Category: News This Week

Scientists Developing Tobacco-Based Vaccine

Photo: Baiya Phytopharm
Scientists in Thailand are using tobacco to develop a vaccine against the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.
Testing of the Covid-19 vaccine began in 2020, with the next round of human trials due in the spring.
The benefit of tobacco is that it can be grown almost anywhere in the world at low cost, according to the researchers, who are using a low-nicotine variety from Australia. What’s more, because tobacco grows rapidly, it can be turned from a seed into a vaccine within a month.
“It takes only 10 days for us to produce a prototype and… no more than three weeks to test whether that prototype works or not,” Suthira Taychakhoonavudh, chief executive of Baiya Phytopharm, told Sky News.
Baiya Phytopharm uses the harvested leaves as a host to produce proteins that mimic the Covid-19 virus. The leaves are blended and the protein is extracted. When the resulting vaccine is injected into humans it stimulates antibodies to help fight the real virus in the future.
The company must still complete two more sets of trials and needs regulatory approval before its vaccine can be used by the public.
The earliest the vaccine would be cleared for use is late 2022.
Even though other Covid-19 vaccinations are already available, developers say it’s important to continue the project for future health security. “Covid-19 is not going to be the last one, right?” said Baiya Phytopharm’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Waranyoo Phoolcharoen. “You’re going to have so many emerging diseases and if we can develop the vaccine ourselves, then we don’t have to rely on vaccines from other countries.”
Baiya Phytopharm is not the only company using tobacco to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. British American Tobacco and Medicago—a firm back by Philip Morris International—are also working on plant-based serums.
In early December, Medicago said its vaccine candidate, enhanced by GlaxoSmithKline’s booster, was 75.3 percent effective against the Delta variant of the virus in a late-stage study.
Not everybody is excited about the tobacco industry’s involvement in vaccine development. In 2020, the World Health Organization warned governments about engaging with the tobacco industry over the development of coronavirus vaccines.
Tobacco Reporter profiled Baiya Phytopharm in its November 2020 issue.
December 28, 2021
Godfrey Phillips India Appoints New CEO

Photo: tashatuvango
Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) has appointed Sharad Aggarwal as CEO, according to The Economic Times. Aggarwal succeeds Bhisham Wadhera and will report to GPI President and Managing Director Bina Modi.
Wadhera, who has led GPI since 2015, resigned on Dec. 26 and will continue as an advisor and mentor.
Sharad has been with the organization since 1994 and has exceptional credentials of delivering results,” said Modi. “He has proven himself as an inspiring leader and led transformational changes in the organizations, and I firmly believe he is the right choice to unleash to potential of Godfrey Phillips to the fullest, create a sustainable business with sales and profit growth and value for all stakeholders.”
Prior to his most recent appointment, Aggarwal was chief operating officer of GPI. During his tenure as COO, Aggarwal invested in technology, processes and certifications for GPI’s manufacturing facilities. An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Aggarwal holds a degree in electronics from REXC, Nagpur, and a post-graduate diploma in business management from IMTR, Ghaziabad.
GPI’s cigarette brands include Four Square, Red & White and Cavanders. The company also has an exclusive agreement to manufacture and distribute PMI’s Marlboro cigarettes in India.
December 28, 2021
Cuba Tobacco Area Down Due to Shortages

Photo: Ingo Bartussek
Cuba will reduce the tobacco planting area by about 10 percent in the 2021-2022 season due to a lack of supplies, reports Market Research Telecast.
According to Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, only 22,550 hectares out of the initially planned 25,000 hectares have been planted with tobacco this season.
Farmers in Pinar del Río, which typically accounts for 65 percent of the island’s tobacco production expect to plant only 13,921 hectares this year—the smallest area dedicated to tobacco in the province over the past decade.
Meanwhile, rains from Hurricane Ida last August and resource constraints have delayed the planting of some 3,000 hectares until January, beyond the optimal time.
Cuba’s tobacco exports reached $507 million in 2020, according to Habanos, which markets Cuba’s renowned cigars.
The sector employs some 200,000 workers on the island, rising to 250,000 at the peak of the harvest.
December 27, 2021
Janakpur Factory Mulls Restart of Operations

Smokers enjoying cigarettes in the center of Kathmandu (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
The Janakpur Cigarette Factory (JCF) in Nepal has called an annual general meeting on Jan. 9 to explore the possibility of restarting production, reports My Republica.
Built in 1965 as a gift from the Soviet Union, the factory grew into a local market leader but then withered away due to competition, political interference and mismanagement. Unwilling to shoulder the financial burden, the government closed JCF in 2013.
The Ministry of Finance recently created a task force led by to resume production at the factory. The panel, among other things, has been tasked to estimate the cost of operating the factory.
The primary goal of the Jan. 9 is to settle the financial liabilities incurred by JCF since fiscal year 1999-2000.
This is not the first time the government of Nepal has attempted to resume production at JCF. In 2011, a study panel formed under Joint Secretary Ramesh Sthapit also underscored the possibility of bringing the factory back to life, but no action was taken.
A 2015 plan to restart operations similarly failed.
According to government records, JCF owns land and buildings in 26 locations. The factory’s properties are valued at more than NPR8 billion ($66.66 million).
December 27, 2021
Call for Lower Taxes in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Photo: Ahmed
The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina should consider reducing its tobacco excise taxes to help tackle the flourishing illegal cigarette trade, according to Svetozar Mihajlovic, director of AD Duvan.
Bosnia and Herzegovina levies a 90 percent tax on the retail price of tobacco products—above the 80 percent recommended by the European Union, where the average consumer has a much higher disposable income.
“It is a huge amount of tobacco that ends up on the black market, and the state, unfortunately, has not done anything about it yet,” Mihajlovic said in The Sarajevo Times.
. “They only increased excise taxes, and by increasing excise taxes they created an abnormal situation on the market and that led to the black market being dominant in this territory.”
Poor excise and agrarian policies have brought Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tobacco industry to the brink of collapse, according to observers.
In the 1970s, the region produced 25,000 tons of tobacco. This declined to about 10,000 tons in the 1990s, and today local farmers grow only about 500 tons per year—a significant share of which ends up in illicit cigarettes.
December 27, 2021
Spain to Ban Smoking on All Beaches

Photo: G215
Spain will ban smoking on all beaches reports The Daily Mail. Violators risk fines of up to €2,000 ($2,264.52).
The national law aims to combat pollution caused by cigarette butts on the country’s 3,000 miles of coastline.
The measure was introduced by a green party following a petition signed by more than 283,000 people and delivered to the government requesting a change to the law.
Several Spanish regions, including Barcelona and the Canary islands, have already introduced similar smoking bans on beaches.
Other regions in Europe have also banned smoking on beaches, including some areas of southern France and Sardinia.
However, Spain’s nationwide ban is the first of its kind in Europe.
December 25, 2021
Tobacco Mogul Cleared From Extremism Report

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa (Photo: Pan African Tobacco Group)
Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, an industrialist with ties to the tobacco industry, has welcomed the removal of his name from a report linking him to extremism and illicit trade in Africa.
The April 2021 report, “An Unholy Alliance: Links Between Extremism and Illicit Trade in East Africa,” contained references to Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa and his PTG group of companies.
Through his legal counsel, Ayabatwa made representations to the legal counsel for the report’s author, Sir Ivor Roberts, as to Ayabatwa’s history as a Pan-African industrialist and philanthropist operating across Africa and the United Arab Emirates. All references to Ayabatwa in the Roberts’ report have now been removed.
Ayabatwa welcomes this development and is happy to put this matter behind him.
“Regrettably, due to the complexity in the persisting instability and conflict in eastern and central Africa, it is nearly impossible for foreign researchers and analysts to fully grasp positive and negative actors in the region,” said Senior Advisor David Himbara.
“In Ayabatwa’s case, for example, his Congo Tobacco Company has been the only manufacturing business operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for over four decades. The company is one of the few providers of legitimate employment opportunities in a region devastated by instability and war. It is therefore ironic that Ayabatwa was lumped together with illicit trade and extremism in the Unholy Alliance: Links Between Extremism and Illicit Trade in East Africa report penned by Sir Roberts. “
Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa is the founder and controlling shareholder of the Pan African Tobacco Group, Africa’s largest indigenous manufacturer of tobacco products. The company, which in 2018 celebrated its 40th year of operations, manufactures cigarettes in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.
Ayabatwa is also one of Africa’s leading philanthropists, according to a press release put out by him. He has invested in education, food security, afforestation and water-access. Through his non-profit foundation, Ayabatwa strives to help young people to gain the practical engineering experience required to enter the job market in Africa. More recently, Ayabatwa assisted governments in the battle against the Covid19 pandemic by contributing medical equipment and foodstuffs during the lockdowns.
Tobacco Reporter profiled the Pan African Tobacco Group in August 2013.
December 24, 2021
Switzerland to Debate Vapor Tax Plan

Photo: Stockfotos-MG
Switzerland’s Federal Council has put forward a plan to tax e-liquids, reports Le News, citing Radio Television Suisse.
The proposal calls for taxing e-liquids at a rate that is 77 percent lower than that levied on combustible cigarettes.
The government wants to discourage young people from taking up vaping without discouraging smokers from transitioning to less unhealthy products.
One idea is to tax the nicotine content in e-cigarette liquids for open systems. This would mean taxes rising with rising nicotine content. For single use e-cigarettes or devices using cartridges, the tax would be levied based on the quantity of liquid contained in them regardless of the nicotine contained in them.
According to the government, such a tax would be easy to put in place and would generate around CHF 15.5 million a year, money which would be used to help fund old age pensions and disability benefits.
The Federal Council’s proposal, which will be discussed until March 31, 2022, responds to a motion approved by the parliament and the Council of States in March 2021.
December 24, 2021
Zimbabwe: Tobacco Hectarage up

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
In the 2021/2022 growing season, hectarage of tobacco planted in Zimbabwe was up 9 percent to 43,389 ha compared to 39,488 ha during the previous year, reports The Chronicle.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, 16,836 ha were for irrigated tobacco compared to 15,170 ha the year before while 26,253 ha were for tobacco under dry land compared to 24,318 ha previously.
December 24, 2021
Moroccan Cigarette Prices to Rise in 2022

Photo: evannovostro
Morocco is increasing prices on cigarettes effective Jan. 1, 2022, reports Morocco World News.

The increase will be between one and two Moroccan dirhams for most brands and is likely to affect locally manufactured brands with international brands remaining at their current prices.

Cigarettes prices may witness further modification six months into the new year following a scheduled meeting of the tobacco products licensing board.

The newly elected government wants to revise the country’s tobacco taxation framework, which is likely to further increase cigarette prices, especially those of e-cigarettes. Tobacco taxes will steadily increase between 2022 and 2026.
December 24, 2021