The Italian health ministry’s top advisory body has recommended a prohibition on the smoking of electronic cigarettes in public places and a ban on their sale to pregnant women and minors, according to a story on the Indo-Asian News Service.
The recommendation by the ministry’s Superior Health Council came after France’s Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, said she was planning similar restrictions.
Registration for the TFWA World Exhibition, which is to be held in Cannes, France, on October 20-25, has opened at: http://www.tfwa.com/duty_free/index.php?id=1152.
At the same time, a digital review of the TFWA’s Asia Pacific Conference and Exhibition 2013, which was held on May 12-16, is now available at: http://www.tfwa.com/inreview/TFWA-Asia-Pacific-Conference-Exhibition-in-Review/Home.
Employees at Imperial Tobacco’s Radom factory in Poland have helped reduce emissions and costs through the application of an energy saving program.
A pilot scheme has seen energy use cut by 19 per cent, carbon dioxide emissions reduced by 2,000 tonnes per annum and the factory’s annual energy bill fall by more than a fifth.
One of the biggest benefits was said to have resulted from engaging with the workforce to help find ways to save energy, such as through the use of more efficient lighting and air-conditioning.
‘Energy ambassadors’ have been appointed throughout the factory, a move that is said to have stimulated involvement in the scheme and the search for further savings.
“This programme has been perfect for the development of our people and the factory,” said Dariusz Kierasiński, project co-ordinator at Radom.
“Our energy ambassadors, along with a new energy management system to pinpoint areas of high usage, contributed to this success.”
Similar initiatives are due to get underway at plants in Logroño (Spain), Ain Harrouda (Morocco), Tarnowo (Poland), Nottingham (UK) and other sites during the next 12 months, with the aim of cutting Imperial’s global energy bill by £10 million by 2020.
Dubai Ladies, Club, in conjunction with DubaiHealthcareCity, recently organised nicotine tests and facilitated tobacco education sessions for its members and guests, according to an AME Info report.
The club set up a purpose-designed smoking cessation and awareness booth where visitors were able to be tested for nicotine and consult a doctor about the health risks related to smoking.
“As a women-only recreational facility, Dubai Ladies Club is committed to the health and wellbeing of our guests and staff,” said Lamia Abdulaziz, director of the club.
“With a mission to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve, we believe that we have a responsibility to take a leadership role on this major health issue, and allowing people to use tobacco products defeats this purpose.
Members of the European Parliament are split over plans to revise the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive, according to a story by Dave Keating for the European Voice.
Almost 1,500 amendments have been proposed by the European Commission, but the most serious divisions have been caused by a proposal to ban flavored cigarettes, and another to require that three quarters of cigarette packs are covered in graphic health warnings.
Electronic cigarettes are also proving to be controversial. The Commission’s proposal would emasculate electronic cigarettes, which some MEPs see as useful anti-smoking tools.
R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., a subsidiary of Reynolds American, is bringing its Vuse Digital Vapor Cigarette to retail outlets throughout Colorado, USA.
“This is a game-changing product in the e-cigarette category,” says Stephanie Cordisco, president of RJRV.
“There is strong awareness of the category among adult smokers and many are trying e-cigarettes, but few adult smokers are switching to them entirely. That’s because the products currently on the market aren’t providing everything adult smokers are looking for. We believe Vuse will change that.”
Developed in-house by R.J. Reynolds R&D experts, Vuse uses innovative digital technology, ensuring it delivers consistent flavor and a satisfying vapor experience.
“Vuse is powered by smart technology designed to monitor and regulate the power, heat and cartridge performance to ensure a perfect puff first time, every time,” Cordisco says. “To date, adult smokers who have tried e-cigarettes haven’t found a product that performs consistently. With its digital technology, Vuse gives adult smokers considering e-cigarettes an innovative, high-quality product from a leading tobacco company.”
Unlike other e-cigarettes currently on the market, Vuse is completely designed and assembled in the United States, and, as an additional quality step, Vuse incorporates automated manufacturing to ensure a consistently reliable cartridge every time. Vuse will be sold in a rechargeable format.
“Vuse has been designed to offer the affordability and convenience of a disposable e-cigarette, while providing on-going cost savings and reduced environmental impact by being rechargeable,” Cordisco says.
The Vuse Solo and Vuse System will be sold in retail outlets in Colorado beginning in July. Vuse Solo includes a flavor cartridge, original or menthol, a rechargeable Vuse power unit and a USB charger. The Vuse System includes three flavor cartridges—two original and one menthol—a rechargeable Vuse power unit, both a USB charger and an AC wall adapter, and a carrying case.
Vuse cartridges will also be sold separately at retail outlets. Depending on use, a cartridge lasts about as long as one pack of traditional cigarettes. Every Vuse vapor cigarette comes pre-charged and ready to use right out of the pack. The price for a Vuse Solo will be around $10, the Vuse System will likely cost around $30 and cartridges will be sold in two-packs for around $6.
“As the preferences of adult tobacco consumers change, we are leading the transformation of the tobacco industry, providing high-quality products for them to consider,” Cordisco says. “Some Wall Street analysts have predicted significant growth for the e-cigarette category during the next few years. With our Vuse Digital Vapor Cigarette, we intend to be a market leader in the category.”
The Italian health ministry’s top advisory body has recommended a prohibition on the smoking of electronic cigarettes in public places and a ban on their sale to pregnant women and minors, according to a story on the Indo-Asian News Service.
The recommendation by the ministry’s Superior Health Council came after France’s Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, said she was planning similar restrictions.
HM Revenue and Customs (HRMC) has failed to meet any of its targets on reducing the smuggling of illicit tobacco into the UK, according to a story by Angus Crawford for BBC Online, quoting an official watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said HMRC’s latest strategy, launched in 2011, had so far prevented tax revenue losses of £328m – less than two-thirds of the total projected.
And its target of saving £1.4 billion over four years now seemed ‘unachievable’.
HMRC said it was committed to tackling tobacco smuggling and had invested an extra £25 million in doing so.
HMRC has estimated that in 2010-11 alone, duty was not paid on 9 per cent of the cigarettes and 38 per cent of the hand-rolling tobacco smoked in the UK, at a cost of £1.9 billion in lost revenue.
The report acknowledged HMRC had achieved some success in building up its intelligence network overseas, resulting in the seizure of an estimated 1.27 billion cigarettes and 56 tonnes of tobacco overseas in 2012-13.
But it said key initiatives to curb smuggling had been delayed or cancelled – in part due to legal concerns – while HMRC lacked a ‘good understanding’ of the volume of prosecutions and other legal sanctions needed to provide an effective deterrent.
Despite legislation in 2006 aimed at cracking down on tobacco manufacturers facilitating smuggling, the NAO said the supply of some hand-rolling tobacco brands to certain countries was still estimated to exceed legitimate demand by 240 per cent.
The job of HMRC is not made easy by government policy, which uses taxation to raise the price of licit cigarettes to the point where the poorest smokers cannot afford them; in the knowledge that those smokers are addicted to a tobacco habit that, on average, takes five years and seven attempts to break.
A city council in California, US, has agreed to ban tobacco smoking on bar and restaurant patios adjacent to city streets, according to a story by Promise Yee for the Coast News.
But it could have been worse for the smokers of Oceanside. A motion calling for a ban on smoking at all bar or restaurant patios and within 25 feet of such patios was narrowly defeated.
As it stands (the ordinance will be the subject of a final vote on July 27), smoking will be banned on bar and restaurant patios adjacent to city streets, and within 10 feet of patios where smoking is banned.
But it will be permitted on patios located on private property and not adjacent to city streets, an exemption that includes non ground-level balcony patios and golf course restaurant patios.
Smoking will be permitted, too, at cigar social events.
New Zealand’s Remarkables ski resort is to be tobacco smoke free from this season, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The resort now has no designated smoking areas.