Category: News This Week

SKYCIG, a UK electronic cigarette provider, has set up a website to help vapers write to their MEPs (members of the European Parliament) and oppose proposed changes to the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).

One of the European Commission’s proposed changes to the TPD would effectively emasculate the electronic cigarettes now on sale in the EU and encourage the users of these products to return to consuming traditional cigarettes.

In a statement issued through PRNewswire, SKYCIG, which is a member of the ECITA (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association), said that the UK’s MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) recently announced its intention to have electronic cigarettes classified as medicinal products and to require them to be licensed by 2016: similar proposals to those put forward by the Commission.

SKYCIG said that these strict MHRA regulations would make electronic cigarettes more difficult for users to access than their ‘undisputedly more harmful counterparts, traditional cigarettes’.

But it pointed out that the most industry operators believed that, in the long term, revisions to the EU’s TPD would take precedence over the MHRA announcement – and hence the focus on MEPs.

“As an ECITA member, SKYCIG firmly oppose the views of MHRA and feel that this is an unjustifiable restriction on a product which has the potential to save lives as an alternative to traditional cigarettes,” said Douglas Mutter, operations manager, SKYCIG. “This campaign will hopefully bring some common sense to the debate and encourage better enforcement of current regulations without the need for unnecessary medical classification,” he added.

SKYCIG’s dedicated ‘write to your MEP’ webpage is at http://www.skycig.co.uk/ecita.

Philip Morris International expects a decision to be made this month or next on a challenge by Uruguay as to whether an international tribunal set to hear bilateral investment treaty complaints has jurisdiction over the matter.

In 2010, three Philip Morris International companies (PMI) initiated international arbitration proceedings against Uruguay under the Uruguay-Switzerland Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), according to a statement posted on PMI’s website.

The BIT provides protections for investments made in Uruguay, including brands, intellectual property, and ongoing business enterprises.

PMI claims that two regulations implemented by Uruguay in 2009 breach the protections guaranteed by the BIT and damage their investments in the country.

The statement by PMI is at: http://www.pmi.com/eng/media_center/company_statements/Pages/uruguay_bit_claim.aspx

Imperial Tobacco employees in the US are helping to raise funds to support families in Oklahoma affected by last month’s devastating tornado.

And Commonwealth – Altadis has pledged to match the donations made by its employees to the American Red Cross Oklahoma Disaster Relief Fund.

The idea came from Bonnie Marks, fleet supervisor in Travel & Fleet Management, who said that employees felt they had to help in some way.
About 24 people, including seven children, were killed when the category five tornado tore through Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

“It’s great to see that our people care enough to lend a helping hand to those left devastated by events in Oklahoma,” said Kevin Freudenthal, region director Americas.

Police in Rawalpindi have arrested 15 shisha smokers around the city following a crackdown on smoking in public places, according to a story in the Daily Times.

And it seemed that the 15, if found guilty, would be going to jail.

According to the Times’ story, the Lahore High Court had ordered the provincial government to enforce a ban on shisha cafés and smoking in public places.

The smokers were arrested in three raids that involved the city police, the bazaar police and the airport police.

Various shisha-smoking paraphernalia was seized during the raids.

Some police officers in the Indian city of Bengaluru are being ‘over-zealous’ in enforcing a ban on tobacco smoking in public places, according to a story in the Deccan Chronicle.

The paper said there had been complaints that some people had been made to pay Rs500, more than twice the Rs200 stipulated under the law.

There had been reports, too, of failures on the part of the police to issue receipts when imposing on-the-spot fines.

And some smokers said that when they had asked for receipts they had been invited to the police station to collect them.

In one incident, a group of college students each paid Rs200 without getting a receipt after two constables took their pictures and threatened to give the pictures to the students’ parents.

In all incidents, the people had been smoking where tobacco smoking was banned.

A senior police officer was quoted as telling the Chronicle that his force had not received any complaints.

If a complaint were received, the force would take the necessary action, he added.

The owner of a beauty salon in Kenmore, Washington state, US, is to serve time in federal prison for selling contraband cigarettes sourced from Vietnam, according to an Associated Press story.

It wasn’t stated how long Han Bui would be spending in federal prison, but she has been ordered by US district judge John C. Coughenour to pay about $250,000 in tax penalties and assessments to Washington state.

The US attorney’s office said the cigarettes were sold with familiar brand names and packaging, but were made in Vietnam.

Investigators found more than 400,000 contraband cigarettes and $115,000 in cash when they searched Bui’s home and business.

If consumption levels of banned products reflect seizures of those products, then consumption of electronic cigarettes in Singapore is increasing despite the ban there, according to a story by Poon Chian Hui for the Straits Times.

In the first five months of the year, Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority seized 2,428 electronic cigarettes, whereas, during the whole of 2012, 1,464 electronic cigarettes were seized, and, in 2009, the figure was only 10.

Local users are said to be able to buy electronic cigarettes from websites, when travelling in countries that permit their sale, or from local underground suppliers.

The Swedish government sees no hope of overturning the-near EU-wide sales ban on snus and so will concentrate on protecting the right to sell the product in Sweden; the only country where it isn’t banned, according to a Reuters News story quoting the Minister for Children and the Elderly, Maria Larsson.

Sweden pushed for the ban to be overturned in the run-up to the publication of the European Commission’s recommended revisions to its Tobacco Products Directive.

“In regards to the question of exports, there isn’t any chance of success,” the national news agency TT quoted Larsson as saying.

A Swedish Match spokeswoman said it was too early to say what Larsson’s comments meant. “But it would clearly be a disappointment should the Swedish government really have decided to abandon its long-running efforts to allow Swedish products to trade under equal terms as those from other countries, especially the most harmful of tobacco products – cigarettes,” Rupini Bergstrom said.

Tony Scanlan has been appointed to the newly-created role of CEO at the UK-based electronic cigarette manufacturer and distributor, Gamucci.

In a press note, the company said that Scanlan had a strong background and reputation in the traditional tobacco industry, having spent 17 years with Rothmans International in a number of senior roles, including strategic new brands director.

Scanlan will oversee Gamucci’s operations worldwide.

Meanwhile, John Dunne has joined Gamucci as head of sales.

Dunne was said to have had more than 13 years’ experience in the tobacco industry, including senior sales roles at Altria, with Philip Morris USA and John Middleton Cigars.

At the same time, Gamucci has appointed two former Imperial Tobacco executives to its senior team. Jonathan Cox will be leading Gamucci’s expansion into North America as CEO, USA. He was head of business development in Asia and Latin America at Imperial Tobacco for six years before moving on to head up Imperial’s US subsidiary, Commonwealth Brands.

And Jacqueline Burrows is advising the executive team as associate director of corporate affairs. Burrows has 25 years’ experience in the international tobacco industry. She was director of public affairs for Rothmans International before spending the past 11 years with Imperial Tobacco, most recently as head of public and political affairs. She now has her own public affairs consultancy, Lansdown Public Affairs.

Commenting on the appointments, Gamucci founders, Taz and Umer Sheikh said the company was operating in a rapidly growing market and its vision was to create a global electronic cigarettes brand. “These appointments add considerable depth of industry knowledge, experience and capacity to our senior team, which will blend very well with the entrepreneurial perspective we have as founders,” they said.

“We have already built a strong platform, which includes an exclusive manufacturing base and R&D division, and these appointments will act as a catalyst in taking the company to the next stage in its development. The fact that Gamucci is attracting tobacco industry professionals of such high calibre is testament to the opportunity that exists for us to grow the business internationally.”

Last week saw £312,000 of vintage cigars and cigar-related lots sold at C.Gars’ eighth auction at Boisdale Canary

Wharf, London. “Ninety-five per cent of the 347 Lots were sold, most above estimate,” said managing director, Mitchell Orchant. “It was one of the largest cigar auctions in the world, to date.“There was also a lot of new faces among the 80 dedicated cigar aficionados who had flown in to London’s Docklands for a chance to stock up their humidors with some of the finest cigars in world.

“Judging by their enthusiasm, they’ll all be rushing back for our ninth cigar auction, in November.”