From February 1, it will be illegal in Singapore to buy, use or possess ’emerging and imitation tobacco products’, according to a story in The Straits Times.
The definition of emerging and imitation tobacco products apparently takes in any device or article that resembles a tobacco product, including vaporisers such as electronic cigarettes, electronic pipes and electronic cigars.
And it takes in too smokeless tobacco products and shisha.
Under amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, anyone caught buying, possessing or using such products can be fined up to S$2,000, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement today.
Currently, only the importation, sale and distribution of such products are illegal, with those found guilty of such activities liable to be jailed for up to six months and/or fined up to $$10,000. Repeat offenders risk being hit with double those penalties.
In addition, the amended act will gradually raise the minimum legal age for the purchase, use, possession, sale and supply of tobacco products from 18 to 21.
The age limit will be raised from 18 to 19 on January 1; to 20 on January 1, 2020, and to 21 on January 1, 2021.
The ministry of health said it remained committed to lowering the prevalence of smoking in Singapore ‘through a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach.
This approach included imposing restrictions on tobacco advertising and promotions, offering smoking cessation services, using fiscal policies such as taxes, and providing public education on the harms of tobacco use.
Category: Other Tobacco Products
E-cig ban coming
Norwegians turn to snus
The incidence of daily tobacco smoking has halved in Norway during the past decade, according to a story by Terje Solsvik for Reuters citing Statistics Norway figures.
For the first time, last year the incidence of snus use was greater than that of smoking.
Among Norway’s adult population, 11 percent were daily smokers in 2017, a fall of one percentage point from the figure for the previous year, and down from 22 percent in 2007.
Meanwhile, the incidence of snus use rose to 12 percent in 2017 from 10 percent in 2016. Data was not available for 2007.Argileh crackdown in Jordan
Jordan’s Health Ministry has begun checking that licensed restaurants and cafés are complying with regulations governing the serving of argileh (shisha), according to a story in The Jordan Times.
Under regulations announced in April 2014, restaurants and cafés may serve food but not argileh; they may serve argileh but not food; or they may operate two separate areas, one for serving food and the other for serving argileh.
The regulation bans serving argileh to minors, Health Ministry spokesperson Hatem Azrui was said to have told the Times.
The government, however, granted a period of grace until December 31, 2017, for facilities that weren’t able to meet the requirements immediately.
So the government’s crackdown started on January 1, and any facilities that violate the regulations will be subject to penalties that range between three to six months imprisonment [presumably for the operator of the business] and a fine of no less than JD3,000 and no more than JD6,000. The health minister has the authority to close facilities.
According to the law, smoking is prohibited in hospitals, healthcare centers, schools, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, airports, closed playgrounds, lecture halls and any other location as determined by the health minister.Another call for shisha ban
The Vision for Alternative Development, the Ghana Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance and other civil society organizations have issued a petition calling on Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) immediately to ban the smoking of shisha in the country, according to a Ghana News Agency story.
The petition said that under the Public Health Act of 2012 (Act 851), specifically part six, (Tobacco Control Measures), shisha must be considered an illicit product that was causing negative health consequences for young people, who were the main targets of shisha.
‘Apart from the known diseases such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy, smokers are at high risk of infectious diseases such as TB, Hepatitis, among other diseases,’ the petition said.
The World Health Organization was quoted as saying in a recent advisory note to regulators that smoking shisha posed grave health risks.
The WHO had said it was commonly believed that shisha reduced the risks of smoking because shisha smoke was passed through water.
But the WHO insisted that even after it had been passed through water, the smoke produced contained high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals.
The petition said it was believed that the import of shisha products was illegal.
It said all tobacco products must be registered with the FDA before they were allowed entry into the country.
It said shisha products were being imported from neighboring countries through unapproved routes. Some of these products displayed no country of origin and it was not known what their constituents were.
Any product, including tobacco, that did not display its country of origin was illicit, therefore shisha was an illicit product and must be immediately banned, the petitioners said.Fire-cured under threat
In the most-recent issue of his Tobacco Farmer Newsletter, Christopher Bickers poses the question: Could fire-cured tobacco production be on the way to extinction?
This question will ring a bell for anybody who attended the sixth break-out session on the first day of the 2017 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), which was staged by Tobacco Reporter in New York in September.
Bickers noted that dark fire-cured tobacco was facing a serious potential challenge from a proposal made by the Food and Drug Administration to limit levels of NNN, a tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA), to no more than 1 ppm in finished smokeless tobacco products.
Although several production practices might influence NNN accumulation, Bickers wrote, the biggest factor by far was the weather during the curing season.
This was one of the points made at the GTNF – that, to a certain extent, some of the factors that influenced TSNA levels were beyond the control of the farmer.
Bickers’ piece includes some tips on the steps that a farmer can take to produce a crop that is as low in TSNAs as possible.
More information is available from Bickers at + 1 919-789-4631 or chrisbickers@gmail.com.Students focus on shisha
Preliminary results from a study being undertaken in Kenya has shown that 60.0 percent of urban secondary-school students have smoked shisha, according to a story in The Star.
The results show, too, that 12.6 percent of high-school students are regular shisha smokers. In universities, the proportion of active users rises to 20.0 percent.
The study, which has been endorsed by the Ministry of Health, is being carried out by a team of doctors from Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu and Nanyuki, in the towns of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kilifi, Meru and Nanyuki. It was started in June and is due to be completed next month.
What effect the study results will have is unclear because Kenya banned shisha smoking and related activities just before the end of last year.
According to a story in The Nation, the ban emanated from the Ministry of Health and was the subject of a gazette notice that said: ‘No person shall import, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, use, advertise, promote, facilitate or encourage shisha smoking in Kenya’.
The Star reported that research by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had shown that shisha ‘could be more dangerous than cigarettes’. WHO said a one-hour shisha session was equivalent to smoking about 100-200 cigarettes.
“Smokers therefore expose themselves to larger amounts of dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer, heart diseases, respiratory diseases and trigger adverse effects during pregnancy,” WHO said in its report, Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking: Health Effects, Research Needs and Recommended Action by Regulators.Shisha smoking banned
Kenya has banned shisha smoking and related activities, according to a story in The Daily Nation.
The ban reportedly emanated from the Ministry of Health and was the subject of a gazette notice that said: ‘No person shall import, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, use, advertise, promote, facilitate or encourage shisha smoking in Kenya’.
Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu warned that anyone found contravening the shisha rules would be “liable to a fine not exceeding Sh50, 000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both”.
If the contravention or default is of a continuing nature, a further fine not exceeding Sh1,000 for each day it continues will be imposed.
The ban was said to have made Kenya the third East African country after Tanzania and Rwanda to ban shisha smoking.
Modified-risk requests made
The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday filed for substantive scientific review six modified-risk-tobacco-product (MRTP) applications submitted by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in respect of Camel Snus products.
Through its Center for Tobacco Products, the FDA said it was making these applications available for public comment in accordance with applicable laws. ‘Due to the large size of these applications, FDA will post application materials on the Center for Tobacco Products’ website on a rolling basis,’ it said.
‘There is currently a 180-day public comment period, which we plan to extend, if necessary, to provide additional time for comment as further materials are received and posted.
‘The public may comment on any part of the application, including amendments, until the docket is closed, which FDA will announce separately and will be no sooner than 30 days after the last application document is posted. FDA is committed to giving the public meaningful time and opportunity to comment on these applications and will provide more than 30 days for comment in the event the final documents posted are complex or extensive.
‘Currently, FDA has posted the applicant’s executive summary and the following seven application modules:
- Module 1: Cover Letters
- Module 2: Table of Contents, Glossary, Summary & References
- Module 3: Descriptive Information for Camel Snus Smokeless Tobacco Products
- Module 4: Labels, Labeling and Advertising
- Module 5: Environmental Assessments
- Module 8: Foreign Language Certification
- Module 9: Proposed Post-market Surveillance Program for Camel Snus Products Under a Modified Risk Tobacco Product Order.
‘The agency will issue subsequent communications when additional application documents are made public.’
The MRPTs have been made in respect of Camel Snus Frost, Camel Snus Frost Large, Camel Snus Mellow, Camel Snus Mint, Camel Snus Robust, and Camel Snus Winterchill.
Starting today, public comments on these applications may be submitted to docket FDA-2017-N-4678 on regulations.gov.
The applications are at: https://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/MarketingandAdvertising/ucm564399.htm?utm_source=Eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_term=stratcomms&utm_content=mrtp&utm_campaign=CTP%20News%3A%20RJR%20MRTP%20-%20121817.
Huge warnings struck down
A court in India on Friday struck down regulations that have required tobacco companies to cover 85 percent of their packaging with graphic health warnings, according to stories in The Hindu Online, the Times of India and Reuters.
The companies were said to have won an important but partial legal battle against the union government.
The Hindu said that the Karnataka High Court on Friday had declared as unconstitutional the Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014, which had enlarged the warnings to 85 percent of the principal area of packages of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The court, however, had rejected the challenge made to the rules laid down in 2008.
The 2008 rules, which had required 40-percent warnings, would remain in force until the union government framed fresh rules or amended the 2008 rules.
A special division bench comprising Justice B.S. Patil and Justice B.V. Nagarathna delivered the verdict on a batch of petitions filed by the Tobacco Institute of India and tobacco manufacturers before the high courts of Karnataka, Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Gujarat, and Rajasthan, challenging the 2014 rules. All these petitions were transferred by India’s Supreme Court to the Karnataka High Court.
The Times report said that some public health experts felt that the court’s decision might cause harm to India’s global image.
According to Reuters, the government lawyer in the case, Krishna S. Dixit, confirmed the rules had been struck down but said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Seeking pure health
Ajman municipality, part of the United Arab Emirates, is banning shisha smoking in parks, green spaces and beaches, according to a story in The Khaleej Times quoting the Al Bayan newspaper.
People who violate the ban will face fines of up to Dh1,000.
Al Bayan said the municipality was committed to providing a healthy and clean environment for residents and visitors to the emirate.
Khalid Moeen Al Hossani, executive director of the Public Health and Environment division of the municipality, said the ban was being imposed under the directions of His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, the Head of the department.
Al Hossani said the health and safety of individuals, along with their happiness, was the goal that everybody sought and strived to achieve.
Gardens, green spaces and beaches were the most important places for people to seek rest, the perfect atmosphere and pure health.
