Tag: Fiji

  • Fiji Tobacco Farming Increasing

    Fiji Tobacco Farming Increasing

    Mangrove plantation in Fiji
    Image: Chelsea | Adobe Stock

    Tobacco farming in Fiji is increasing, according to FBC News.

    With tobacco cultivation taking only three months in Fiji, many farmers are turning to the crop as an easier, faster agricultural endeavor. BAT offers support for tobacco farming in the area as well.

    “Before, it’s really doing cash crop from the farm and then load it and take it to the market and sell, but this one, it’s different; the market is there,” said one farmer.

    Tobacco farming is significantly easier than traditional sugar cane farming, according to another farmer. “Sugar cane farming is very hard. This one [tobacco] is only 3 [months to] 4 months, 4 months finished, which is a good, big amount.”

    BAT offers access to quality seeds and modern farming techniques as well as training programs and knowledge-sharing initiatives. BAT employs more than 300 farmers across Fiji.

  • BAT Opens Threshing Plant in Fiji

    BAT Opens Threshing Plant in Fiji

    Photo: HeikoBrown from Pixabay

    British American Tobacco (BAT) has opened a $10-million green leaf threshing factory in Votualevu, Fiji.

    Speaking at the inauguration, Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said cooperation from all stakeholders and sectors of the economy will ensure there are job sustainability and creation in the country.

    The new factory, he added, will not only provide high-quality products to consumers but also create more employment opportunities.

    BAT’s local general manager, Jeremy Hackett, said the new factory represents the culmination of more than two years of planning and hard work.

    “Fiji is one of the very few countries where BAT undertakes tobacco farming to support the growth of local agriculture, providing employment to approximately 1,100 seasonal workers and hundreds of local farmers,” he said.
     

  • Cigarette traders jailed

    Cigarette traders jailed

    Three people in Fiji have been jailed for failing to pay fines imposed on them for selling loose cigarettes, according to a story in The Fiji Sun Online.

    Altogether, since July last year, 400 people are said to have been booked and issued with spot fines for failing to comply with tobacco control regulations.

    The story said that the ‘strong and effective’ measures implemented by the government had led to a major decline in smoking among teenagers, as measured by the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS).

    The current smoking prevalence rate among 13-15-year-olds in Fiji was said to be 5.1 percent: 6.8 percent in the case of males and 3.4 percent in the case of females.

    The GYTS report of 1995 put the smoking rate among this age group at 10.4 percent.

    Meanwhile, the story reported that the Ministry of Health and Medical Services had declared eight villages, 39 village community halls, a number of workplaces and all major markets tobacco free.

    The ministry is now reviewing current tobacco legislation with an eye to making further amendments in relation to outdoor smoking restrictions and the illegal trade in tobacco products.

  • New player in Fiji

    New player in Fiji

    Wang Zhang Tobacco Trade (Fiji) PTE Limited, has entered the Fijian market, according to a story by The Fiji Sun Online.

    ‘The company began its operation with an investment of $7.5 million,’ reported the Sun Online. ‘Its prime business at the moment is the wholesaling of the UK brand tobacco, Ben Townsend out of Nadi.’

    Ben Townsend, which is being imported into Fiji from Indonesia, was described as a UK brand produced under the authority of UK Ben Kang Lu Tobacco Co Limited.

    Wang Zhang manager Wendy Lin said her company had set up its headquarters in Nadi but expected to extend its territory in coming months.

    “We chose Fiji because it is the center of the South Pacific and it is easy for us to develop our business and expand to other South Pacific countries,” she said.

    Lin said that Fiji did not have many cigarette companies, so Wang Zhang intended to provide increased competition.

    British American Tobacco general manager Ritesh Dass said he was aware of the new player in the Fijian market. “It is a free market and we welcome competition in the market,” he said.

  • Fiji running out of places for smokers to smoke

    Smoking in Fiji restaurants will be illegal as of July 1st, and a $1,000 fine will be carried if any one business breaches the new law, which was implemented under the Tobacco Control Regulation of 2012. Graphical warnings on cigarette packets will also be printed as of July, according to a story by the Fiji Broadcasting Company.

    British American Tobacco corporate manager Rajeshwar Singh says the law has serious implications on their business.

    “It has implications on our business because there is no exemption we have to comply, and in order to comply we need to change the packaging label of the product, and as a result of that, there is cost associated to that.”

    Also under the Tobacco Control Regulations 2012 – any workplace where the public has access also becomes a no-smoking area. This includes stairways, passageways, entrances and the foyer.

    Bus stations, Internet shops and even water transports – meaning boats also are smoke-free zones starting in July.