Blog - Tobacco Reporter

Counter-COP Laments Bloomberg’s Influence

Participants in the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) Good COP/Bad COP event in Panama lamented the influence of U.S. billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg over tobacco control policies.

“Michael Bloomberg is spending money to reduce consumer choice…He thinks he’s this big philanthropist, that he’s helping kids, helping adults—he’s not,” said TPA President Davd Williams. “By limiting these products, he’s not helping anyone but himself and his own ego.”

The Bloomberg-backed and funded Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) has nearly 40 representatives in the provisional attendees listing while Bloomberg-created Vital Strategies has nearly 20 representatives present.

According to the TPA, CTFK takes Bloomberg funding to spread misinformation and myths to pressure international agencies to implement draconian regulations on tobacco harm reduction products while Vital Strategies supports bans on the sales of flavored harm reduction products across the world.

“Bloomberg’s billions and groups may have TPA’s Good COP outnumbered and outspent, but the science and facts are on our side,” the TPA wrote in a press note.

On Feb. 7, participants in the Good COP/Bad COP panels focused on the science, consumers, and policy of tobacco harm reduction. Experts discussed struggles unique to low and middle income countries in embracing harm reduction, misinformation, along with Bloomberg’s influence.

February 8, 2024

Zimbabwe Markets to Open March 13

Zimbabwe’s tobacco auctions will open March 13, 2024, reports The Herald, citing a Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) announcement. Contract floors will open one day later,

Last year, the tobacco marketing season started on March 8 for auction floors and March 9 for the contract buyers.

TIMB statistics show that farmers had planted 113,101 hectares under the crop by Feb. 2, a 4 percent decline from last year’s 117,645 ha.

Meanwhile, some farmers welcomed the announcement of the dates, saying that would help improve liquidity in the market.

Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) chief executive officer, Rodney Ambrose said he expects the market to be significantly firmer than previous seasons to counter the high production costs. Zimbabwe’s tobacco growing season has been impacted by alternating wet and dry conditions, which has contributed to an increase in pests and diseases. Given that other leaf origins, such as Brazil, have also struggled with extreme weather conditions this year, Ambrose expects leaf prices to be high.

The ZTA has asked the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to increase the share of earnings that growers are allowed to retain in U.S. dollars from the current 75 percent.

The government standardized all export retentions to 75 percent with the balance of 25 percent liquidated at the ruling interbank rate. Last year, farmers retained 85 percent of their earnings in foreign currency, with the 15 percent balance liquidated into local currency.

February 7, 2024

Health Department Building Case for Stricter Vape Rules

The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is gathering data on vaping prevalence in the country, reports Malaya Business Insight.

DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the information will be used to convince policymakers to strengthen laws against vaping.

According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), e-cigarette users among the youth increased from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2019.

The DOH statement comes after nine former health officials called on the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to take the lead in pushing for the fight against vapes and electronic cigarettes.

The former DOH secretaries and undersecretaries believe the Philippine delegation should speak about the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulations on e-cigarettes and vapes.

February 7, 2024

Taxpayers Group Holds ‘Counter COP’

Concurrent with the 10the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama City this week, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is hosting an event at the Central Hotel Panama under the name “Good Cop/Bad Cop.” The event will be livestreamed on TPA’s YouTube channel.

Good COP will feature nearly two dozen tobacco harm reduction experts, representing 14 different countries and highlighting some of the leading experts on consumer issues, national and global policies, and the science surrounding harm reduction.

Throughout the event, TPA and the Good COP participants will be monitoring the WHO’s meeting and providing running commentary via livestreams, media interviews, blogs, and social media.

“The taxpayer-funded WHO ignores science and puts billions of smokers at risk of not having access to life-saving technology to quit smoking,” said TPA’s President, David William in a statement.

“The participants of Good COP will hold the WHO accountable for denying life-saving access to tobacco harm reduction products and denying access to the public and media to these meetings. “In real time, harm reduction experts from around the globe will be fact-checking and providing commentary on the WHO’s anti-science agenda at COP10.”

February 7, 2024

KT&G Posts Record Revenue

KT&G posted revenue of KRW1.45 trillion ($1,09 billion) and operating profit of KRW198.6 billion in the fourth-quarter of 2023. For the full-year, the company reported record revenue of KRW5.872 trillion and operating profit of KRW 1.168 trillion.

KT&G’s record annual revenue was driven mainly by the performance of its overseas combustibles business. The overseas combustibles business reported record annual revenue of KRW1.14 trillion. The combined annual revenue of KT&G’s three core business areas, which also include next-generation products (NGP) and health functional foods, reached KRW3.31 trillion, a 1.1 percent increase year on year.

KT&G’s NGP business sold 8.24 billion sticks overseas and 5.71 billion sticks in South Korea, reflecting growth rates of 43 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively.

KT&G achieved an all-time high total overseas sales volume of 61.4 billion sticks, surpassing 60 billion sticks for the first time.

KT&G projects its annual revenue and operating profit to exceed growth rates of 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in 2024. It expects its consolidated year-on-year revenue growth to exceed 15 percent. Additionally, the operating profit from the core business areas is expected to grow 31.5 percent, year on year.

“Last year was a year dedicated to the successful implementation of a business transformation strategy that focuses on the core business areas, KT&G wrote on its website. “This year, we will continue to strengthen the competitiveness of the core business areas, expand a sustainable business portfolio, and faithfully carry out the shareholder return policy.”

February 7, 2024

Zimbabwe Farmers Demand Premiums

Following a 30 percent increase in tobacco export earnings to $1.3 billion in 2023, Zimbabwean tobacco farmers are pushing for increased premiums, according to The Herald.

In 2023, Zimbabwe exported tobacco products worth $1.3 billion, up from $998.1 million in 2022, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStats). In volume, the increase was 20 percent for the same period.

“The huge gap between what ends in the farmer’s pocket and what exporters take home is a big anomaly that needs to be addressed,” said George Seremwe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA). “Participation of farmers in the value addition chain needs to be enhanced by making sure they take ownership of the crop all the way to the market.”

Seremwe stated that there should be a premium price paid back to farmers after the value addition process as happened in the past. He also argued for a model that rewards farmers in terms of export earnings.

“We used to have export retention schemes from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. This needs to be revived so that the farmer gets more value from the crop,” the ZTGA chair said.

“The grower is the weakest link in this matrix and needs protection from (the) government,” said Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Association (ZPTFA) president Mutasa Mutandwa.

“The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board needs to thoroughly monitor contractors as per the compliance administration framework in order to find out what inputs have been given to farmers versus the crop they are buying,” said Mutandwa.

“Our crop is fetching high prices on the international market, as it is used as a blender, but the farmer is not benefiting. There is need for massive investment in tobacco processing plants to increase exports of high-priced manufactured products,” explained the ZPTFA president.

The Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan aims to increase value addition from 2 percent to 30 percent by 2025 to reach a $5 billion tobacco industry.

“The price at the floors can only be enhanced by improving the quality of the leaf as buyers prefer clean and clear styles,” said Shadreck Makombe, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union. “There is need to have more investment in processing to enhance value addition.”

February 6, 2024

Botswana Awarded for Tobacco Control

Botswana received an integrity award from the World Health Organization for reaching a milestone in its tobacco control efforts, reports Xinhua News.

The award was given at the 10^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is being held in Panama Feb. 5 to Feb. 10.

“The award was in specific recognition of Botswana’s efforts to safeguard public health by ensuring that there was no undue influence or pressure from the tobacco industry, in any of its public health policy formulation or implementation processes, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),” said Christopher Nyanga, Botswana’s health ministry spokesperson.

Botswana’s Tobacco Control Act strictly prohibits any form of contributions or corporate social responsibility initiatives from the tobacco industry.

February 6, 2024

Thailand: Dual Tax Rates Decrease Revenue

Thailand’s dual cigarette tax rate has led to a decrease in government cigarette tax revenue, according to the Bangkok Post. The decrease is about THB23 billion ($646.8 million), according to Poomjit Pongpanngam, governor of the Tobacco Authority of Thailand.

The new tax structure has caused sales to drop dramatically. According to Pongpanngam, the finance ministry is likely to restructure the cigarette tax rate to a single tax system; however, illicit cigarettes will still pose a problem because they will still be less expensive.

Farmers contracted by the tobacco authority have seen a decrease in income due to the low sales of cigarettes. The authority has been buying 50 percent less tobacco from the farmers over the last three years. The tobacco authority recently stated that it plans to use THB1.3 billion for a production subsidy for tobacco farmers.

February 6, 2024

Plain Packaging Continues to Spread

Legal requirements to sell tobacco products in generic, unbranded packaging continue to spread, according to a report released on Feb. 6 by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).

The CCS report, titled Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, details global progress on plain packaging, ranks 211 countries and territories on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages and lists the countries and territories that now require graphic picture warnings.

The report also features the new Canadian requirement for a warning on every individual cigarette. This world precedent setting measure will start to appear on cigarettes in Canada by April 2024. Australia is in progress to become the second country to adopt the measure.

“There is a strong global trend for countries to implement plain packaging,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the CCS, in a statement. “Australia was the first country to implement plain packaging in 2012, followed by France and the U.K. in 2016, and now more and more countries are implementing the measure. These developments are very encouraging as plain packaging is a key measure to protect youth and to reduce tobacco use.”

There are now 25 countries and territories that have adopted plain packaging, up from nine countries in 2018 and 21 countries in 2021.

The report reveals there are now 138 countries and territories that require picture health warnings on cigarette packages, an increase from 117 in 2018 and 134 in 2021. This represents 66.5 percent of the world’s population. Canada became the first country in the world to require picture health warnings in 2001.

“There is continuing progress for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the lethal health effects of smoking,” says Cunningham. “It is extremely positive for global public health that more than 130 countries and territories have required picture health warnings and have increased warning size and that so many are moving toward plain packaging. The international trend will reduce global tobacco industry sales and will save lives lost to cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.”

The release of the CCS report coincides with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama this week. The FCTC mandates that all parties require health warnings that cover at least 30 percent of the principal display areas and at least 50 percent of the display areas.

February 6, 2024

COP10 Warns Against New Products

Delegates from around the world gathered in Panama City on Feb 5. to open the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the FCTC Secretariat, welcomed attendees and warned of the increasing availability of novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products.

These are “becoming a very troubling problem with an alarming increase in the use of these products by young people,” Blanco Marquizo said in her opening address.

“Part of this increase is due to disingenuous tobacco industry messages portraying these products as a replacement for real tobacco control measures as the industry again tries to claim a seat at the table—as part of the solution to an epidemic that the industry created and continues to sustain.”

She also asked everyone to be alert to what she described as “the relentless interference of the tobacco industry in every corner of the world.”

At COP10, delegates will consider a wide range of work to direct the FCTC in its work.

Discussions at COP10 will include:

implementation of FCTC Articles 9 and 10 (regulation of contents and disclosure of tobacco products): reports by the Bureau, by the Expert Group and by the WHO;
tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship: depiction of tobacco in entertainment media: report by the Working Group;
novel and emerging tobacco products;
forward-looking tobacco control measures (in relation to FCTC Article 2.1);
implementation of FCTC Article 19, which relates to liability;
improving the reporting system of the FCTC;
Implementation Review Mechanism;
contribution of the FCTC to the promotion and fulfillment of human rights; and
the FCTC Investment Fund.

COP10 runs from today until Saturday, Feb. 10.

It is followed by the third Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, Feb. 12–15, 2024.

February 6, 2024