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  • Black Market Thrives in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Black Market Thrives in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Image: butenkow | Adobe Stock

    About 49 percent of citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina buy tobacco products from the black market, according to 2020 research data published by the Center for Policies and Management, a Sarajevo think tank organization that deals with European integration and public administration reform, reports the Sarajevo Times.

    The legal sale of cigarettes decreased by 7.6 billion cigarettes per year from 2008 to 2020, though the number of smokers did not significantly decrease. The Liberal Forum, a nongovernmental organization, suggests that that means smokers turned to the black market for cheaper products.

    Illegal cigarettes and tobacco are often smuggled into Bosnia and Herzegovina from Montenegro, Serbia and Albania; Bosnia and Herzegovina is a transit country on the international smuggling route leading to European Union countries, according to the Indirect Tax Administration.

    The Bosnia and Herzegovina prosecutor’s office filed indictments against 13 people this year for illegal tobacco product trade, three of whom were border police members.

  • Egypt Shops Must Formalize Operations

    Egypt Shops Must Formalize Operations

    Image: efesenko | Adobe Stock

    Egypt has implemented a law requiring unlicensed shops to legalize their businesses and putting restrictions on cafes serving shisha, reports Ahram Online.

    The new law requires previously licensed shops to make a one-time payment of half the newly required fees to receive a permanent license. Licensed shops will have a two-year grace period to submit their permanent licenses.

    New businesses will receive their licenses within 60 days of applying.

    A fine of EGP20,000 ($811.19) to EGP50,000 will be imposed on unlicensed shops and those failing to adhere to the law will be sentenced to prison, according to the Cairo government.

    The law will specify fees based on the location of the shops as well as social and economic dimension of the shops’ activities.

    The law also puts restrictions on cafes serving shisha. Cafes and restaurants serving shisha must license their shops or face fines of EGP10,000 to EGP20,000.

    These cafes and restaurants must be located at least 1,000 meters away from places of worship, schools, educational institutions and fuel stations. They must also keep their doors closed except for entering and exiting, and they cannot serve shisha in more than 50 percent of their total area.

    Shop floors cannot be covered in flammable materials and used coals must be stored in specialized ceramic or metal containers. Stored coal must be located in isolated places.

  • Law Review Urges Action to Protect Youth

    Law Review Urges Action to Protect Youth

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    While Canada’s Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) is making progress toward meeting the objectives it set out in relation to vaping, more works remains to be done, particularly in terms of protecting youth, according to the first review of the legislation, which was recently tabled in Parliament by Minister of Mental Health and Addiction and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett, reports Health Canada.

    The review identifies areas for potential action, including examining access to vaping products by youth, communicating the potential benefits of vaping as a less harmful source of nicotine for people who smoke and completely switch to vaping as well as the health hazards, strengthening compliance and enforcement, and addressing scientific and product uncertainty to better understand the vaping product market and the health impacts of vaping.

    “Vaping products offer the 3.8 million Canadians who smoke a less harmful source of nicotine than tobacco products and do help people to stop smoking,” said Bennett. “These products, however, are not without risk—particularly to youth and people who do not smoke cigarettes. This first legislative review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act is a valuable opportunity to take stock of the progress we’ve made to address youth vaping—but there is more to do. Our government will continue to work to put the right safeguards in place to protect young people from the harms of vaping and nicotine addiction.” 

    The TVPA was implemented in 2018 to respond to the increasing availability of vaping products in Canada and to help ensure that Canadians would be informed about and protected from the health hazards associated with vaping. It regulates the manufacture, sale, labeling and promotion of vaping products sold in Canada.

    The TVPA includes a requirement for a legislative review three years after coming into force and every two years thereafter to provide a means to examine and respond to tobacco-related and/or vaping-related issues that may emerge over time.

    The review was informed by a public consultation that ran from March 16, 2022, to April 27, 2022.

  • Push to Close Tobacco Advertising ‘Loophole’

    Push to Close Tobacco Advertising ‘Loophole’

    Image: RomanR | Adobe Stock

    U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal reintroduced the No Tax Subsidies for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Ads Act, which would end a tax provision that allows manufacturers to claim federal tax deductions for the cost of advertising for e-cigarettes and tobacco products, according to Shaheen’s website. Senators Brown, Reed, Durbin, Van Hollen and Merkley also joined in reintroducing the bill.

    “E-cigarettes are fueling a public health crisis—particularly among teenagers. E-cigarette and Big Tobacco companies must be held responsible for deliberately advertising these dangerous products to youth,” said Shaheen. “It’s outrageous that a tax loophole allows companies to write off the costs of their ads, having taxpayers foot the bill and subsidize the advertising of harmful products. That’s why I’m reintroducing legislation to close this loophole and hold e-cigarette companies accountable for their harmful marketing practices.”

    “Old regulatory loopholes are helping Big Tobacco addict more Americans to lethal products,” said Blumenthal. “This bill will close a gaping tax loophole, putting an end to Big Tobacco’s tax write-offs of dangerous ads and preventing young people from starting up a deadly addiction.”

    The bill also bars tax deductions for advertising expenses related to tobacco cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco.

  • Power Shortages Hamper Zim Curing

    Power Shortages Hamper Zim Curing

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Power shortages in Zimbabwe are creating headaches for farmers who rely on electricity to cure their leaf tobacco, according to an article in The Herald.

    Due to low water levels, the Zambezi River Authority has ordered the Zimbabwe Power Co. to stop production at its Kariba South hydroelectric plant, which is the largest electricity generator in the country.

    The shortfall in power supply from the national grid means that tobacco growers must generate up to 70 percent of their electricity through diesel-driven generators, according to Rodney Ambrose, chief executive of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, which represents mostly large-scale farmers.

    In a letter to the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, Ambrose asked the government to give farmers access to discounted fuel to help prevent losses to the 2022–2023 tobacco crop and an associated decline in foreign currency earnings.

    Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s most lucrative export after gold. In the 2022 marketing season, the country earned $650 million, up from $589 million in 2021.

    According to Ambrose, the cost of production per hectare is at a record high in Zimbabwe. The power shortage, he warned, has the potential to increase cost to the point where farmers’ tobacco is no longer competitive.

    Zimbabwean farmers have bought at least 925 kg of tobacco seed with the capacity to cover 184,999 ha this year, according to the Tobacco Research Board. This would be the largest hectarage ever planted if all the seed sold is sown.

  • Inflation Boosts Discount Cigarette Sales

    Inflation Boosts Discount Cigarette Sales

    Photo: pkstock

    U.S. smokers are switching to lower priced cigarettes in the wake of inflation, reports The Wall Street Journal. Cheaper tobacco brands increased their share of the U.S. cigarette market to 27.1 percent in the third quarter of 2022, up 1.8 percentage points from a year ago.

    While the tobacco industry tends to weather economic downturns better than other sectors, smokers are sensitive to inflation because they have lower incomes than the average consumer. In the U.S., smoking prevalence among people earning less than $35,000 a year is about 21 percent compared with 7 percent for those earning more than $100,000.

    The trend toward lower priced cigarettes favors smaller players like Vector Group, which reported record tobacco revenues in the third quarter of 2022. The company sold 30 percent more cigarettes during the quarter than it did the same time last year. Driven by the significant growth of its price-fighting Montego brand, Vector’s wholesale market share reached 5.7 percent in the quarter—its highest market share since 1984.

    The Wall Street Journal notes that Vector’s position is strengthened by the fact that, due to the company’s relatively small market share, about one-third of its volumes are exempt from payments under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

    Imperial Brands, which has a big portfolio of discount cigarette brands in the U.S., has also been gaining market share as smokers look for bargains.

  • China’s Vaping Rules Force Retailer to Close

    China’s Vaping Rules Force Retailer to Close

    Image: Argus

    Chinese online retailer FastTech is closing in the wake of strict new vaping regulations, reports Vaping360.

    In a Dec. 5 post on its customer forum, the discounter blames restrictions introduced after the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration took control of China’s vaping business. The new measures have increased uncertainty, preventing the company from remaining competitive, according to the firm.

    China outlawed domestic online vape sales in 2019. The measure was followed by licensing and sales regulations along with the new tax scheme. Hong Kong’s ban on importing Chinese vape products for air shipping to export destinations—which is currently being reconsidered—may also have affected FastTech, which shipped many of its products through the city.

    FastTech sold Chinese-made vape products, including many semi-legal clones and copies of well-known products, to overseas customers at sometimes near-wholesale prices and shipped them inexpensively.

    According to Vaping360, there remain a number of FastTech competitors in China operating on a similar business model.

  • Smoking Prevalence Down in the Philippines

    Smoking Prevalence Down in the Philippines

    Photo: junpinzon

    The share of tobacco use among Filipinos aged 15 and above decreased to 19.5 percent of the population in 2021, reports GMA News Online, citing results of the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).

    Vito Roque Jr. of the Department of Health’s (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau attributed the decline to the adoption and implementation of tobacco prevention and control health policies and interventions. “The results also reflect the effectiveness of the enforced key policies on tobacco taxation, graphic health warnings, protection of bureaucracy against tobacco industry interference and smoke-free environments,” he added.

    Rising cigarette prices may have played a role as well. In 2009, a cigarette pack in the Philippines cost on average PHP30 ($0.54). By 2021, this figure had increased to PHP100 per box.

    Based on the 2021 GATS results, one in every five Filipino adults, or 15.1 million adults, currently use tobacco, among whom the percentage of males (34.7 percent) who currently use tobacco was eight times higher than females (4.2 percent).

    Meanwhile, at least 11.2 million adults currently smoke daily, or about 14.5 percent of the adult population. The percentage of male smokers who smoke daily (26.3 percent) is nearly nine times higher than the percentage of women smokers who smoke daily (3.6 percent).

    The average number of cigarettes smoked per day among daily cigarette smokers was 10.5 sticks, with men smoking a daily average of 10.8 sticks and women 6.7 sticks.

    The survey said that the overall prevalence of those who have ever used e-cigarettes among all adults was 5.7 percent while the current use of e-cigarettes was 2.1 percent.

  • COP10 Urged to Consider Harm Reduction

    COP10 Urged to Consider Harm Reduction

    Photo: lovelyday12

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates’ (CAPHRA) nine member organizations have written to Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) delegation heads from around the world, urging them to review the evidence that supports a tobacco harm reduction (THR) approach ahead of COP10.

    With governments sending delegates to COP10 in November 2023, CAPHRA was keen to send leaders comprehensive reference material for their COP10 planning, submission writing and deliberations.

    COP10 will be held in Panama and is hosted by the World Health Organization’s FCTC.

    “We do this on behalf of the 4 million current users of safer nicotine products in the wider Asia-Pacific region. As you are aware, our region bears the brunt of the harm and death from combustible and unsafe oral tobacco globally,” said the letter.

    The CAPHRA representatives reminded the health leaders that the FCTC has a mandate to pursue harm reduction as a core tobacco control policy.

    “It has been known for decades that tar and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke cause the death and disease associated with smoking, not nicotine. Research has proven that nicotine, while usually mildly addictive in the same way as caffeine, is not a health issue,” they wrote.  

    The letter also called on delegates to deplore the FCTC’s policy to conduct COP10 sessions behind closed doors.

    “Delegates to COP10 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens whose taxes are paying for their attendance, who expect them to speak on their behalf, acknowledge the science underpinning the harm reduction benefits of ENDS and maintain democratic principles,” they wrote.

    The CAPHRA representatives asked countries to take into account, when making their COP10 submissions, that consumers have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes. What’s more, people who smoke have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to smoking.

    The evidence-based documentation was wrapped up in a recently released white paper, titled “The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives,” which was presented by CAPHRA executive coordinator Nancy Loucas at the fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum.

  • New Genes Connected to Tobacco Addiction

    New Genes Connected to Tobacco Addiction

    Image: Vlad Kochelaevskiy

    Over 2,300 genes are associated with alcohol and tobacco use, according to new Penn State research published in Nature.

    “We’ve now identified more than 1,900 additional genes that are associated with alcohol and tobacco use behaviors,” said Dajiang Liu, professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Public Health Sciences. “A fifth of the samples used in our analysis were from non-European ancestries, which increases the relevance of these findings to a diverse population.”

    About 400 genes were discovered in a previous research study.

    “It is promising to see that the same genes are associated with addictive behaviors across ancestries,” said Liu in a statement. “Having more robust and diverse data will help us develop predictive risk factor tools that can be applied to all populations.”

    Within two years to three years, according to Liu, using these genetic risk factors would be refined and become routine in care for individuals already identified as having increased risk for alcohol and tobacco use.

    “This project leveraged large amounts of data to identify common genetic risk factors across diverse populations,” said Kevin Black, interim dean of the College of Medicine. “Using these findings to develop screening tools for diseases of despair is the kind of innovation that will help our college lead the way in using health informatics to contribute to health preservation and disease treatment in our communities.”