Category: News This Week

Malaysia is due to carry out a detailed study to determine the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes in reducing tobacco smoking addiction, according to a story in The Star quoting the Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Such a move will be welcomed by some elements of the tobacco control community who believe that electronic cigarettes offer the most potential for weaning smokers from traditional cigarettes.

And it will be seen as a progressive move in contrast to the bans being imposed and proposed in some other countries.

Liow had been asked to comment on a statement by Sarawak health director, Datuk Dr Zulkifli Jantan, that selling, distributing and storing electronic cigarettes were offences under the Poisons Act 1952 and the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984.

Liow said there was currently no control over the sale of electronic cigarettes in the country since they were meant to reduce smoking addiction.

However, he said liquid nicotine was listed under the Poisons Act 1952 and it could be sold only through licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners.

SKYCIG, which claims to be the UK’s leading distributor of electronic cigarettes, was due yesterday to launch the first UK television advert for such products, according to a PRNewswire release.

The TV commercial, showcasing SKYSTART, SKYCIG’s latest product offering, was said to be about to change the way consumers were exposed to the electronic cigarette industry.

‘The advert, produced by Povey Sindall Media, is a great achievement for the brand,
especially since advertising tobacco and smoking related products on TV has been banned since the early 1970s,’ the release said.

The screening of the advertisement is said to have coincided with the release of figures indicating that there are an estimated 600,000 electronic cigarette users in the UK.

The UK’s electronic cigarette market is predicted to be worth £250m by 2014.

KT&G has launched a cigarette/cigar hybrid called Bohem Cigar Mini, according to a story in The Korea Herald.

Twenty per cent of the new product’s tobacco is said to be sourced from Cuba and unspecified countries of South America.

Bohem Cigar Mini has a filter and is in a king-sized, ultra-slim format.

Judging from pictures posted on the Internet, the new product is available in 1 mg and 5 mg versions.

The 1 mg version has a white filter and is sold in a white, round-cornered, hinged-lid pack, while the 5 mg version has cork-style tipping and comes in a brown, round-cornered, hinged-lid pack.

The American Lung Association is due tomorrow to publish the results of its 11th annual ‘State of Tobacco   Control’ report, which tracks progress on key tobacco control policies at US federal and state level, assigning grades based on whether laws are adequately protecting citizens from tobacco-caused disease.

‘This year’s report follows the trail of money misused by policymakers and strategically invested by Big Tobacco leading to the enormous toll tobacco use takes on lives and the economy,’ the association said in a pre-publication press note.

British American Tobacco’s CEO, Nicandro Durante, was due to arrive in Seoul, South Korea, today on the first stop of a New Year global tour, according to a story in The Korea Times.

Durante, the newspaper said, took the Korean market seriously because it was one of the BAT Group’s top 10 markets.

He was scheduled to visit various group facilities around the world as part of efforts to draw up a global plan for the company.

Durante was particularly interested in his company’s being a ‘socially responsible corporate citizen, building value for the business, for shareholders and for other stakeholders’, the paper reported.

The amount of tobacco seized by Australia’s Customs and Border Protection agency last year was down by 32 per cent on that seized during 2011, according to a story by Ewa Kretowicz for Myall Coast Nota.

The agency said that it had seized more than 125 million cigarettes and more than 134 tonnes of tobacco being brought illegally into Australia last year.

It put the fall in seizures down to increases in the penalties – fines and jail terms – imposed on smugglers and the number of arrests made during 2011 and 2012.

According to Kretowicz, the fall might also be down to the continuing reduction in the number of people taking up the habit.

There was no suggestion that smugglers were getting smarter.

While China traditionally has been the major source of cigarettes entering Australia illegally, large shipments have begun to arrive from the United   Arab Emirates.

The ban on displaying tobacco products in shops has not reduced sales of these products, according to an Esmerk Finnish News story.

The chief physician of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Antero Heloma, was quoted as saying that while there was as yet no research data specifically related to the ban, tax data seemed to indicate that it had not affected sales significantly.

According to British American Tobacco figures, tobacco sales fell by two per cent in Finland last year, a fall that was thought to be part of the general decline in smoking in Western countries.

In fact, Lauri Mäkinen, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at BAT Finland, was reported to have said the decrease in smoking was somewhat slower in Finland last year than it was in other Western European countries.

Cigarette sales in France last year were down by 4.9 per cent on those of 2011, according to a story in Les Echos.

This, the biggest fall since 2004, was probably caused by recent regular tax-induced cigarette price rises, especially those imposed after 2009, the story suggested.

The latest increase, in October last year, took the retail price of the least expensive cigarettes to €6.10.

Meanwhile, European tobacco makers and retailers plan to hold a demonstration in Brussels on January 22 against an EU Commission directive proposal that 75 per cent of cigarette packages are covered with anti-tobacco images and messages.

Alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, poor diet and smoking are said to be the main causes of the 36 million deaths that occur annually, worldwide from causes other than non-communicable diseases, according to a story in Spain’s The Leader Newspaper quoting a World Health Organization report.

Of the 36 million people who die each year from non-communicable diseases, nine million are under the age of 60.

Deaths from non-communicable diseases are said to occur mainly in the developed world but to be increasing in less developed countries.

The World Health Organization yesterday opened for signature a protocol aimed at eliminating the illicit trade in tobacco products.

The protocol was adopted with much fanfare in November at the fifth Conference of the Parties to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which was held at Seoul, South Korea.

And, according to a Voice of America story, ‘participating ministers and representatives attended a signing ceremony at the WHO headquarters [Geneva] to mark the landmark achievement’.

The WHO’s director-general, Margaret Chan, apparently told delegates attending the ceremony that one of the most joyous moments of her life was the unanimous adoption of the protocol, despite efforts by the tobacco industry to prevent it from passing.

But the protocol is almost certainly broadly welcomed by the tobacco industry, which would like to see the speedy implementation of one of its commitments – the establishment an efficient international track and trace system for tobacco products.

And it would like to see the protocol broadened to encompass certain manufacturing materials.

The protocol will remain open for signature until January 9, 2014.

It will enter into force 90 days after the 40th FCTC participating country has ratified it.