Category: Featured

  • Layoffs at Mastermind Tobacco

    Layoffs at Mastermind Tobacco

    Image: vadim_key

    Mastermind Tobacco has terminated the contracts of approximately 1,000 employees after being placed under administration due to undisclosed debt, reports Pulse.

    The company, owned by the late Wilfred Murungi’s estate, ceased cigarette production six months ago

    Mastermind Tobacco, which imported over half of its raw materials from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo into Kenya, has been involved in legal battles with employees and local tax authorities.

    In 2019, Mastermind and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) agreed to sell the company’s prime assets to settle a KES2.9 billion ($18.83 billion) tax arrear. Earlier this year, the company lost a KES517 million lawsuit against the KRA, with the High Court denying it the opportunity to introduce new evidence.

  • AOI Recognized in Tanzania

    AOI Recognized in Tanzania

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Alliance One International (AOI) was recognized in the “large tobacco processing industries” category of Tanzania’s Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition, reports The Citizen.

    During a ceremony on Dec. 17, AOI Managing Director Ephraim Mapoore thanked the organizers and attributed the company’s success to its adherence to best farming practices and business practices, as well as its commitment to look after its farmer base.

    Mapoore noted that AOI has paid its 12,000 contract growers in Tanzania $71.9 million this season, in line with a government requirement to pay growers in U.S. dollars.

    In addition, the company paid $1.81 million in fees to the agricultural marketing cooperative society, and $780,000 to cooperative tobacco unions.

    Meanwhile, district authorities received $1.72 million in crop cess revenue from AOI.

    Mapoore thanked the government for providing its Morogoro factory with reliable electricity. For many years, the company relied on diesel-powered generators in most of the production time.

  • Gilchrist to Lead PMI Global Communications

    Gilchrist to Lead PMI Global Communications

    Moira Gilchrist (Image: PMI)

    Philip Morris International has promoted Moira Gilchrist to chief communications officer, effective Jan. 1, 2024. In her new position, she will report to CEO Jacek Olczak.

    Also effective Jan. 1, 2024, Marian Salzman, currently senior vice president, global communications, will assume the position of senior vice president and chief corporate citizenship officer. After more than five years spent building the global communications function, Salzman will return to the U.S. to serve as a driving force in developing PMI’s business in the U.S. market.

    “Moira has been an essential part of my team for more than five years, and I am delighted that she will take over the reins of the global communication function as I shift my focus to the U.S. market,” said Salzman in a statement. “She has been instrumental in shaping the strategy of PMI’s global communications function as we evolve the business and advance our smoke-free mission. I’m excited to see all she will accomplish as she steps up to lead the function.”

    “Over the past 17 years, Moira has demonstrated an outstanding ability to build focused and high-performing teams, always seeking fresh perspectives and insights to drive a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement,” said Olczak. “Coupled with her superb communication skills, these attributes will serve the company well as we pursue our ambitious goal of being a substantially smoke-free company by 2030, with the aim of more than two-thirds of our total net revenues coming from smoke-free products.”

    “It is a privilege to have been selected to take the baton from Marian and lead our communications function globally,” said Gilchrist. “Marian has changed everything about how we communicate as a company, and she has had a tremendous influence on me and the extended team. We are a far stronger and more dynamic function today, and I am excited to build on her achievements to continue to move us forward.”

    Since joining PMI in 2006, Gilchrist has held several positions, including leading the reduced-risk products corporate affairs team, serving as director of scientific engagement within the R&D function, and working in both product development and commercialization.

    Prior to joining PMI, Gilchrist worked in the pharmaceutical sector for more than a decade. She was a principal consultant within PwC’s and IBM’s pharmaceutical industry consulting groups and held positions within both industry and nonprofit organizations as a developer of drug formulations. Gilchrist holds a degree in pharmacy and a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences, both from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

  • Universal Releases Sustainability Report

    Universal Releases Sustainability Report

    Image: Universal Corp.

    Universal Corp. released its 2023 Sustainability Report.

    “Universal is proud of the efforts taken in the last year to promote the sustainability of our operations and contribute to global sustainability goals,” said George C. Freeman III, Universal’s chairman, president and CEO, in a statement.

    “We are taking important steps to advance our sustainability agenda as we continue to monitor and address the environmental and social impacts of our business. We are excited to share details of our work in this year’s sustainability report.”

    Universal’s 2023 Sustainability Report focuses on the company’s primary sustainability topics as well as its environmental, social and supply chain goals. This report has been prepared with reference to GRI Standards and SASB Agriculture Products Standard, and data disclosed in this report reflects activities from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023.

  • BAT Fined for Tax Avoidance

    BAT Fined for Tax Avoidance

    Image: amazing studio

    A Netherlands court ordered BAT to pay a fine of €107 million ($117 million), reports Reuters. The court said BAT under-declared profit by €1.8 billion during the period of 2013 to 2016 and will owe taxes from that period.

    “By far the largest part of the fines were imposed for an intentionally untrue tax claim for the transfer of company activities to the United Kingdom,” the Dutch North Holland District Court said in a summary of its judgment.

    BAT called the decision “disappointing” and said it was considering appeal.

    “BAT complies with all applicable tax legislation across all of our operating markets,” BAT said.

    In April, BAT agreed to pay $635 million to U.S. authorities. A subsidiary pled guilty to charges that it conspired to violate U.S. sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and commit bank fraud in 2013–2017.

  • New Zealand Smoking at All-Time Low

    New Zealand Smoking at All-Time Low

    Image: kwanchaift

    The smoking rate among New Zealand adults has dropped to an all-time low, reports the New Zealand Herald, citing data from a new Ministry of Health survey. The poll also revealed that one in 10 Kiwi adults vape daily, with rates highest among young people and Maori.

    The annual New Zealand Health Survey recorded 6.8 percent of adults as being daily smokers, down from 8.6 percent last year.

    Daily smoking also declined sharply among ethnic groups, with Maori’ rates dropping from 37.7 percent to 17.1 percent and Pacific peoples’ rates dropping from 22.6 percent to 6.4 percent.

    Daily vaping among New Zealanders increased from 2.6 percent in 2017-2019 to 9.7 percent this year. Young people were most likely to vape daily (25.2) percent and young Maori had the highest rates (23.5 percent) among different ethnic groups.

    Letitia Harding, chief executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ, described the doubling of daily vaping among teenagers as a public health crisis. “What we are witnessing is an epidemic that needs immediate attention to address such alarming statistics,” she was quoted as saying.

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), by contrast, credited vaping for helping drive down New Zealand’s smoking rates.

    “New Zealand’s ambitious goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025 is well underway, with comprehensive tobacco control legislation, targeted interventions, and a focus on tobacco harm reduction products playing a crucial role”, said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas.

    “This shift toward less harmful nicotine products is a key part of New Zealand’s world-leading approach to tobacco harm reduction”, said Loucas.

  • CTP Releases Strategic Plan

    CTP Releases Strategic Plan

    Image: Tada Images

    On Dec. 18, Brian King, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products, published a statement about the release of the center’s comprehensive strategic plan. The new strategic plan outlines CTP’s programmatic and workforce initiatives for the next five years.

    The CTP’s strategic plan defines five goals, 10 outcomes and several corresponding objectives. As outlined in the goals and outcomes in the plan, the center is collectively committed to issuing impactful regulations, using robust science to inform application reviews, pursuing timely and impactful compliance and enforcement strategies, and educating the public about the risks of tobacco products.

    King said the CTP will also continue to invest in its staff by advancing operational enhancements and supporting the further development of its workforce.

    In conjunction with the strategic plan, the CTP also published the center’s policy agenda of rules and guidance documents that are in development or planned for development. According to the agency, this policy agenda will create a more efficient approach to meeting the CTP’s strategic plan. The agenda will be updated annually.

  • Resolution to Exempt Premium Cigars

    Resolution to Exempt Premium Cigars

    Image: conzorb

    A resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to regulate premium cigars, according to Halfwheel.

    Cigar Rights of America (CRA) worked with Representative Byron Donalds to introduce the joint resolution, which would provide a definition of premium cigars and specify that the term “tobacco product” does not mean premium cigar.

    To be considered a premium cigar, a product must meet these requirements: is wrapped in whole tobacco leaf; contains a 100 percent leaf tobacco binder; contains at least 50 percent (of the filler by weight) long filler tobacco (i.e., whole tobacco leaves that run the length of the cigar); is handmade or hand-rolled (i.e., no machinery was used apart from simple tools, such as scissors to cut the tobacco prior to rolling); has no filter, nontobacco tip or nontobacco mouthpiece; does not have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco; contains only tobacco, water and vegetable gum with no other ingredients or additives; and weighs more than 6 pounds per 1,000 units.

    The resolution has gained 10 co-sponsors from both political parties. It has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is awaiting further action.

    If the resolution is passed, premium cigars would be exempt from all aspects of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Congress would take back authority over cigar regulation.

  • Colin Mendelsohn Announces Retirement

    Colin Mendelsohn Announces Retirement

    Colin Mendelsohn

    After nearly a decade advocating for vaping as a tobacco harm reduction strategy in Australia, Colin Mendelsohn announced his retirement in Filter.

    In his piece, Mendelsohn expressed distress at what he described as Australia’s “descent from its former status as a global leader in tobacco control to the current slow-moving train wreck.”

    “Where vaping is seen by other Western democracies as a huge opportunity for public health, successive Australian governments have framed it as a threat,” he wrote. “The ensuing prohibitive regulations have neutralized the potential benefits and led to troubling and escalating unintended consequences.”

    During his career, Mendelsohn endured heavy criticism from anti-vaping groups.  

    “My evidence-based advocacy and the efforts of others are undermined with smears, insults and harassment,” he wrote. “I have repeatedly faced false accusations of being funded by Big Tobacco, including in national print media and on national radio.”

    Despite his disappointment over Australia’s tobacco-control policy choices and the personal attacks, Mendelsohn, remained optimistic that tobacco harm reduction would eventually prevail.

    “As I retire, my hope, still, is for a balanced, evidence-based approach to vaping in Australia,” he wrote. “It won’t come soon. The latest regulatory crackdown will need to run its course and fail again before much-needed reforms are possible.

    “Then we will need to move beyond the echo chamber of Australia’s tobacco control group-think, if we’re to recognize vaping not as a ‘public health menace’ but as a powerful ally in the fight against tobacco-related harm.”

  • Indonesia Adds Vapes to Inflation Basket

    Indonesia Adds Vapes to Inflation Basket

    Image: alexlmx

    Indonesia is adding e-cigarettes and vape liquids to its inflation basket, a collection of goods and services used to calculate the Consumer Price Index rate, reports Bloomberg.

    The change will update the composition of Indonesia’s consumer basket to reflect changes in technology, income and people’s consumption patterns, especially after the pandemic, according to the country’s statistics office.

    Other new inclusions include face masks, hand sanitizers, TV receivers and fares for Jakarta’s recently-launched Mass Rapid Transit line. Online shopping for men’s and women’s shoes, Muslim clothing, mobile phones and perfume will also be tracked in five major cities, including Jakarta, Bogor and Surabaya.

    Items like TV antennas, DVDs and print magazines have been dropped from the basket.

    Indonesia is one of the world’s largest tobacco markets. Vapes have gained popularity in recent years, especially in urban areas.