Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

Growing Optimism About Intertabac

Photo: Timothy Donahue
The Westfalenhallen group of companies is increasingly hopeful that, with appropriate measures in place, the Intertabac exhibition, scheduled for Sept. 18-20 in Dortmund, Germany, will take place. The event and trade fair industry worldwide has been affected by the coronavirus epidemic. “Nevertheless, due to the latest signals from politics, we are a bit more positive about the organization of trade fairs in Dortmund, [Germany],” said Sabine Loos, managing director of the Westfalenhallen group of companies.
The authorities are currently determining under what conditions trade fairs could take place after May 31. Discussions focus on hygiene measures and limiting the number of participants. Specifics are expected to be announced soon.
“Afterwards, we will evaluate these measures and, on this basis, coordinate our further course of action—especially with regard to InterTabac and InterSupply,” said Loos. “We assume that voting on this should be completed in late May and early June.”
Messe Dortmund is working to create concepts for holding trade fairs. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, various measures were successfully introduced at the exhibition center in Dortmund, and an awareness campaign on various channels indicated the correct handling of the hygiene area. With the upcoming loosening of Germany’s lockdown from June 2020, new conditions will be imposed on trade fair organizers. These will be incorporated into the overall concept of Messe Dortmund and included in the planning for InterTabac and InterSupply.
May 14, 2020
Ireland: Call for Outdoor Smoking Ban as Pubs Reopen

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has called for a smoking ban in outdoor pub areas.
As businesses begin opening back up in Ireland and social distancing policies are put into place to keep the coronavirus from spreading further, the RCPI has stated that outdoor areas of pubs should be nonsmoking areas to prevent secondhand smoke exposure.
“Des Cox, chair of the policy group on tobacco at RCPI, has sent a letter to Minister Simon Harris at the Department of Health calling for this proposal to be implemented as part of the country’s reopening strategy,” wrote the Limerick Post.
“Customers who are seated in the outdoor areas of bars should not be exposed to secondhand smoke,” Cox said. “If bar staff are providing table service to all customers—including customers seated in the outdoor areas—they too will be exposed to secondhand smoke.”
May 13, 2020
Trade Commission to Probe Altria and Philip Morris

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will investigate Altria and Philip Morris after a complaint was filed by R.J. Reynolds. The ITC will look into certain tobacco heating elements and components.
The ITC has not made a decision on the case but has said it will make its “final determination … at the earliest practicable time.”
May 13, 2020
Black Buffalo Raises Capital

Image by S K from Pixabay
Black Buffalo, a company that makes and sells smokeless tobacco alternative products, has raised $9.75 million in growth capital. Investors included prominent financial companies such as Pendyne Capital, Watchfire Ventures and Open Pantry Food Marts. Black Buffalo plans to use this capital to expand its marketing presence, upgrade its manufacturing capacity, increase its online distribution and launch into convenience stores and physical retail outlets throughout the United States.
With proceeds from this capital raise, Black Buffalo has assembled premarket tobacco product applications for its entire product portfolio, which the company intends to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products in the coming months. Additionally, Black Buffalo has purchased and expects a second quarter 2020 delivery of a high-throughput pouch maker from one of the world’s leading industrial manufacturers.
May 12, 2020
Poll: Lockdowns Boost Smoking

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
A new poll from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World shows that the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have led to higher smoking and tobacco usage rates.
“Nearly 40 percent of smokers increased use of these products in recent weeks, which could equate to elevated use by more than 50 million smokers in the five countries polled,” according to a press release. Smokers have upped their tobacco and nicotine usage as a way to cope with stress and mental health issues during the social distancing orders.
The survey looks at tobacco and nicotine users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, South Africa and India. Rates of tobacco usage rose more in countries where the sale of tobacco products has been banned due to the virus outbreak, such as South Africa and India.
Derek Yach
“When this pandemic curve subsides, there will be a heavy mental and physical toll on all people,” said Derek Yach, president of the foundation. “Prior to the Covid crisis, smokers were at greatest risk of lung cancer, chronic lung disease and heart attacks. They will continue to have these excess risks as the pandemic recedes. Never forget that 7 million people will die globally this year as a result of their tobacco use.”
May 12, 2020
Tax Free World Association Cancels Duty-Free Conference
The Tax Free World Association (TFWA) has canceled the 2020 TFWA World Exhibition and Conference scheduled for Sept. 27 to Oct. 2 due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The TFWA board and management committee took into account the continuing uncertainty surrounding the travel and health situation as well as the worldwide fall in industry activity.
“By agreeing significant reductions to space rental fees, making changes to the format and working with our partners in Cannes to reduce the cost of taking part in the event, we did what we could to attempt to ensure the TFWA World Exhibition and Conference could take place,” said Alain Maingreaud, TFWA president.
“Since making those changes, we have monitored the situation daily and been in constant contact with our members and partners. The way in which the situation has developed with the economic impact of the crisis becoming increasingly serious amid continuing uncertainty over restrictions on travel has forced us to review our plans.
“The management committee was unanimous in its decision to cancel the 2020 edition and in its desire for the association’s events to play a central role in the industry’s recovery from 2021.
“The cancellation of TFWA World Exhibition and Conference will have a significant impact on the association’s finances, but thanks to the sound management of our resources up to now, we have been able to build reserves to help us cope with difficult periods such as this.
“We remain determined to do all we can to help our industry emerge from its most difficult period, keep our members and partners informed and help coordinate our industry’s response to the current crisis.”
May 12, 2020
WHO: Smoking Does Not Prevent Covid-19

Image by 4924546 from Pixabay
World Health Organization (WHO) officials stated that smoking does not protect individuals from contracting Covid-19, contrary to some studies that have surfaced stating the opposite.
“There are some media reports on studies that have not been peer-reviewed that have looked at smoking prevalence among people hospitalized with Covid-19,” said epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on Covid-19 response at the WHO Health Emergencies Program. “These studies were not designed to evaluate whether smoking was protective or not in any shape or form. And they do not say that smoking is protective.
“The harms of tobacco are well known, and we know that millions of people die every year from tobacco use. Covid-19 is a respiratory illness, and smoking causes damage to the lungs,” she said. “A number of studies have found that smoking leads to the development of severe diseases and puts people at higher risk of being put on a ventilator, being admitted to intensive care and eventually of dying. We know the harms of smoking and we know that smokers, if they do get infected with Covid-19, have a higher risk of severe disease and death.”
May 11, 2020
Report: Pandemic Impact Will Last for a Long Time

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
The disruption caused by the coronavirus will be felt for a long time even in the traditionally recession-resilient tobacco industry, according to a new report made available by Research and Markets.
“This report examines the outlook for the coronavirus (Covid-19) global pandemic on the tobacco industry,” according to Businesswire. “The social, economic and health effects of the Covid-19 crisis will be felt in every global market for several years to come. While it is the case that the tobacco industry is less dramatically impacted in the near term in most (though not all) world markets, the temptation to treat the pandemic as a short period of disruption before a return to normalcy should be avoided.”
The report covers the economic outlook, industry impact, geographic impact and the corporate response to the pandemic.
May 11, 2020
Philip Morris Challenges Health Warnings

Image by jessica45 from Pixabay
Philip Morris USA filed a lawsuit on May 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the graphic cigarette warnings that tobacco companies will be required to print on their products in the United States starting June 18, 2021.
It follows a similar lawsuit filed last month by other tobacco companies in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
This is the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) second attempt to enact graphic health warnings under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The first rule was struck down by the federal court in the District of Columbia as a violation of the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in Texas case state that this version of the FDA’s rule is no improvement and urge the court to strike down both the rule and the Tobacco Control Act’s graphic-warnings requirement as violations of the First Amendment.
The companies allege that FDA’s required warnings force plaintiffs to become a “mouthpiece for the government’s anti-smoking advocacy” and are “precisely the type of compelled speech that the First Amendment prohibits.”
The new rule includes 11 graphic images paired with textual warnings. Among other smoking-related afflictions, the images depict a person with neck cancer, ill children and bloody urine
Also on May 6, the plaintiffs and the government in the Texas case jointly proposed to delay the implementation date for the graphic warnings for four months, from June 18, 2021, to Oct. 16, 2021.
Public health advocates expressed outrage at the legal challenge. “It is truly shameless for tobacco companies to file these lawsuits at a time when there is clear evidence that smoking can increase risk of severe complications and even death from Covid-19,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
“We urge the Administration to vigorously defend these warnings in court and urge the court to reject the proposed four-month delay.”
May 8, 2020
Boka Opens Auction Floor in Karoi

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Boka Tobacco Floors (BTF) has opened a tobacco sales floor in Karoi, Mashonaland West Province. This sales floor will help reduce the number of farmers traveling to Harare to sell their tobacco, ultimately helping prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The Boka selling floor will serve farmers in Hurungwe District, including Tengwe, Kazangarare, communities around Karoi, Nyama resettlement, Nyamakate and Magunje as well as areas around Chinhoyi.
The auction space is currently a rented building, but BTF is constructing a 12,000-square-meter facility that would be ready for the 2021 selling season.
Measures compliant with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) have been put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
May 7, 2020