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Category: Top News

  • Biden Rolls Back Bank Restrictions for Cuba

    Biden Rolls Back Bank Restrictions for Cuba

    TR Archive

    Accessing the global banking system just got easier for many of Cuba’s privately owned tobacco farms. The U.S. lifted some financial restrictions against the island country on Tuesday, in a move designed to boost private businesses.

    The measures will allow independent entrepreneurs to open and access U.S. bank accounts online to support their businesses. They also include steps to open up more internet-based services and expand private companies’ ability to make certain financial transactions.

    “These regulatory amendments update and clarify authorizations in support of internet-based services to promote internet freedom in Cuba, support independent Cuban private sector entrepreneurs, and expand access to certain financial services for the Cuban people,” the Treasury Department said in a news release.

    One of the key changes will allow Cuban private business owners to open bank accounts in the United States and then access them online once back in Cuba — something they couldn’t do previously. The U.S. also is again allowing something called U-turn transactions, where money is transferred from one country to another but is routed through the United States.

    “This reinstated authorization is intended to help the Cuban people, including independent private sector entrepreneurs, by facilitating remittances and payments for transactions in the Cuban private sector,” the release said, according to the Associated Press.

    The Trump administration had removed permission for the U-turn transactions in 2019.

    The Cuban authorities downplayed the announcement. Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. department in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, said the steps were “limited” and will do little to ease the embargo or sanctions that have most hurt the Cuban people.

  • Nollywood to Show Tobacco Warnings

    Nollywood to Show Tobacco Warnings

    Image: alexlmx

    The Nigerian government will adopt new measures to limit how tobacco can be depicted in Nollywood, one of the world’s largest film industries, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

    The first such measure in Africa, the new rules require filmmakers to display health warning labels at the beginning and end of films depicting tobacco or nicotine. In addition, they will have to show health warnings during scenes that depict tobacco or nicotine use.

    Filmmakers may not include tobacco or nicotine brands on screen and prevent any brand marketing in their products.

    The measures cover movies, music videos and skits produced in Nollywood.

    Last year, India became the first country to regulate how tobacco use could be depicted on streaming platforms.

    In February, the parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control adopted measures to restrict tobacco advertising in entertainment and social media.

    A recent report by the Truth Initiative suggests that tobacco imagery has been surging in social media, in music videos and in movies.

  • New Sampoerna Boss: Workforce has Value

    New Sampoerna Boss: Workforce has Value

    Ivan Cahyadi
    (Photo: Sampoerna)

    Ivan Cahyadi, the new president director of Sampoerna, emphasized the company’s commitment to human capital development during a May 14 media meeting reported by The Jakarta Post.

    Celebrating its 111th anniversary, Sampoerna prioritizes human capital as crucial for business sustainability and societal well-being in Indonesia. Cahyadi, who began his career at Sampoerna in 1996, credits the company’s development programs for his rise to leadership. Sampoerna’s policy of job rotation and training across various departments enabled him to understand the business comprehensively.

    Sampoerna’s human capital initiatives include job rotation, overseas assignments and training, fostering an inclusive environment irrespective of ethnic or cultural backgrounds, according to Cahyadi. This approach has positioned Indonesians among global scientists and experts in innovative tobacco products. The company also operates advanced laboratories in Karawang and Pasuruan, enhancing local talent’s potential.

    Cahyadi highlighted Sampoerna’s support for traditional retailers through the Sampoerna Retail Community program, which aids 250,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), boosting their competitiveness and economic impact.

    Additionally, the Sampoerna Entrepreneurship Training Center has trained over 72,000 MSME players in various business skills. Emphasizing gender balance, Ivan noted that women represent 46 percent of department heads. Sampoerna’s commitment to human capital aligns with its “Three Hands” philosophy, aiming to advance Indonesia collectively through sustainable business practices.

  • High Leaf Prices Luring Growers in Bangladesh

    High Leaf Prices Luring Growers in Bangladesh

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    High prices have been attracting more growers to tobacco production in Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat District despite reservations about the crop within the Department of Agriculture, reports The Financial Express.

    While tobacco is a notoriously laborious crop, farmers say its relatively low cost of production combined with the prevailing strong global demand make it financially more attractive than many other crops.

    According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers have cultivated tobacco on nearly 10,000 hectares of land in five administrative regions of the Lalmonirhat District, but farmers’ sources claim the figure to be higher.

    “We are always motivating farmers not to cultivate tobacco,” said DAE Deputy Director Shaikhul Arefin. “But farmers are doing it only for good price. In recent years, maize farming has taken the place of tobacco farming in many areas. If fair prices can be ensured for other traditional crops, tobacco farming will reduce gradually.”

  • Brazil Mulls Higher Minimum Price

    Brazil Mulls Higher Minimum Price

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Brazil’s plans to raise the minimum cigarette price, reports Reuters, citing a government source. The goal is reportedly to offset losses from tax benefits granted to companies in some sectors and small municipalities.

    Brazilians now pay at least BRL5 ($1) for a pack of 20 cigarettes.

    The finance ministry’s executive secretary, Dario Durigan, told reporters the government was not raising taxes on cigarettes. He did not comment on the reports of plans to raise the minimum price to sell them.

    Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on May 27 that measures to increase revenue are ready and that the government is considering whether to send them to Congress this week or next via an executive order.

  • China Tightens Smoking Restrictions

    China Tightens Smoking Restrictions

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    China is ramping up its efforts to control smoking. In 2023, 44 cities introduced or revised regulations, bringing the total number of cities with relevant regulations to 254 nationwide, according to national health authorities.

    According to the Xinhua News Agency, 24 regions at the provincial level in China have rolled out smoking regulations, and the proportion of the population protected by comprehensive smoke-free regulations is continuing to increase.

    Experts from the National Health Commission (NHC) released the data on Saturday ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

    Meanwhile, as China pledges to protect 80 percent of its population with smoke-free laws by 2030, experts on tobacco control on Sunday called for the country to introduce a national smoking control regulation as soon as possible.

    Smoking control, including preventing smoking and encouraging smokers to quit, is a viable approach for both population-wide disease prevention and individual healthcare, according to Wang Lu, a health expert from the NHC.

    Curbing smoking doesn’t aim to deprive people of their right to smoke, but to free people from being hurt by secondhand fumes, Zhang Jianshu, a senior expert at the Chinese Association of Tobacco Control, told the Global Times on Sunday.

  • Bidi Workers Demand Better Conditions

    Bidi Workers Demand Better Conditions

    Photo: Brandy Brinson

    During a public meeting in Rangpur, Bangladesh, representatives of the Bidi Workers Federation presented several demands for improving their working conditions, reports the Daily Sun.

    Among other things, they want multinationals to increase the price of low-end cigarettes from BDT45 ($0.38) to BDT65 per pack and the government to close down illegal bidi factories. The bidi workers also demanded a halt to “the brokering” of BAT.

    Rangpur Mayor Mostafizar Rahman, who also spoke at the gathering, urged the government to protect the bidi industry from “the conspiracies of international companies.”

    He highlighted that approximately 2 million workers across the country earn their livelihood by working in bidi factories. Rahman advocated for wage increases, the withdrawal of duties on bidi products and for the bidi industry to be declared a cottage industry, a designation that would give companies operating in this sector access to low-interest loans and subsidies on raw materials, among other benefits.

    A recent survey revealed that many bidi workers in Bangladesh are dissatisfied with their working conditions.

  • BAT Kenya Ups Leaf Price to Secure Supply

    BAT Kenya Ups Leaf Price to Secure Supply

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    BAT Kenya is paying more for leaf to ensure the security of its supply, reports Business Daily Africa.

    In fiscal year 2023, the cigarette manufacturer increased its per-kilo price by 5 percent to KES198.75 ($1.50) even as the number of contracted farmers dropped to 1,672, down nearly 20 percent from the previous fiscal year.

    Only five years ago, BAT had access to 5,700 tobacco growers in Kenya. The drop has been driven in part by farmers abandoning tobacco in favor of alternative crops such as beans and maize, along with pressure from anti-smoking activists.

    To help stem the decline, the company has been offering free tobacco seedlings, fertilizer and personal protective equipment. In addition, it has encouraged crop diversification by issuing farmers subsidized maize and avocado seeds, allowing them to earn extra income without abandoning tobacco.

    The company has also been introducing hybrid tobacco seed varieties to boost crop yields and disease resistance, and low-cost technologies such as mechanized ploughing and ridges to help growers cut cost and maximize returns.

    BAT Kenya paid KES954 million for its total tobacco requirements in 2023 compared with KES946 million in 2022. Last year, it purchased 4.8 million kg of leaf, down from 8.9 million kg in 2019.

  • Growers Reject Official Tobacco Price

    Growers Reject Official Tobacco Price

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco grower representatives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province accused Pakistan’s federal government of violating the tobacco law by fixing the leaf price for the current crop below the previous year’s rate, reports Dawn.

    Martial Law Order 487 requires the weighted average price for the tobacco crop of any year to be equal to or higher than the weighted average price paid to them for the crop of the immediately preceding year.

    According to the grower representatives, the Federal Ministry of National Food Security and Research has set the minimum indicative price at PKR505 ($1.81) per kilogram for flue-cured Viriginia tobacco this year. Last year, the weighted average price was PKR709 per kilogram.

    The growers said the move was a flagrant violation of the tobacco marketing law that should be immediately corrected.

  • Azerbaijan Mulls Stricter Rules for Importers

    Azerbaijan Mulls Stricter Rules for Importers

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Lawmakers in Azerbaijan want to introduce stricter rules for cigarette importers, reports the Azerbaijani Press Agency.

    Among the proposed conditions is a requirement for importers to have operated at least one year in the tobacco business before they can bring in product from abroad.

    On May 24, legislators proposed to amend the law on tobacco and tobacco products. The objectives cited were to protect the domestic market, increase the potential for exports and “control a person’s sustainable and purposeful activity.”