Category: Regulation

  • Throw them in prison

    Throw them in prison

    Errant smokers who are issued a RM250 summons for flouting the no-tobacco-smoking rule in Malaysia’s eateries risk paying up to RM10,000 if they are hauled before a court, according to a story in The Star quoting the deputy health minister Dr. Lee Boon Chye.

    Smokers who were issued summonses from July 1 would be hit with the maximum RM250 fine, he said.

    However, offenders who failed to settle the summons would be hauled before a court.

    “The courts can impose a maximum sentence of RM10,000 or two years’ jail,” the deputy minister said when replying a supplementary question during Question and Answer time in the Dewan Rakyat (lower house of Parliament) yesterday.

    At the same time, Lee added that the ministry would consider expanding the smoking ban to cover other areas.

    “There are some countries which have banned smoking in cities altogether, only allowing it in specific areas,” he said.

    Lee assured lawmakers that the Government was committed to implementing the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which Malaysia had ratified in 2005.

    However, he said that implementation of the FCTC protocols would be done in stages, including one that would require cigarettes to be sold only in standardized packaging.

    “Plain cigarette packaging was proposed by the Health Ministry under the previous administration,” Lee was quoted as saying.

    “The proposal was withdrawn following resistance and objections.”

  • Swings and roundabouts

    Swings and roundabouts

    Indonesia is trying to find a balance whereby it can benefit from tobacco’s huge economic contributions while reducing its toll on the nation’s health, according to a story in The Jakarta Post.

    In a statement issued during the weekend, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto said cigarette excise had reached Rp153 trillion last year, up by 3.9 percent from Rp147 trillion in 2017.

    “Cigarette excise tax revenue contributed 95.8 percent of the national excise tax revenue,” he said.

    At the same time, Airlangga said Indonesia exported cigarettes worth US$931.6 million last year, up by 2.98 percent from $904.7 million in 2017.

    Because the cigarette industry mostly used domestic raw materials, including tobacco and cloves, it was able to compete on the global market.

    Speaking about the health issues created by tobacco products, Airlangga said: “We will take employment and people’s health into consideration”.

    The Government, he added, had been trying to create policies that would be acceptable to all parties in the tobacco industrial sector (IHT).

    It had to ensure business certainty among IHT players.

    For that, he said, the Government had issued a number of regulations – Government Regulation (PP) No. 109/2012 on security for materials of addictive ingredients, and Presidential Regulation No. 44/2016 on the negative investment list, which was supported by Industry Ministry Regulation No. 64/2014 on cigarette industry control.

  • Focus on young people

    Focus on young people

    British American Tobacco has said that it will continue to work with the US Food and Drug Administration as the agency advances new policies aimed at preventing youth access to flavored tobacco products.

    The FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, yesterday made a statement on preventing young people from obtaining such products; as described on this website yesterday under the heading Haste urged.

    “We welcome the FDA … shining a spotlight on the important issue of youth access to vapor products,” a BAT spokesperson was quoted as saying in a note posted on the company’s website. “We have always been clear that youth should not use vapor products and have had stringent measures in place to address this for some time.

    “In relation to today’s announcement, we share the FDA’s concerns that some flavors, such as those resembling ‘kid-friendly’ food products, may play a role in increasing youth appeal and that marketing activities should not be directed to youth. We have never marketed such vapor flavors; we have supported measures to remove vapor products intended to mimic children’s food products or otherwise designed to target youth and have procedures in place to ensure our products are only marketed to adult tobacco consumers.

    “We believe flavors are important in helping adult smokers migrate away from cigarettes, and the flavors we market are directed at helping adult smokers who are looking for a potentially less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.

    “We already have third-party age verification processes for online sales. We will work with our many convenience retailers to ensure that tobacco, mint and menthol, which are our top selling flavours, remain available for consumers who are looking for potentially less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. We also have plans to make our flavored products available in other age restricted locations, including in specialist vape stores. As with all our retail partners, we will work with any new partners who stock our products to ensure they have appropriate age verification mechanisms.

    “In respect of the proposals on bringing forward the PMTA [FDA pre-market tobacco applications] date for flavored products, given our years of product development and scientific assessment of our vapor products, we are well-positioned to file PMTAs for our VUSE products and plan to do so ahead of the 2021 deadline.

    “We will continue working with the FDA as the agency moves this proposed compliance change forward over the coming weeks. We will be submitting comments for the FDA to review and consider as the agency works to finalise the guidance document.”

  • The ban didn’t work. Why?

    The ban didn’t work. Why?

    After numerous failed attempts to enforce a ban on tobacco smoking and chewing in public places, the city of Kathmandu, Nepal, is to have another try, according to a story in The Kathmandu Post.

    Deputy mayor Hari Prabha Khadgi, who also leads a five-member inspection committee, said she was holding consultations with representatives of the 32 wards of Kathmandu to make the drive a success.

    “I’m in consultation with the ward representatives and stakeholders,” Khadgi was quoted as saying. “We have decided to run awareness programs at schools and reach every nook and corner of the city with anti-tobacco visuals and street performances.”

    On February 25, 2018, Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya announced an 18-month action plan to make Kathmandu a healthy city. However, the action plan was not followed.

    Although the ban on tobacco smoking and chewing was enforced initially, the effort did not last.

    The World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative had provided Rs10 million to assist Kathmandu conduct the ‘Healthy City’ campaign, and the city authorities plan to follow through on the campaign this time around.

    The Tobacco Product (Control and Regulatory) Act-2011 bans smoking in public places. Anyone breaching the law is liable to a fine of Rs100 to Rs100,000, depending on the nature of the offense.

  • Question of balance

    Question of balance

    A Greek member of the EU Parliament has said that the use of heat-not-burn (HNB) products should not be seen as safer than smoking or vaping.

    ‘The IQOS device, which came out in 2014 and which heats solid tobacco, is no less harmful to cells than smoking and vaping, according to scientists, who said that a new study is a further indication that the new devices – which are now being used in 41 countries – are no safer,’ Lampros Fountoulis said as a preamble to two questions put to the Commission.

    ‘The scientists, who will continue their research into smoke heating appliances, emphasised that “it is already known that the failure of two types of lung cells can destroy the lung tissue and lead to fatal diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and pneumonia, and increase the risk of asthma, so these devices should not be considered a safer option*”.’

    Fountoulis asked the Commission if it could say:

    (1)       ‘What steps will it take to establish homogeneous arrangements in member states?

    (2)       ‘How will it control tobacco products and other related products in order to protect public health, given that more and more young people are addicted to nicotine as a result of this trend?’

    The Commission is due to answer in writing.

    *https://www.in.gr/2019/02/11/health/body/oi-syskeyes-thermansis-kapnou-eksisou-epivlaveis-gia-ton-anthropo-kapnisma-kai-atmisma/?fbclid=IwAR1-VUiRQ2-ZIIDUQjYkzMc8c_S1nkuqC4CnU3reNKqpi8w31owvR5TIdv; and http://scinews.eu/ta-nea-tis-epistimis/1735-oi-syskeves-thermansis-kapnoy-eksisou-epivlaveis-gia-ton-anthropo-me-to-kapnisma-kai-to-atmisma.

  • Call for end to vaping ban

    Call for end to vaping ban

    The authors of a new report have recommended that vaping products should be primarily regulated in Australia as consumer goods rather than as therapeutic, medicinal or tobacco products.

    The report, Legalising Vaping in Australia, was published on Saturday by the McKell Institute, and was the subject of a story posted on the website of the Australian Harm Reduction Association.

    In the report’s executive summary, the authors said that ‘legalising vaping has enormous potential to improve public health, particularly for disadvantaged smokers who are disproportionately affected by smoking-related diseases’.

    ‘We recommend that vaping products should be primarily regulated as consumer goods rather than as a therapeutic, medicinal or tobacco product,’ they said.

    ‘Regulation should aim to maximise the benefit for adult smokers while reducing any potential risks to users and harm to the wider population, especially young people who have never smoked.

    ‘Regulation should be proportionate to the risk of vaping.

    ‘The authors strongly recommend that Australia’s successful tobacco control policy continues and is supplemented by two changes: first, ending the de facto ban on vaping; and second, re-introducing appropriately funded mass media campaigns and supporting counselling to increase quitting rates.’

    The McKell Institute is described as an independent, not-for-profit, public policy institute dedicated to developing practical policy ideas and contributing to public debate.

    The report’s co-authors are: Dr. Alex Wodak AM, Conjoint Associate Professor Colin Mendelsohn.

  • Hospital vapors

    Hospital vapors

    The UK pro-smoking group Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking) has called for the lifting of restrictions on vaping within hospital grounds.

    Fifty-five percent of National Health Service (NHS) trusts did not allow electronic cigarettes to be used outdoors last year, according to a report by Forest, Prejudice and Prohibition: Results of a study of smoking and vaping policies in NHS hospital trusts in England.

    This was despite Public Health England (PHE) advice that it should be made easier for people to vape on site.

    Forest is calling also for greater freedom for patients, visitors and staff who want to smoke cigarettes at hospitals.

    Freedom of Information requests were made to 200 NHS trusts in England by Forest, 170 of which provided a response.

    ‘Around 45 percent said they allowed e-cigarettes to be used outside in 2018 and 11 percent of trusts, mainly specialising in mental health, permitted vaping indoors,’ the research was said to have found.

    ‘However 14 percent said they were planning to amend their policies in 2019 to allow vaping outside buildings, in shelters or in wards.’

    Forest said vaping should be permitted in all outdoor areas at hospitals and inside buildings and on wards if management considered it appropriate.

    Seventy-six percent of NHS trusts did not allow cigarettes to be smoked anywhere on hospital grounds while 22 percent provided smoking shelters, the research also found.

    Meanwhile, thirty two percent of trusts said they had installed a button which triggers a recorded message when pressed by a member of the public or staff, to help deter smokers.

    Forest described the devices as ‘shame-a-smoker buttons’.

    “We welcome the fact that some trusts are reviewing their policies on the use of e-cigarettes, but adopting a more sensible approach to vaping shouldn’t come at the price of a complete ban on smoking,” Simon Clark, director of Forest, was quoted as saying.

    “Banning smoking on hospital grounds demonstrates a staggering lack of compassion for smokers who may be stressed, upset and in need of a comforting cigarette.

    “A reasonable policy would lift restrictions on vaping, but give those who prefer to smoke the option of sheltered smoking areas.”

    The NHS trust responses were collected between July and December 2018.

  • Tobacco fails to inspire

    Tobacco fails to inspire

    None of Nepal’s local governments is seen to be serious about controlling and regulating the consumption of tobacco products, according to a story in The Kathmandu Post.

    While the Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act, 2011, made it mandatory for local governments to submit to the Ministry of Health and Population annual reports on measures taken to control and regulate tobacco products, none of them had submitted a report.

    And the Ministry said that because local governments had not been submitting reports, it was facing difficulties in preparing a national strategy for tobacco control.

    “Not a single local government has submitted its annual report to the ministry,” said Pushkar Raj Nepal, under-secretary at the legal section of the ministry. “This makes it difficult for us to find whether they are performing their responsibilities as per the act or not.”

    The Act prohibits smoking in educational institutions, libraries, training and health-related institutions, cinema halls, cultural centers, theatres, religious places, child welfare homes, hermitages for senior citizens, parks and other public places.

    It bans also smoking in houses or private vehicles in a way that affects another person.

  • Taxing question

    Taxing question

    A Portuguese member of the EU Parliament has asked the Commission for information on how minimum cigarette taxes are arrived at in member states.

    In a preamble to his question, which will be answered in writing by the Commission, Miguel Viegas said Council Directive 2011/64/EU of 21 June 2011 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco made it obligatory for all taxes on cigarettes to be based on a mixed system made up of two components: a proportional (ad valorem) duty, applied to the selling price, and a specific duty, which is defined as a fixed value paid per individual cigarette.

    ‘The Directive allows each country to introduce a minimum tax for each tobacco product category, thus preventing the placing on the market of very cheap brands,’ he said.

    ‘The formula used to calculate the minimum tax varies from country to country, whether in the base price for calculating this minimum tax threshold or the multiplier used. Of course, the choice of method strongly affects how the tax burden is spread between brands.’

    Viegas asked:

    ‘Can the Commission provide a comparative study on the methodologies used in the member states to calculate the minimum tax, particularly with regard to the two main indicators, the most popular price category (MPPC) and the weighted average price (WAP), including the respective multiplier for each?’

  • Slowly does it

    Slowly does it

    A federal court on Tuesday ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to issue a final rule mandating graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising, according to a statement issued by a number of health and anti-tobacco organizations and posted on the website of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

    The order by Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts was said to have been made in response to a lawsuit filed in October 2016 by eight public health and medical groups and several individual pediatricians.

    ‘In a September 2018 ruling, Judge Talwani agreed with the health groups that the FDA has both “unlawfully withheld” and “unreasonably delayed” agency action to require the graphic warnings,’ the statement said.

    ‘In response to Judge Talwani’s ruling, the FDA proposed issuing the final graphic warnings rule by May 2021. ‘Instead, Judge Talwani ordered the FDA to issue a proposed rule by August 15, 2019, and a final rule by March 15, 2020.

    The current cigarette warnings, which are printed on the side of packs, date back to 1984.

    The March 6 statement was issued on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Truth Initiative.