland (2034), New Zealand (2025) and other nations, including a group of Pacific Island States (2025), have all publicly announced a ‘target year’ to bring their tobacco use down to below 5 percent,” the WHF said.

“Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for heart disease and causes millions of premature deaths each year worldwide.

“Despite this, tobacco companies continue to market their deadly product and are particularly active in low-income and middle-income nations, where tobacco control measures are not as strong as in many high-income countries.”

The Science Codex story is at http://www.sciencecodex.com/world_heart_federation_calls_on_all_countries_to_follow_example_of_finland_new_zealand-119018.

Imperial Tobacco said today that Oliver Tant, formerly vice chairman of KPMG and chairman of KPMG’s Client Council, would succeed Bob Dyrbus as finance director.

Tant will be appointed to the board on Oct. 1 and will be appointed finance director on Nov. 5, when Dyrbus will step down from the board ahead of retiring from the business on Dec. 31.

Tant has held a number of senior positions at KPMG during a career that has included being global managing director of the Private Equity Division and head of UK Audit. He was also a member of the U.K. board of KPMG.

“He has a wealth of international experience in change management, organisational restructuring, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions,” Imperial said in a note posted on its website.

“Over the years, his industry focus has included consumer and industrial markets, retail, audit, private equity and insurance.”

Flue-cured prices in some districts of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh soared during the just-concluded auctions there, according to the most recent issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

Prices went as high as INR200 a kg in West Godavari, while the statewide average for the season was INR145 a kg.

The Tobacco Board of India has set the Andhra crop target for the 2013–2014 season at 172 million kg, an increase of 2 million kg on that of 2012–2013.

The board is keen for growers to keep to their production quotas but is probably wary given some of the prices paid at the just-concluded sales.

Officials are likely to keep an eye on nurseries to try to limit unauthorized output.

Flue-cured tobacco auctions in the Indian state of Karnataka got off to a record start this season, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

Prices were said to have touched INR150.20 per kg, a record for a first day and more than 7 percent above last season’s opening-day top-price, INR140 per kg.

Eight buying companies took part in the first day of sales, which were held across 11 platforms.

Karnataka is estimated to have produced about 120 million kg of flue-cured this year.

The Tobacco Board of India crop target had been set at 102 million kg, up from 98 million kg in 2012.

An estimated 1.6 million smokers attempted to quit smoking because of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Tips From Former Smokers” national campaign, according to a CDC press note describing the results of the campaign.

“As a result of the 2012 campaign, more than 200,000 Americans had quit smoking immediately following the three-month campaign, of which researchers estimated that more than 100,000 will likely quit smoking permanently,” according to the press note issued through PRNewswire/USNewswire.

“These results exceed the campaign’s original goals of 500,000 quit attempts and 50,000 successful quits.”

The study was said to have surveyed thousands of adult smokers and nonsmokers before and after the campaign.

“Findings showed that, by quitting, former smokers added a total of about a third of a million years of life to the U.S. population,” the CDC said.

The Tips campaign, which aired from March 19 to June 10, 2012, was the first time a federal agency had developed and placed what it referred to as “paid advertisements for a national tobacco education campaign.”

“Ads featured emotionally powerful stories of former smokers living with smoking-related diseases and disabilities,” the press note said.

“The campaign encouraged people to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a toll-free number to access quit support across the country, or visit a quit-assistance website.”

The tobacco monopoly administration of Shantou, Guangdong Province, and local government agencies blew up a facility destined to be used for the production of fake cigarettes at Xinmin village on Saturday, according to a China Daily story quoting the Southern Metropolis Daily.

Explosives were used to destroy the production site, which was said to have been located in a cave seven meters under a hill, because there were no roads that could be used to bring in the big machinery that otherwise would have been needed to destroy it.

The entrance to the cave allowed only one person to go through at a time.

The machines that would have been used to produce the fake cigarettes had been assembled inside the cave and were still being tested ahead of manufacturing operations.

The authorities had received tip-offs about the site many times but had previously failed to spot it.

They received the latest clue on Thursday and on Saturday found the site, which was sheltered by a pig farm and a fruit farm.

More than 140 of Imperial Tobacco’s German employees gave up their time recently to take part in a community volunteer day. The employees, based in Hamburg, joined one of eight local projects for the Reemtsma Help Day.

Projects included helping out at animal rescue centers, taking part in tandem bike rides with blind people, creating wildlife havens, building a forest garden, clearing a river and helping the homeless.

“Our first volunteer day last year proved such a success that we wanted to do it again,” said Media Relations Manager Svea Milena Schröder, who coordinated the events.

“There was so much demand last time that we had more volunteers than places, so we increased the number of opportunities to get involved this time around.

“By showing our commitment to good causes in this way, we give back to our community, gain new perspectives and also get to know our colleagues better across all functions.”

The board of directors of Philip Morris International today increased the company’s regular quarterly dividend by 10.6 percent to an annualized rate of $3.76 per share.

The new quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, up from $0.85 per share, is payable on Oct. 11 to stockholders of record as of Sept. 26.

The ex-dividend date is Sept. 24.

A recent survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found the use of e-cigarettes by middle and high school students increasing is in danger of missing the most important point, according to Miguel Martin, president of the electronic cigarette company Logic Technology.

“The recent CDC report does not address the key issue, which is the relative harm of traditional combustion-based cigarettes versus electronic cigarettes,” said Martin.

“Any statements that do not inform adult smokers and society as a whole of the inherent health impact differences between these two products are incomplete and misleading.

“Logic encourages the CDC and other regulatory authorities to accelerate their studies to determine the health impact of electronic cigarettes versus traditional combustion-based cigarettes.”

Turning to the issue of “underage” usage, Martin said Logic did not market to nor intend its products to be sold to underage consumers.

“Logic supports regulation that would eliminate online sales and ensure that sales of electronic cigarettes are age-verified in a manner consistent with traditional cigarettes,” he said.

Cigarette consumption in South Korea was expected to reach a record low during the first half of this year due to the introduction of stricter anti-smoking regulations and heightened health awareness among consumers, according to a story by Park Hyong-ki for The Korea Herald, quoting industry data.

But compared with some other markets, Korea’s is still relatively stable. Last year, cigarette sales amounted to 89.3 billion, down by less than 1 percent from 90 billion the previous year.

And some tobacco consumers might simply be turning to other tobacco products.

According to a piece by Jeyup S. Kwaak published in the Wall Street Journal Blogs, snus started appearing in South Korea earlier this year.

The snus is said to have been imported from Sweden and Denmark.