Category: Sustainability

Financial support needed
The Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) says a lack of financial support is affecting farmers’ ability to grow tobacco, according to a story in the Zambia Daily Mail.
Last year, Zambia sold 23 million kg of tobacco, which contributed about three percent to the country’s gross domestic product.
Teddy Chirwa a tobacco inspector with the TBZ’s Southern Region, said most farmers were unable to grow tobacco because it was labor-intensive and involved a high production cost.
During an interview at the 91st Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show, Chirwa said improving access to finance could increase farmers’ investment choices and provide them with more effective tools to increase yields.
Chirwa said there was a need for policies that would support the growth of the tobacco industry in the country.
He was said to have bemoaned the low tobacco-consumption level in the country, and the fact that currently farmers depend on China, the only export destination.
Commenting on the theme of this year’s agricultural show, Promoting a green economy, Chirwa said the TBZ would continue to promote a green economy through sustainable agricultural practices in the tobacco value chain.
The TBZ was encouraging small-scale growers to use efficient irrigation technologies in tobacco production, and was calling for the use of ‘climate-smart and environmentally-friendly agro-chemicals in various productions’.
“There is need to promote alternative and more efficient tobacco curing methods by embarking on a tree planting exercise in the tobacco value chain to promote a green economy,” Chirwa said.
“As a country, we also need to strengthen re-afforestation programs and smart agriculture practices for tobacco production to support economic growth,” he said.
August 7, 2017
HNB market set to glow
British American Tobacco is to roll out its heat-not-burn tobacco device on South Korea’s market, where demand for such devices is increasing, according to a story in The Korea Herald.
BAT Korea is due to hold a press conference on Thursday to promote Glo and announce when the device will go on sale, company officials were quoted as saying on Sunday.
The company is hoping to boost sales, in part by satisfying what is unfulfilled demand.
The Times reported that Philip Morris International launched IQOS in early June but has not been able to keep up with demand.
BAT Korea has recently completed the construction of new facilities in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, where it produces the consumable element of the device, Neosticks. These are currently being exported to Japan but will soon be made available in Korea as well, officials said.
Meanwhile, KT&G is due to roll out its own heat-not-burn device.
August 7, 2017
AOI volume stable
In the three months to the end of June, Alliance One International (AOI) sold about 61.2 million kg of tobacco, about the same amount as it had sold during the three months to the end of June 2016, even though South-American shipments were ‘noticeably reduced’ because there had been only ‘minimal carryover’ of the smaller, El Niño-affected 2016 crops.
In announcing AOI’s first-quarter results to the end of June, president and CEO Pieter Sikkel said revenue had improved by 6.1 percent or $15.9 million to $277.0 million on that of the quarter to the end of June 2016 due to a 4.8 percent increase in average sales price that was driven by a higher ratio of lamina/by-products sales.
“Additionally,” he said, “at quarter end, our uncommitted inventory reached a seven year low just inside the mid-point of our stated target range of $50.0 to $150.0 million.
“Due to selling mainly prior year crops during the quarter that were impacted by currency and smaller crops sizes last year, gross profit decreased $5.4 million to $28.6 million. Excluding the impact of currency movement in Other Regions, gross profit would have been consistent with the prior year.”
Looking ahead, Sikkel said fiscal year 2018 was progressing favorably and in line with expectations. Excluding Malawi, which had a much smaller crop this year, global market conditions were positive.
Weather patterns were good, supporting better growing conditions; so that, in key markets where AOI was currently buying, crop sizes had returned to more normal levels.
Later, Sikkel said that AOI’s customers were focused on enhancing global-supply-chain sustainability and driving positive change in nicotine consumption habits with reduced risk products.
“Alliance One is well positioned to continue to meet customer requirements for traditional products with directed agronomy investments in systems and people,” he said. “Such investments, as well as others, uniquely position our company as a key supplier for new products our customers are developing and we will continue to invest where appropriate returns should be achievable…”
August 4, 2017
An education in smoking
A school in Australia is permitting students as young as 15 to have a smoking break at lunch and other recess periods, according to an independent.co.uk story.
Carolyn Blanden, principal at The Warakirri College in Sydney, said she believed that relaxed rules would encourage the students to keep attending school.
“At my school, you can come with bright blue hair and metal in your face,” Blanden told Australia’s Daily Telegraph.
“And if you need to have a smoke, that’s OK too.”
Blanden said she would rather her students smoked cigarettes, with all the health risks that involved, than have them “floating around the streets or in detention”.
The principal has previously worked at fee-paying private schools but says her current job is the “most rewarding work I think I’ve ever done”.
Many of the school’s students are from broken homes, with many of their parents either in jail or battling drug addiction.
Under Wreaker’s curriculum, students can study three subjects per year rather than six for two years.
The school is said to be similar to an adult learning environment, with no fees or uniforms. There is a gym and students are allowed to leave the campus grounds when not in class.
Many of the children who graduated Year 10 (age 14-16) in 2016 were the first in their families to achieve a Record of School Achievement
July 25, 2017
PM to pay for PP challenge
In a heavily redacted ruling that was issued in March but made public on the weekend, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has directed Philip Morris Asia (PMA) to pay the Australian federal government an undisclosed sum in legal costs, according to a story in WA Today relayed by the TMA.
In December 2015, the Court dismissed PMA’s lawsuit challenging Australia’s ‘plain’ [standardized] packaging law, labeling it an ‘abuse of rights’.
The story said that ‘some sources’ believed the award against PMA could be as high as A$50 million (US$38 million), plus a percentage of the arbitration costs.
The company reportedly argued that Australia’s claim for costs was ‘excessive’ given that its legal team ‘consisted primarily of public servants’, and that it was well above what was claimed by Canada (US$4.5 million) and the US (US$3 million) in similar investment disputes.
The Australian government said its claim, which included the cost of its own lawyers, outside counsel, expert reports and witnesses, plus travel and accommodation, was justified, and the court agreed. The court found that the Tribunal ‘does not consider that any of these costs claimed by the respondent were unreasonable and should not have been incurred’.
July 11, 2017
Tobacco’s ‘myriad’ impacts
The World Health Organization is set on drawing attention to the ways in which tobacco growth, production and consumption impact human development.
At present, much of what is known about the risks of tobacco concerns the direct impact, in terms of morbidity and mortality, of first-hand and second-hand smoke on people’s health, the WHO says in the executive summary of its new report, Tobacco and its impact: an overview.
‘What we have yet to do as a public health community is draw attention to the myriad other ways in which tobacco growth, production and consumption impact human development,’ the summary said.
‘Understanding the environmental impact of tobacco is important for several reasons. These include the fact that it allows us to gauge some of the risks caused by tobacco production which are currently excluded from estimates of tobacco mortality (such as poor air quality and pesticide use), and its impact more broadly on development – including economic stability, food security, and gender equality.
‘The Sustainable Development Goals show that health cannot be considered in isolation from a host of other factors, of which the environment is one.
‘Recognizing the harmful impact of tobacco in terms of indoor pollution and on biodiversity turns tobacco from an issue of individual well-being to one of global well-being.
‘It also means that tobacco can no longer be categorized simply as a health threat – it is a threat to human development as a whole.
‘This issue requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach and engagement.’
The summary said the overview assembled existing evidence on the ways in which tobacco affected human well-being from an environmental perspective – i.e. the indirect social and economic damage caused by the cultivation, production, distribution, consumption, and waste generated by tobacco products.
‘It uses a life cycle analysis to track tobacco use across the full process of cultivation, production and consumption: from cradle to grave – or perhaps more appropriately, to the many graves of its users,’ the summary said.
‘In doing so it draws attention to gaps in the scientific evidence – particularly where the only data available are those currently self-reported by the tobacco companies themselves – and indicates where objective research could hold the greatest benefits to improving understanding of the relationship between tobacco and the environment.
‘Its purpose is to mobilize governments, policymakers, researchers and the global community, including relevant UN agencies, to address some of the challenges identified, and to amplify advocacy efforts beyond health by showing how deep the roots of tobacco really extend.’
The report is at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/255574/1/9789241512497-eng.pdf?ua=1&utm_source=TMA+Publications&utm_campaign=5c6f2cc53d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f85a4ca640-5c6f2cc53d-88343737.
June 1, 2017
Retailers call for restraint
The Sri Lanka Tobacco Retailers’ Association has urged the government to act with restraint when taxing and regulating tobacco products, according to a story in The Daily News.
Representatives of the association last week met the newly-appointed Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, to highlight several issues facing tobacco traders.
They said that the association’s membership of more than 100,000 had been adversely affected by the government’s tax hike on tobacco products in October.
The tax hike had impacted livelihoods severely because it had affected sales of other products that were normally bought by tobacco consumers entering their shops.
Many tobacco consumers had switched to illicit products so no longer entered their shops.
The representatives asked the minister to maintain the prices of licit tobacco products at reasonable levels, not implement a proposed ban on single-stick sales, and not introduce regulations that would affect their business and livelihoods in a drastic manner.
They said that tobacco traders had conducted their businesses in an ethical manner, respecting the laws and regulations applying to the tobacco trade.
May 30, 2017
JT on sustainability
The JT Group today published its 2016 Sustainability Report, which is said to highlight the key contribution of Japan Tobacco International, its international tobacco business, in achieving the group’s sustainability objectives.
‘The report is compiled in accordance with the “Core” Level of the GRI [Global Reporting Initiative] G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, showing the JT Group’s commitment to being transparent in its sustainability performance,’ according to a note posted on the JTI website.
JTI said that as part of its sustainability program it had brought 9,742 more children into schools in tobacco growing countries. ‘This is part of the company’s commitment to building sustainable economies in tobacco growing communities where we directly and indirectly purchase tobacco, through dedicated programs improving their economic, social and environmental conditions,’ the note said.
In addition, JTI said, it had deployed more than 300 community investment programs in more than 60 countries. ‘JTI’s programs vary from the support to women in creating micro-enterprises in South Sudan to providing access to art for disabled adults in Italy,’ it said. ‘Many of the company’s programs involve the active participation of employees. In the United Kingdom, JTI continues to be one of only 34 holders of the CommunityMark for excellence in community investment.’
And the company said it had been recognized as a Global Top Employer for the third consecutive year, ‘a testimony of the company’s consistent high-quality work environment and commitment to providing exceptional development opportunities to employees worldwide’.
“Over the past year, we have made significant progress in delivering on our commitments to promoting sustainability both for the wider society and for the whole Group”, says Maarten Bevers, JTI’s corporate social responsibility vice president.
“We set ourselves high standards and we are honored that our work is being recognized in various areas. Our long-term approach and determination to uphold rigorous business practices – from our support to tobacco growing communities to the work environment we offer our employees – is reflected in this report.”
JTI said that the challenges it had tackled ranged from the elimination of child labor to respecting workers’ rights, maintaining adequate health and safety conditions, and providing access to water and sanitation, and reforestation.
‘For the first time in 2016, the JT Group was recognized as one of the world’s best climate change reporters by being included on the CDP’s Climate A List, the JTI note said. ‘It was also selected as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia/Pacific Index for the third consecutive year.’
“As a global business, we have a responsibility to operate and manage our resources sustainably,” said Bevers. “We do this with the aim to deliver value to the JT Group’s wide range of stakeholders – consumers, shareholders, employees and the wider society, including the communities in which we operate.”
May 26, 2017
New ways sought at WHO
Japan Tobacco International has urged the new leader of the World Health Organization, the former Ethiopian health minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to scrutinize carefully the organization’s current practices.
In a note posted on its website today, JTI said the World Health Assembly had just appointed the WHO’s new director general, amid controversy around the UN agency’s practices.
‘JTI has witnessed a number of abuses over the past years that are putting at risk three fundamental areas where businesses play a key role: transparency, sustainability and innovation,’ the note said. ‘We trust that current practices will be carefully scrutinized by the new WHO lead.’
On the question of transparency, JTI said that a culture of censorship and exclusion had developed, notably at the most recent Conference of the Parties to WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), where ostensibly open debates were held behind closed doors, from which journalists and the public were expelled, in direct contravention of the United Nation’s fundamental principles.
‘Any individual or organization who is seen to consult with anyone in the tobacco sector, including government representatives and experts with legitimate credentials, is in the WHO’s line of sight,’ the note said. ‘The WHO has so abused these practices that it is now putting pressure on other organizations, notably UN agencies, to follow the same dogmatic approach. It is therefore no surprise that the three WHO candidates have made transparency a key theme of their campaign. We expect the new director general to terminate this culture of secrecy.’
Turning to the question of sustainability, JTI said it was regrettable that the current WHO leadership had a narrow vision of the developing world’s realities. ‘Bullying tobacco farmers and governments to blindly follow its exclusion tactics, the WHO has been dangerously jeopardizing many programs which enhance tobacco communities’ livelihoods and meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals,’ the note said. ‘This includes Public Private Partnerships that have delivered concrete results which can only be achieved through sustained and collaborative efforts.
‘Conversely, if companies didn’t take their responsibility towards society seriously, the same organization would no doubt point fingers at them. It is crucial for the new WHO regime to acknowledge the invaluable expertise, resources and rigor that legitimate companies can and should continue to provide to communities where they are established.’
On the question of innovation, JTI said the WHO’s FCTC continued to recommend the prohibition or restriction of electronic cigarettes, even though these products did not contain tobacco and had the potential to reduce health risks. The company said it was looking forward to a new direction at the WHO that encouraged innovation and choice through research and development instead of ‘sliding into a contagious trend of product bans’.
“The WHO has become ideology-driven, engaging in a fight against businesses, tobacco growers, and vapers when it should open itself up to scrutiny and see the merit of initiatives that are actually delivering results, no matter what individual positions are,” JTI’s corporate communications vice president, Michelle McKeown, was quoted as saying.
“We trust the new WHO director general will take this opportunity to get back to basics by tackling the issue of transparency, keeping an objective view of sustainability in the developing world, and accepting that the innovation of next-generation products can help address some of the organization’s concerns.”
May 24, 2017
Another move in end game
The Danish Institute of Human Rights (DIHR) has said that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) require the tobacco industry to stop the production and marketing of tobacco products.
In a note posted on its website, the DIHR said the United Nations Human Rights Council had endorsed the UNGPs, which applied to all companies including tobacco companies.
‘The Human Rights Council has expressed its authoritative expectation that all companies exercise due diligence in the efforts to respect human rights,’ the note said.
‘According to the UNGPs companies should avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on human rights. Where such impacts occur, companies should immediately cease the actions that cause or contribute to the impacts.
‘Tobacco is deeply harmful to human health, and there can be no doubt that the production and marketing of tobacco is irreconcilable with the human right to health.
‘For the tobacco industry, the UNGPs therefore require the cessation of the production and marketing of tobacco.’
The issue has come to a head because, in September, the DIHR began work on a human rights assessment of Philip Morris International.
The DIHR said that work had been completed and that it had decided to end its engagement with PMI.
The DIHR note, which explains the purpose of its engagement with PMI, is at: https://www.humanrights.dk/news/human-rights-assessment-philip-morris-international.
May 24, 2017