Category: News This Week

Experts discuss filtration at BMJ-VTA dinner
Cigarette paper supplier BMJ and the Vietnam Tobacco Association held their seventh BMJ-VTA dinner in Danang, Vietnam, on Oct. 11.
During the event, invited speaker Paul Morris of Filtrona Filters explained to the audience how various types of cigarette filters can be used to achieve certain filtration targets.
In doing so, Morris continued a tradition started by BMJ several years ago.
With regulators and smokers demanding ever-lower tar deliveries, the industry is increasingly interested in the technologies available to produce “lighter” cigarettes without compromising the smoking experience.
In response to this trend, BMJ initiated a series of lectures that over the years has featured filtration experts such as Surya Handoko, developer of Sampoerna’s successful A-Mild kretek cigarette, and Simon Denby, a former senior product developer for various multinationals.
Most Vietnamese cigarettes are equipped with traditional monoacetate filters. In his presentation, Morris highlighted some of the alternatives available in the marketplace.
October 19, 2012
ISO accreditation for Borgwaldt KC
Borgwaldt KC’s Physical Laboratory has been accredited DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 for calibration in the field of fluid quantities/gas flow rates.
The accreditation comprises in detail the following calibrations:
- Calibration of pressure drop transfer standards
- Calibration of air permeability standards
- Calibration of laminar flow element (LFE) as per ISO 7210 paragraph 4.3.3
- Calibration of pressure resistors (bubble-adapter) as per ISO 4387 paragraph 7.6.3.4
The laboratory carries out all calibrations on precise measurement equipment designed specifically for this purpose.
October 18, 2012
Philip Morris Indonesia plans new factory
Philip Morris Indonesia plans to boost its production and export capacity, reports the Jakarta Globe. The company intends to build a new factory in West Java in 2013 that will produce non-clove cigarettes, especially Marlboros.
Philip Morris Indonesia, which employs some 200 people at its existing factory in Bekasi, also in West Java, plans to hire 100 additional workers at the new factory.
Marlboro has 4.5 percent share of the Indonesian cigarette market.
October 18, 2012
EU Tobacco Products Directive review to proceed
A planned review of the European Union Tobacco Products Directive will proceed once a replacement has been found for Health Commissioner John Dalli, said EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen on Oct. 17. Dalli resigned following an investigation of a complaint by Swedish Match made in May.
The EU anti-fraud office, OLAF, found evidence that Dalli knew a “person close to him” was requesting a “substantial” sum of money from Swedish Match in return for seeking to influence the future legislative proposal removing or softening the existing ban on snus in the EU.
Dalli denies the claims and says he resigned to give himself “a free hand in opposing the allegations.” He also plans legal action to clear his name.
Malta Today identified the person who approached Swedish Match as Silvio Zammit, a well-known Maltese entrepreneur and councilor for the city of Sliema. Zammit resigned from the council five hours after the announcement of Dalli’s resignation.
Swedish Match said it takes the incident very seriously and expects the European Commission will “ensure a transparent and legally fair process for the proposal of a new Tobacco Products Directive, which is expected during the autumn.”
The company said it expects the available scientific evidence on the significantly lower health risks of snus compared with cigarettes to be considered in the review process.
Commenting on the investigation, a spokesman for the Union of Tobacco Growers in Europe called on the commission to abandon the proposals developed by Dalli and begin again with a fair and transparent process that results in tobacco regulations that will both protect a public health and tobacco farmers’ jobs.

October 18, 2012
PMI volumes down
Philip Morris International reported net revenues, excluding excise taxes, of $7.9 billion in the third quarter of 2012, down 5.3 percent from the comparable 2011 quarter. Its cigarette shipment volume was down by 1.3 percent. Operating companies’ income was down 1.5 percent, to $3.7 billion.
Excluding the impact of currency exchange rates and acquisitions, reported net revenues, excluding excise taxes, were up by 3.4 percent, and reported operating companies’ income was up by 4.8 percent.
“Despite the difficult comparisons in the third-quarter, we remain confident that the fundamentals of our business are solid as a whole, which is testament to our progress, especially in our Asia and EEMA regions,” said Louis C. Camilleri, chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
“We expect to achieve our annual organic volume growth target of 1 percent in 2012 and our adjusted diluted EPS growth to be in line with our mid-to-long term constant currency annual growth target.”
October 18, 2012
Molins celebrates 100 years of service
The Molins Machine Co. was founded on Oct. 18, 1912—exactly one hundred years ago. The Mark 1 cigarette making machine introduced in 1928 was the first of its kind and led to a long line of machinery that became the latest standard for quality. During these years the company revolutionized the tobacco industry with innovative engineering that shaped cigarette and packaging production across the world.
Today Molins remains a prominent company in the industry with one of the largest installed bases of machinery in the world. A dedicated service to customers for spares and maintenance has fostered relationships that have endured for very many years.
“With new machinery like the Octave and Alto plus other upgrades and machinery in the pipeline, new and old customer relationships getting stronger and the same dedication to quality and customer satisfaction, it’s clear that Molins will be around for a long time yet… perhaps even, for another hundred years,” the company wrote in a press statement.
October 18, 2012
EU commissioner resigns following Swedish Match complaint
John Dalli has today announced his resignation as a member of the EU Commission, with immediate effect, according to an EU Commission press statement.
Dalli informed the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, of his decision following an investigation by OLAF, the EU’s antifraud office, into a complaint made in May by Swedish Match.
Swedish Match alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Dalli to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus. As soon as the Commission received the complaint it immediately requested OLAF to investigate.
The OLAF report did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Dalli but did consider that he was aware of these events. No transaction was concluded between the company and the entrepreneur and no payment was made.
The OLAF report showed the European Commission’s decisionmaking process and the position of the services concerned has unaffected by the matters under investigation.
The final OLAF report and its recommendations are being sent by OLAF to the Attorney General of Malta.
After the president informed Dalli about the report received from OLAF, Dalli decided to resign in order to be able to defend his reputation and that of the Commission. Dalli categorically rejects these findings.
Vice President Maros Sefcovic will take over the portfolio of Dalli on an interim basis until a new Commissioner of Maltese nationality is appointed in accordance with article 246 (2) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.

October 16, 2012
Khatoco inaugurates new threshing plant
Khanh Viet Corp. (Khatoco) of Vietnam officially opened its new threshing plant in Nha Trang City on Oct. 2, 2012. Participating in the ceremony were various government officials, multinational tobacco merchants/processors and representatives of Evans Mactavish, which supplied the machinery for the facility.
A seaside resort with first-class hotels and exquisite food, Nha Trang City provided a stunning backdrop for the event
The project took five years to complete. Tests and production runs started in March 2012, while full production commenced Oct. 1.
The factory is state-of-the-art facility, processing to international standards and meeting requirements for all buyers.
October 16, 2012
E-cigarettes help smokers quit, but ministry says ban them anyway
Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health is considering banning the import of electronic cigarettes, according to a story in The Costa Rica News.
The ministry says it believes the ban is necessary because the US Food and Drug Administration has said that electronic cigarettes contain toxic substances.
Since a smoking ban was passed inCosta Rica, many companies are said to have promoted the use of the electronic cigarette as a way to help people to stop smoking. But the ministry was quoted as saying that while electronic cigarettes were helpful in aiding quitting, they could be harmful.
October 16, 2012
Australian taxpayer fund plainly increasing tobacco investments
Australia’s taxpayer-owned Future Fund spent more than $37 million investing in tobacco stocks at the same time as the government was finalising its law on the so-called ‘plain packaging’ of tobacco, according to a story in the Canberra Times.
In a move that has attracted fierce criticism from health groups; the fund’s stake in global tobacco companies has swollen by nearly 50 per cent in recent years to $210 million at the end of June.
Until now, the Fund, which is said to be independent of the government, had not said whether the increase in its tobacco stake had occurred because it had been buying more stock or if its existing shares had risen in value.
Now, however, the fund has revealed its managers bought more shares in tobacco companies before February this year.
In response to questions posed in May, the Fund has said that $37.8 million of the $78.0 million increase in its tobacco holdings between December 2010 and February this year was driven by increased buying.
Share price and currency movements accounted for the remaining $40.2 million of the increase, the fund said in response to a Senate estimates question.
The purchases occurred while the federal government was passing legislation for the ‘plain packaging’ of tobacco.
In response to its critics, the Future Fund argues the tobacco investments do not breach its internal policies because cigarettes are legal.
The Times story said the Fund, worth $77 billion, invested also in ‘nuclear arms companies’.
The Greens have proposed ethical investment rules for the Fund – a position rejected by Labor and the Coalition.
October 16, 2012