Category: News This Week

  • TIMB Urges Sustainable Crop Growth

    TIMB Urges Sustainable Crop Growth

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Zimbabwe is on track to export $1.5 billion worth of tobacco, according to Tobacco Industry & Marketing Board (TIMB) Acting CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire.

    In an interview with The Zimbabwe Independent, Matsvaire shared his views on the challenges and opportunities facing the country’s tobacco sector.

    To date, Zimbabwe has exported about 105 million kg of tobacco at an average of $5.04 per kg, compared to 93 million kg exported during the same period last year at an average price of $4.62 per kg.

    The Far East remains the top destination for Zimbabwean tobacco, according to Matsvaire, making up about 41 percent of total exports. The region also has the highest average export price due to high quality tobacco that goes here.

    Out of the 295.5 million kg of tobacco sold this season, the TIMB estimate that about 5 million kg have been side-marketed, which is less than 2 percent of the total crop.

    The regulators has worked hard to fight the practice, according to Matsvaire. “We have brought in a new compliance framework. We have also established a new department that ensures that compliance is up to date. We also have an inspectorate department and field officers on the ground,” he told The Zimbabwe Independent.

    Matsvaire stressed the importance of matching production to demand, and of adhering to proper production practices. “We need to ensure that there is a balance between price and what is produced, and quality as well as quantity,” he said. “We do not wish to increase volumes without good quality. We ensure that we are also growing sustainably using the right sources of energy and labor. We do not need to use children in growing tobacco. We also need to ensure that our environment is safe. Our growth has to be sustainable growth.”

  • Zimbabwe Crafting Funding Scheme

    Zimbabwe Crafting Funding Scheme

    Photo: stringerphoto

    The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) and Zimbabwean banks are jointly working on a scheme to provide funding to farmers, reports The Sunday Mail, citing a senior official.

    As part of its Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, which seeks to retain more value from the industry in Zimbabwe, the government seeks to increase local funding for production of the crop.

    Currently, about 90 percent of tobacco production is financed through offshore loans under contract schemes.

    The offshore pre-financing arrangement means tobacco merchants bring into the country part of export proceeds in the form of inputs. After exports, the bulk of the proceeds are used to pay offshore loans. Critics have suggested the cost of inputs have been highly inflated in some cases.

    Smallholder growers struggle to access finance because they lack security. The proposed model seeks to enable growers to access the loans even without collateral, TIMB acting chief executive Emmanuel Matsvaire said in an interview Aug. 31.

    Last month, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe scrapped the requirement compelling merchants to source offshore financing to fund production and buying green leaf from farmers.

  • Critics: €12 Cigarettes “Too Lenient”

    Critics: €12 Cigarettes “Too Lenient”

    Photo: OceanProd

    A French plan to raise the price of cigarettes to €12 ($12.94) per pack is “too lenient,” according to critics, reports Euractiv.

    Speaking on the RMC station on Aug. 28, spokesman Olivier Véran said the government could raise the price of cigarettes to €12 per pack from the start of 2024.

    But according to the French Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT), a lobby group that brings together anti-tobacco organizations, this measure is not up to the public health challenge.

    “Only a strong and sustained policy will enable us to achieve an effective and lasting reduction in the prevalence of smoking in our country,” said ACT president Loïc Josseran, whose organization wants a pack of 20 cigarettes to cost €16 by 2027.

    The ACT would also like to see an increase in the price of other tobacco products, such as roll-your-own tobacco, to discourage smokers of so-called conventional cigarettes from switching to these products.

    According to the World Health Organization, on average, a 10 percent price increase reduces consumption by 5-8 percent in low- and middle-income countries and by about 4 percent in high-income countries.

    After falling significantly between 2016 and 2019, daily smoking has stabilized since 2019. There are nearly 12 million smokers in France, according to data published by Santé publique France in 2022.

  • Ukraine Restricts Duty-Free Tobacco Sales

    Ukraine Restricts Duty-Free Tobacco Sales

    Ukraine has restricted the duty-free sales of cigarettes and alcohol, reports Interfax.

    The law, which signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sept. 1, 2023, prohibits goods that fall under a certain categories of the Ukrainian Classification of Commodities from being registered as duty-free commodities until the country lifts the martial law that has been in effect since Russia’s invasion.

    The measure is intended to tackle illegal trade in tobacco products. Despite restrictions on foreign travel after the breakout of hostilities in early 2022, the number of cigarette packs purchased near borders rose sharply compared with those sold at other outlets, causing the Ukraine to miss out on substantial tax earnings.

    An ad hoc investigative commission created at the urging of the State Tax Service in May 2023, suggested stricter controls on tobacco manufacturers and exporters.

     

  • Court Poised to Rebuff Land Claim Cutoff

    Court Poised to Rebuff Land Claim Cutoff

    Photo: alexlmx

    Brazil’s Supreme Court is likely to rule against attempts by the country’s farm lobby to limit land claims by indigenous peoples to areas they occupied before 1988, according to Reuters.

    The case stems from a dispute in Santa Catarina state where the government rejected a land claim by the Xokleng people, who were evicted by tobacco farmers from what was their ancestral land.

    Congress has pushed ahead with bills allowing indigenous reservations only on land that was occupied by native communities when Brazil passed its constitution in 1988. The lower house passed a bill last month and its backers want the Senate to follow suit before the Supreme Court rules on the issue.

    On Aug. 31, Justice Cristiano Zanin cast a crucial vote that all but ensures the 1988 cut-off date will be rejected by the court. Zanin said indigenous communities that were not present on their lands in 1988 may have been forced to leave.

  • FDA Urged to Prioritize Harm Reduction

    FDA Urged to Prioritize Harm Reduction

    Photo: New Africa

    The R Street Institute is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prioritize harm reduction in its approach to tobacco regulation.

    In a letter to FDA Center for Tobacco Products’ (CTP) Director Brian King, the organization suggested the agency should evaluate its past achievements, define its mission statement clearly and develop a science-based tobacco and nicotine policy. Additionally, it recommended applying product standards consistently across all tobacco and nicotine products.

    The R Street Institute expressed concerns that the FDA’s proposed strategic goals may not address more immediate issues that could have a significant impact on public health. The group argued that the CTP should reflect on its initial goals and whether they have been achieved, such as setting clear standards for tobacco/nicotine products and effective enforcement processes.

    The comments also stressed the importance of communicating the strengths and weaknesses of past CTP goals, defining the mission statement with clear measurables, and establishing evidence-based policy goals for tobacco harm reduction. The R Street Institute advocated for transparent and consistent education on tobacco harm reduction.

    Lastly, the group urged the CTP to close gaps and loopholes in regulating tobacco and nicotine products, ensuring that all products are held to the same scientifically determined standards.

    The R Street Institute is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to limited government.

  • Court Upholds IP Damages for Republic

    Court Upholds IP Damages for Republic

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Aug. 22 upheld a multimillion dollar verdict against Diamond Wholesale and its owner, Raj Solomon, for infringing trademarks owned by Top Tobacco, Republic Technologies and Republic Tobacco, reports IPWatchdog.

    In March 2022, a jury in the U.S. District Court of Georgia awarded Top Tobacco $11 million in damages against the wholesale company and its owner. Diamond Wholesale appealed the ruling, arguing that the district curt erred in excluding evidence, including witness testimony and invoices, that would have proven the retailer and its owner believed it was purchasing the counterfeit product from a legitimate seller, Star Importers, and that their infringement could therefore not have been intentional.

    However, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a “showing of intent or bad faith is unnecessary to establish a violation.”

    Earlier this year, federal jurors in Atlanta awarded Republic Brands $2.3 million in statutory damages in a case about counterfeit tobacco rolling papers against Star Importers and ZCell & Novelties.

  • CoEHAR Concerned About South African Bill

    CoEHAR Concerned About South African Bill

    The Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) has urged the South African government to use risk-proportionate regulation in its tobacco control efforts.

    In a reply to a public consultation on the Tobacco and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Control Bill, CoEHAR raised concerns that the current draft will restrict less risky options for people who would benefit from using these products to quit smoking.

    “The primary goal of the South Africa tobacco policy should be to prevent and control tobacco- related excess mortality and morbidity. In practice, this means reducing smoking as deeply and rapidly as possible,” wrote Riccardo Polosa and Giovanni Li Volti on behalf of the CoEHAR in their letter.

    “Tobacco harm reduction provides a fast-acting, market-based strategy for reducing smoking and eliminating most smoking-related risks. The regulation of combustion- smoke-tar-free products should always be considered as part of a regulatory system that covers all the nicotine delivery products. The aim should be to encourage the migration from high-risk to low-risk products and support positive behavior change. Regulators should take great care to avoid the perverse consequences of prohibitions and use risk-proportionate regulation instead.”

    Based in Catania, Italy, CoEHAR is a multidisciplinary center focused on the study of tobacco harm reduction.

  • Brazil: Most of Crop Already Planted

    Brazil: Most of Crop Already Planted

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Brazil’s tobacco crop for the 2023/2024 season is mostly planted already, according to Kohltrade.

    Transplanting began earlier this year than in previous years and is being finalized in most of the southern Brazil properties. Farmers are hoping to avoid excessive summer heat and to grow more quality leaf. 

    Traditionally, the majority of planting took place in August. Recently, however, farmers have been planting early to harvest earlier to avoid issues created by lack of rain and excessive heat, which have been constant in recent seasons.

    The Department of Mutuality of the Brazilian Tobacco Growers Association stated that recurring droughts have forced farmers to start their work earlier in the season. Planting early has risks as well, though, with the potential for some of the plants to die after a winter frost.

  • Innokin Partners with Bahrain Duty Free

    Innokin Partners with Bahrain Duty Free

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Innokin is partnering with Bahrain Duty Free (BDF), a retailer in the Middle East.

    BDF will help introduce Innokin’s Innobar vaping products to Bahrain Duty Free’s premium stores, catering to the increasing demand for e-cigarettes in the region, according to a press release.

    The new partnership began with a pilot project launched in April 2023. Within two weeks, the entirety of the trial stock had sold out.

    “Building on this remarkable success, the collaboration has now expanded to provide customers with greater access to Innokin’s award-winning vaping solutions,” Innokin wrote in its announcement. “Innokin’s Innobar devices, in particular, have garnered significant interest for their exceptional performance and flavors, which are tailored to suit the preferences of the Bahrain market.”

    Currently, the Innobar 3500, 6000 and V7000 models are available at BDF locations. A key element of the partnership has been the knowledge-sharing and training provided by Innokin’s experts to the management of BDF.

    “We are thrilled about our partnership with Bahrain Duty Free. This collaboration signifies not only our dedication to the growing Middle East market but also our commitment to fostering responsible practices in the industry,” said George Xia, co-founder of Innokin. “With our decade-plus experience and the shared values of both organizations, we are confident that this partnership will set new standards of excellence for vaping.”