Pakistani tobacco growers in Yar Hussain on Sunday protested about the proposed shifting of their leaf-purchase center, according to a story in The News.
They condemned also what they said was the non-payment by buying companies for last year’s leaf tobacco, which was causing hardships among growers and rendering some unable to finance production.
And they vowed to launch a campaign to protest the ‘economic murder’ of farmers in the Swabi district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which includes Yar Hussain.
Growers attending a protest meeting were told that a plan existed under which the leaf-purchase center would be shifted and the buying put out to brokers and agents.
They were told of how other purchase centers had been closed in the past and how buying had been handed over to agents.
The growers believe the plan by tobacco manufacturers to buy tobacco indirectly was tantamount to exploiting the growers by shifting profits to middlemen, depriving poor farmers of their just earnings.
They vowed that the interests of the growers would be protected and that the exploitative tactics of the companies would be resisted at all costs.
Speakers at the meeting condemned also the role of the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), saying it had become a silent spectator to the exploitation of growers in the district.
They asked the government to take note of the situation, and threatened that, if it didn’t, they would launch a protest movement for their rights.
Other speakers said that militancy and terrorism had already hit the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hard, and that rendering thousands of people jobless would contribute to the menace in the region.
Category: People
Growers up in arms
EU ticked off on trade talks
The EU has been asked to exclude tobacco lobbyists from influencing policy positions on international trade during talks with countries of South and Central America.
In a note posted on its website, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) said that it, along with Latin American and global partners, had written on Thursday to the EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and First Vice-President Frans Timmermans asking them to put health ahead of the interests of the tobacco industry in the EU’s trade negotiations with Mexico, Chile and the Mercosur trade bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
‘Together with the global Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Healthy Latin America Coalition (CLAS), InterAmerican Heart Foundation and NCD Alliance we call on the EU to publicly change its stance, drop tobacco as an EU “Offensive Interest” in its negotiations with Mercosur and commit to exclude tobacco lobbyists from influencing policy positions on international trade,’ according to the note, written by George Thurley, policy officer healthy trade and food, drink and agriculture.
‘This scandal is highlighted in EPHA’s new report, Unhealthy Trades, along with eight other areas of trade with potentially crucial impacts on public health. The risk to public health is high, both for Europeans and for partner countries, particularly from lowered tariffs and standards and increased foreign direct investment in tobacco but also foods high in fat, salt and sugar, processed meat and alcohol, weak wording on food labelling, over-stringent intellectual property rights, weak support for the precautionary principle and inadequate and side-lined (sustainability) impact assessment processes.’
Nina Renshaw, EPHA secretary general, said that by pushing tobacco interests in negotiations with Mercosur, the European Commission was betraying its own commitments and those of EU governments to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. “This approach will burden our trading partners with chronic diseases, such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancers, and undermine their sustainable development,” she was quoted as saying. “We have to call out Commissioner Malmström for damaging public health and sustainable development by prioritising the interests of the tobacco lobby.”
The note said that the signatories to the open letter called for the Commission, by May, 31, World No Tobacco Day, to:- ‘Publicly commit to kick tobacco lobbyists’ influence out of all current and future EU trade negotiations;
- ‘Drop tobacco as an Offensive Interest in EU-Mercosur and never again identify it as such;
- ‘Strengthen the timely impact assessment of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) by introducing a binding health impact assessment (HIA) and ensure all deals are amended on the basis of the findings of binding sustainability impact assessments (SIAs)’.
‘We expect a positive response from the Commission in line with their longstanding international commitments to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Sustainable Development Goals – which the EU has championed,’ the note said. ‘These steps are a necessary minimum to ensure that EU trade policy does no harm to public health at home or around the world.’
Impulsive behavior
One in eight people in South Korea buy cigarettes on impulse after seeing cigarette advertisements or cigarette packs on display at convenience stores, according to a story in The Korea Bizwire citing the results of a new study.
The study showed also that 1.9 percent of non-smokers purchased cigarettes on impulse.
The study, carried out by Professor Cho Seong-il and his team at Seoul National University, surveyed 1,047 young people and adults at five convenience stores in the Gangnam region of Seoul.
Of the respondents, 12.9 percent said they had bought cigarettes on impulse after seeing a cigarette advertisement at a convenience store or cigarette displays shelves.
The study showed also that the higher the number of visits by respondents to convenience stores, the higher the chance of them buying cigarettes impulsively.
People who visited convenience stores five times a week on average were found to be 12.4 times more likely to make impulsive purchases than those whose visits numbered just once or twice a week.
“The results that show a significant number of impulsive purchases of cigarettes signify that ads and product placement can affect purchasing patterns regardless of whether one is a smoker or not,” said Cho.
The story said that, in contrast to tobacco producers’ claims that advertisements and product placements simply provided information to consumers, the study had confirmed that advertisements and products actually facilitated the sales of cigarettes.Science losing to ideology
Calling electronic cigarettes toxic and unsafe is absurd, according to Alex Berezow, senior fellow of biomedical science with the American Council on Smoking and Health.
In a piece published on the Council’s website, Berezow made the point that, not that long ago, if a company had invented a far safer way to deliver nicotine to addicted smokers, politicians would have been celebrating.
But today, partisanship had ruined just about everything.
‘I knew something was amiss when I spotted an advertisement in a Seattle light rail car,’ Berezow said. ‘The ad warned potential vapers not to be “fooled” by e-cigarettes, which it said were toxic, addictive, and unsafe. Yes, they are addictive (because they contain nicotine), but calling them toxic and unsafe is absurd. Compared to regular cigarettes, vaping devices are 95 percent safer, according to the UK’s NHS.
‘In other words, if Seattle smokers follow their own public health department’s advice, they are likelier to die. Why on earth would a public health department give such terrible advice? Because the debate over vaping isn’t about science; it’s about ideology.’Only one 'option'
The Netherlands’ junior health minister Paul Blokhuis is drawing up rules to govern the use of heat-not-burn products, according to a story in dutchnews.nl.
There are currently no restrictions on the use of such products, which don’t fall under the current tobacco laws.
Under Blokhuis’ plans, the sale of these products would become subject to an age limit, and, reportedly, bans would be imposed on ‘advertising and new packaging’.
These sorts of products were treated as a clever alternative to ordinary cigarettes, Blokhuis told MPs during a briefing. But users were still inhaling cancer-causing ingredients and other dangerous substances he said.
The minister said he planned to take action against the products because he did not want people to get the idea that using them was a sensible option.
“The only sensible option is not smoking,” he said.Springtime for CORESTA
CORESTA, the Co-operation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco, is returning to China for its 2018 Congress.
Twenty years after the first Congress to be held in China was hosted by the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) in 1988 in Guangzhou, and 10 after the 2008 Congress was held in Shanghai, CORESTA is again turning to China; this time to the ‘world capital city of tobacco’, Kunming.
Kunming, which is the capital of Yunnan Province, is known also as the City of Eternal Spring – a reference to its year-long mild, sunny climate.
The Congress is due to be hosted by the CNTC and held on October 22-26 at the recently-built Intercontinental Hotel.
The theme of the 2018 Congress is Science and Innovation: addressing the needs.
According to a recent CORESTA press note; in line with this theme, CORESTA’s Scientific Commission wants the event to be an opportunity for delegates to share their experience with the broad scientific community, within and beyond the tobacco perspective.
‘Workshops will be arranged to foster open dialogue on crop protection, biotechnologies, product risk assessment and biomarkers,’ the note said.
‘This approach will provide valuable information to all stakeholders in the increasingly challenging regulatory environment.
‘Latest updates and scientific achievements and findings will be presented to the benefit of both experienced and new scientists.
‘A CORESTA Congress is always an invaluable opportunity for building links and networking between generations of scientists.’
The Congress program is due to be made available at www.coresta.org at end of June.
CORESTA is an association whose purpose is to promote international co-operation in scientific research relative to tobacco and its derived products.
The association organizes yearly conferences (congresses are held every two years) where hundreds of tobacco breeders, agronomists, biologists and plant experts on the one hand, and physicists, chemists, analysts, toxicologists, finished-product-related experts, regulators and authorities on the other hand, meet to present, share and discuss studies and findings.
CORESTA activities cover all aspects of tobacco, from the crop to the usage of the derived products.
During the sessions, CORESTA working groups also present reports on their work, achievements and projects.New Altria CEO takes over
Following Altria’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Howard Willard succeeded Marty Barrington as the company’s chairman and CEO.
Barrington, who was chairman, CEO and president, said earlier this year that he would be retiring after 25 years of service.
“Howard is immensely qualified to lead Altria, having served in numerous leadership positions during his 25-year career with us, including as chief operating officer and chief financial officer,” said Barrington.Looking beyond TPD2
There is no evidence that, one year after its full implementation in EU member states, the revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2) has reduced smoking rates, according to the smokers’ campaign group Forest EU.
TPD2 measures were said to have included an immediate ban on packs containing fewer than 20 cigarettes, a ban on flavored cigarettes (except menthol, which will be banned in 2020) and severe restrictions on the ability of smokers to access e-cigarettes.
TPD2 also increased the size of health warnings to 65 per cent of the front and back of every pack of cigarettes, with additional warnings on the top of the pack.
“The regulations are excessive, even by the European Commission’s standards,” said
Guillaume Périgois, director of Forest EU. “Smokers are being treated as second class citizens in a disgraceful attempt to denormalize both the product and their habit.
“Larger pictorial warnings are problematic since the Commission itself is now on record having called into question the proportionality of larger health warnings in delivering public health gains. If they are clearly visible, smaller warnings are just as effective as larger warnings in the eyes of the consumer.”
Calling for the Commission to explore alternative models of achieving public health gains that didn’t ostracize smokers, Périgois said the Commission needed to look at new approaches, for instance supporting member states in the provision of education programs or in providing a proper framework in which smokers could explore the growing vaping sector.Plain unpopular
One year on from the introduction of standardized packaging for tobacco in the UK, new research commissioned by Japan Tobacco International and conducted by the independent polling company Kantar TNS, has revealed that the majority of the UK public are not supportive of the policy.
In a note posted on its website JTI said the largest public opinion poll of its kind since standardized tobacco packaging was introduced, research had found that UK citizens were concerned their government had imported a failed policy from Australia without fully evaluating the potential negative consequences.
The poll had found that:
* ‘Almost two-thirds of the UK population believe that plain packaging will not achieve its primary objective of reducing smoking rates (65 percent) and is a poor use of government resources (65 percent).
* ‘Three out of every five UK adults (58 percent) believe plain packaging will lead to an increase in the number of illegal cigarettes sold in the UK.
* ‘If the UK Government had yet to decide on plain packaging and was considering whether to introduce it today, 69 percent of UK adults believe they should either reject the policy (35 percent) or wait for more evidence of its effectiveness from Australia (34 percent).
* ‘72% of respondents believe the Government would either a) fix a policy review/ignore evidence that went against a preferred policy (29 percent), or b) be reluctant to change their preferred policy if the evidence was weighted against it (43 percent).’
Respondents reportedly were critical also of how the Bill became law:
* ’68 percent think the Government changed the decision-making requirements it had previously set out in order to push it through.
* ‘72% think it was important for the Government to research the links between illegal tobacco and terrorist organizations.’
JTI said that, one year on, the latest data showed no impact on tobacco sales or smoking rates in the UK, and that counterfeit standardized packs had been discovered on high streets as early as one month after the implementation of standardized packaging.
‘An analysis conducted by JTI on UK counterfeit samples shows that tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels far exceed those allowed in the country,’ the note said. ‘But this is only the tip of the iceberg: in some cases, counterfeits have been found to contain heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium and lead, along with other toxic contaminants: asbestos, mold, dust, dead flies, rat droppings – and even human excrement.’
“Plain packaging is failing in the UK, as it has in Australia and France, and as we always warned that it would,” states Jonathan Duce, head of external communications at JTI’s global headquarters in Geneva.
“Rather than wait for results to emerge from Australia – as originally committed to by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – the government pushed through a policy without waiting for hard evidence or research into the consequences. Plain packaging should never have been introduced in the UK, and other governments considering the measure should think twice before importing this failed experiment.”Smoke-free sustainability
Philip Morris International says it is fundamentally transforming its business by putting smoke-free products at the core of its sustainability efforts to address societal challenges, drive operational excellence and reduce its environmental footprint.
The company yesterday published its third Sustainability Report (2017) in which it outlines the steps it is taking to bring about this transformation.
‘PMI’s commitment and ambition is to replace cigarettes as soon as possible with better alternatives to smoking for the millions of men and women who would otherwise continue to smoke,’ the company said in a note posted on its website.
PMI said it was providing a more comprehensive picture of its sustainability activities. ‘With the aim of achieving greater transparency and facilitating the assessment of its progress, PMI has included a fuller set of metrics and data trends,’ it said. ‘In addition, the company has provided more contextual information on its business and how sustainability is managed, taking into account feedback received on its 2016 report.’
Last year, PMI introduced a set of Business Transformation Metrics to track progress against its goal of a smoke-free future, and key 2017 milestones were said to have included:- ‘PMI’s resource allocation continues to shift to smoke-free products, which accounted for 74 percent of global R&D expenditure and 39 percent of global commercial spend.
- ‘Smoke-free products [including heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes] represented approximately 4.4 percent of PMI’s shipment volume and around 13 percent of net revenues, excluding excise taxes.
- ‘PMI estimates that, by the end of 2017, over 4.7 million adult smokers had stopped smoking cigarettes and made the change to IQOS (PMI’s main smoke-free product), while approximately 10,000 more consumers are switching every day.’
The report is said to provide also an overview of PMI’s wider sustainability efforts to create long-term value: from how it is addressing social and environmental impacts to managing the impact of transformation on PMI’s value chain and excelling in how it operates. Key progress in 2017 was said to have included:
- ‘More than one-third, 34.4 percent, of the management positions at PMI held by women, showing progress against the company’s goal of reaching 40 percent by 2022.
- ‘PMI’s rollout of Responsible Sourcing Principles to help identify and manage labor issues in its non-agricultural supply chain.
- ‘Environmental milestones include being recognized for the fourth consecutive year on CDP’s Climate A-List, and for the first time its water programs achieved the CDP Water A-list ranking.’
PMI said it remained focused on securing the integrity of its supply chain through its efforts to tackle the illegal trade in tobacco products, while pushing transparency further by publishing its approach to corporate tax and data privacy, and providing an overview of its Marketing Principles and Principles for Engagement with third parties.
‘The progress PMI has made is an indication of its sustainability ambitions,’ the note said. ‘PMI is on course with its business transformation, delivering on its CO₂ reduction targets, improving in the area of inclusion and diversity to meet key goals, and strengthening the governance of its sustainability management.
‘The report also highlights how, going forward, reducing the environmental footprint of the smoke-free products’ manufacturing process, promoting crop diversification among tobacco farmers and equipping PMI employees to successfully transform the company are essential.’
