Category: Regulation

Baby lost with bath water
The Ethiopian parliament on Tuesday passed what is thought to be the most stringent tobacco-and-nicotine control legislation in Africa, according to a story in The Premium Times.
The Food and Medicine Administration Proclamation, which was passed unanimously by parliament, will require public places and work places to be tobacco-smoke free.
The new law will restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products.
It will ban tobacco advertising and promotions, and require graphic health warnings to be applied to 70 per cent of the front and back of all tobacco products.
And it will prohibit tobacco sales to anyone under the age of 21.
In addition, the law will ban the sale of heated tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and shisha.
February 7, 2019
What’s tracking and tracing?
The supply of tobacco products to UK retailers could be put in jeopardy unless HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes details of the application process for track and trace (T&T) codes without delay, according to a story in the on-line version of Convenience Store magazine.
With a little more than three months to go before the new T&T regulations are enforced, concerns of a possible backlog of applications from retailers are said to be growing.
From May 20, retailers will need two unique codes in order to purchase tobacco legally, an economic operator identifier code for their business and a facility identifier code for each of their stores.
HRMC was said to have told Convenience Store that an announcement on its chosen supplier to act as the UK’s ID issuer would be made by February 1, but by the time the magazine’s story had appeared on February 4 no details had been forthcoming.
February 6, 2019
Prohibition proposed
Under a proposal before Hawaii’s state Legislature, cigarette sales would be effectively banned outright by 2024, according to a Hawaii News Now story.
The ban would go into effect progressively, starting with raising the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 21 to 30 in 2020.
By 2022, no one under 50 could buy cigarettes.
And two years later, no one under 100 would be allowed to buy cigarettes.
The story rated the measure, House Bill 1509, as a long shot. It said it had passed its first reading last week, a procedural hurdle, and had been assigned to committees. But it didn’t yet have a hearing.
That didn’t mean it wouldn’t get one, the story went on to say, especially after news of the proposal started generating headlines nationally.
The authors of the bill, two Democratic representatives and a Republican, said the proposed ban simply made sense.
“The cigarette is considered the deadliest artifact in human history,” they wrote in the preamble to the measure. “The cigarette is an unreasonably dangerous and defective productive, killing half of its long-term users.”
About 13 percent of Hawaii adults are smokers, which is lower than the national average of 17 percent.
Hawaii also has one of the nation’s highest cigarette taxes, at $3.20 a pack. And more than a decade ago, the Hawaii Legislature significantly expanded smoke-free zones, and included e-cigarettes in those prohibitions three years ago.
The measure before lawmakers that would ban cigarette sales would not include e-cigarettes.
February 5, 2019
World Bank report
Contrary to tobacco industry arguments, taxes and prices have only a limited impact on the illegal cigarette market share at country level, according to a World Bank report, Confronting illicit tobacco trade: A global review of country experiences.
The report, running to about 650 pages, says that evidence indicates that the illegal cigarette market is relatively larger in countries with low taxes and prices while relatively smaller in countries with higher cigarette taxes and prices. Non-price factors such as governance status, weak regulatory framework, social acceptance of illicit trade, and the availability of informal distribution networks are said to ‘appear to be far more important determinants of the size of the illicit tobacco market’.
Part of the Bank’s advice for tackling the illegal trade is for authorities to avoid reliance on the tobacco industry, whose role is said to pose a challenge to countries seeking to address the illegal trade, ‘since the tobacco industry is often linked to illicit trade in tobacco products, either directly or indirectly’.
‘The UK and Ireland case studies emphasize the need to fulfill obligations under Article 5.3 of the FCTC [World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] to prevent the tobacco industry from influencing public policy,’ the report says. ‘The case studies, including Colombia, Australia, Georgia, and Malaysia, also confirm prior findings that the tobacco industry regularly overstates levels and changes in tobacco illicit trade to oppose tobacco tax reforms. The Georgia and Uruguay case studies show that when the government responds to industry pressure and reduces taxes due to fears regarding tobacco illicit trade, the result is a decline in revenues and an increase in consumption, while the true drivers of illicit trade in tobacco products remain unaddressed.’
The Bank concludes, in part, that the following actions need to be undertaken to confront the illegal trade in tobacco products.
- ‘Require licensing for the full tobacco supply chain, as required by Article 6 of the [FCTC] Protocol.
- ‘Require use of secure excise tax stamps and other product markings to facilitate enforcement and tax collection, as required by Article 8 of Protocol.
- ‘Establish effective track-and-trace systems to follow tobacco products through the supply chain from production or import to sale to consumers (Article 8 of the Protocol).
- ‘Establish effective enforcement teams equipped with automated reporting devices, to reduce human discretion in tobacco tax administration (Articles 8 and 19 of the Protocol).
- ‘Obtain detection equipment and use it effectively at customs posts (Articles 14 and 19 of the Protocol).
- ‘Develop a risk profile to target inspections (Articles 10, 14 and 19 of the Protocol).
- ‘Set relatively low duty-free allowances (Article 13 of the Protocol and Article 6.2 of the FCTC) for tobacco product purchases, both in terms of amounts and frequency.
- ‘Regulate or ban trade in tobacco products in free trade and other special economic zones (Article 12 of the Protocol).
- ‘Set and enforce significant financial penalties and penal provisions for illicit trade in tobacco products (Articles 15, 16 and 17 of the Protocol).
- ‘Provide for secure and environmentally friendly destruction of seized cigarettes, carried out by the regulatory authorities and not by the tobacco industry (Article 18 of the Protocol).
- ‘Educate the public on the impact of tobacco illicit trade.
February 4, 2019
Caught on camera
Any person who ‘catches’ someone smoking outside a designated smoking area at Phuket International Airport, Thailand, now stands to receive a B1,500 reward, according to a story in The Phuket News.
But it’s not a case of simply reporting the smoker.
According to the airport’s general manager, Thanee Choungchoonyone, speaking on Friday; to claim the ‘reward’, a person must see a fellow person smoking anywhere other than a designated smoking area, take a photo of that person and show it to airport staff. But to receive the reward, the smoker must be caught.
As from yesterday, the inside and outside areas of the six international airports operated by Airports of Thailand have been designated non-smoking, except for designated smoking areas.
The six airports are Phuket International Airport (PIA), Chiang Mai International Airport, Chiang Rai International Airport, Don Mueang International Airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport, and Hat Yai International Airport.
Thanee said the move was aimed at ramping up enforcement of the Tobacco Products Control Act B.E. 2017, under which PIA, a government facility, was designated non-smoking.
The News said also that he talked of a possible disturbance to non-smokers in and around the airport as being one reason behind the decision to offer rewards.
“There are six clearly marked rooms in the airport in which people are allowed to smoke,” Thanee said, before adding that anyone found violating the law would be liable to a fine of up to B5,000.
February 4, 2019
Smoking up in Turkey
Turkey is due to launch a new anti-smoking campaign in the coming months following an increase in the incidence of smoking, according to a story in The Hürriyet Daily News.
The Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reportedly said in an interview that the incidence of smoking had increased from 27 percent to 32 percent in recent years, despite a ban on smoking in public places.
The incidence of smoking among men had increased to 44 percent, while that among women had risen to 19 percent.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had endorsed Turkey’s long-term anti-tobacco campaign, but the smoking industry had been finding new ways to increase consumption, the minister was reported to have said.
“They pushed for water pipes after inspections against smoking in cafes or restaurants intensified,” Koca said. “They campaign that electronic cigarettes are harmless, although the situation is the other way around. They promote slim cigarettes for women’s consumption.”
He accused the tobacco industry of trying to encourage young people to become long-term users and women smokers to become role models.
“They are introducing smoking as part of a modern life and culture,” he said. “That’s why we should also fight these efforts of the tobacco industry.”
The News said that the new campaign, which will be unveiled in a couple of months, will display smokers as ‘second-class people’ in the eyes of the public – presumably in the eyes of the non-smoking public.
It will bring in changes also to smoking-in-public-places regulations.
And it will herald intensified enforcement of those regulations.
February 4, 2019
Vaping legal but difficult
Increasing numbers of Saudis are ditching their cigarettes and switching to vaping devices, according to a story in Arab News.
And they are free to do so because there are no laws banning vaping in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, vapers are free to indulge their habit in public.
But there is a catch. There are apparently no legal ways to obtain a vaping device or e-liquid.
The Ministry of Commerce and Investment banned the sale of vaping products in September 2015.
And Saudi law forbids the sale of such items and considers anyone bringing them in from abroad to be smuggling and, therefore, liable to be fined and have the items confiscated.
These bans, the News said, were forcing vapers in the Kingdom to seek ‘alternative’ methods of buying supplies – alternative methods whose legality was doubtful, which was leaving vapers unsure if they were breaking the law.
One problem for the authorities is that while neighboring countries such as the UAE have adopted similar stances towards vaping – selling the equipment is illegal but using it is fine – others, such as Bahrain, are more relaxed about vaping. So Bahrain is a prime location for smugglers sourcing vaping products.
Many people seem to take a pragmatic view of the situation. Those who spoke to the News called for vaping products to be regulated. “They [vapers] will probably do it anyway,” said a local vaper. “And with Saudi Arabia’s smoking rate being as high as it is, this could be a lucrative area of investment.
“Tax it. Double the price. Do whatever you have to do. Make it safer for everyone.”
Saudi Arabia is said to have a high smoking rate, even though the practice is considered taboo. The Saudi Diabetes and Endocrine Association estimates the number of smokers is almost six million. And this figure is expected to rise to 10 million by 2020, or roughly 30 percent of the population.
February 1, 2019
No cigarette ban
Malaysia has no plans to ban cigarettes, according to a story in The Malay Mail quoting the Deputy Health Minister Dr. Lee Boon Chye.
He was responding to questions about why the government did not ban cigarettes outright if it were serious about curbing smoking.
Lee challenged those posing the question to name a country that had banned cigarettes.
“Even the countries which practice dictatorship and communism could not ban cigarettes,” he said.
“We as a country that practices democracy will not ban cigarettes as we respect the rights of the smokers.
“However, at the same time, we also respect the rights of the non-smokers, that’s why we imposed the smoking ban instead of the cigarette ban,” he told reporters in Taiping.
Lee said that the country’s smoking ban, which had been extended this year to take in outdoor eating areas, was not about revenue.
And he said the regulation was still less strict than that in countries such as Singapore, which permitted smoking only in designated zones.
The Health Ministry banned smoking at all restaurants including within their open-air areas from January 1 but is not penalizing offenders for a six-month grace period.
January 31, 2019
Jordan ban not working
Smoke shops in Jordan continue to sell electronic cigarettes despite an 18-month ban by the Ministry of Health on importing and selling these devices, according to a story in The Jordan Times.
A spokesman for the Jordan Customs Department (JCD), Col. Emad Nseir, was said to have told the Times that the department’s anti-smuggling agents had confiscated large quantities of e-cigarettes and e-argilas, and that their efforts would continue through regular inspections.
He said the inspectors responded to complaints from citizens informing them that the devices were still on sale despite the prohibition, and amid reports that the banned items were becoming increasingly popular among schoolchildren.
The ban was imposed due to what the Health Ministry said was the ‘tremendous dangers’ posed to public health by e-cigarettes, which were no less harmful than regular cigarettes and which might be more harmful, according to Hatem Azrui, the Ministry’s spokesperson.
Recently, the Iftaa [fatwa] Department issued an edict declaring e-cigarettes and e-argilas prohibited, but sales seemed to have been unaffected by the ban and the edict.
The JCD official acknowledged that smuggling of the devices was ongoing, while a shopkeeper said demand remained high.
The shopkeeper was said to have told the Times, on the condition of anonymity, that he had bought his merchandise from smugglers and that the business was going on as usual, except that sales assistants had to exercise caution in picking who to sell to.
A consumer quoted by the Times said that he used e-cigarettes which had helped him quit regular cigarettes. “I consulted a physician and he assured me that the e-cigarette is less harmful than tobacco, and I trust him,” he said.
January 30, 2019
E-cigs lumped with tobacco
The Belarusian president has signed a decree that lumps electronic-cigarette and heat-not-burn products into the same legislative framework as that covering traditional tobacco products, according to a Belarusian Telegraph Agency story.
Under the decree, only economic entities of Belarus will have the right to engage in activities related to the production and sale of ‘systems for tobacco use, smoking electronic systems and liquids for them’.
The decree imposes a ban on the open display of e-liquids in shop windows and on other points-of-sale equipment.
It places restrictions on the places where electronic-cigarette and heat-not-burn products may be sold or consumed.
And it bans the advertising of these products and their sale to minors.
Finally, the decree extends the list of places where smoking is completely prohibited to include common areas of residential buildings, elevators, cars carrying children up to 14, children’s playgrounds, sports camps, education institutions, underground crossings, public transport stops.
January 30, 2019