Tag: Greece

  • Greece to Boost Penalties for Youth Vape Sales

    Greece to Boost Penalties for Youth Vape Sales

    Credit: Lefteris Papaulakis

    Greece is set to introduce a new bill in its Parliament that would impose stricter penalties for businesses supplying alcohol, electronic cigarettes, and vaping devices to minors in the government’s efforts to revamp alcohol laws in the country.

    This is a joint decision made by the ministries of Citizen Protection, Justice, and Health, and it comes after repeated incidents of selling alcohol to under-aged individuals.

    According to sources, violators who sell these harmful products to minors could be punished with imprisonment, financial fines, and other administrative penalties, including the immediate closure of the business involved, media reports.

    Ministerial officials report that past oversights have also been identified regarding the access minors have to these harmful products. Specifically, under the previous government, the number of police officers assigned to enforce the anti-smoking law, for example, had been drastically reduced, penalties had been minimized, and there was also a decision allowing for the use of alcohol by minors at private events.

    The Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis commented on the new law, “Everything is now becoming stricter for the protection of minors, with increased enforcement.”

  • BAT Announces Investment in Greece

    BAT Announces Investment in Greece

    Photo: BAT

    British American Tobacco (BAT) will invest €30 million ($35.72 million) and create 200 new jobs in Greece, reports The National Herald, citing a company announcement. The investment will reportedly focus on BAT’s Glo Hyper tobacco-heating product.

    BAT has paid €3.2 billion in taxes and social insurance contributions in recent years, supporting around 30,000 workers in its retail and distribution network and 10,000 workers in tobacco production. 

    BAT invests heavily in research and the development of new alternative smoking products. Globally, more than 1,500 scientists and specialists work at its R&D centers. 

    Originally launched in Japan, Glo Hyper came to Greece in 2018.  

  • Where smoking isn’t an issue

    Where smoking isn’t an issue

    For the past forty years, no resident in the village of Skotino in the Hersonissos municipality of Heraklion, Crete, has taken a puff on a cigarette, according to a story by Tasos Kokkinidis for The Greek Reporter.

    Skotino is described as picturesque and a paradise for non-smokers in a country where smoking is prevalent.

    Reportedly, none of the village’s approximately 70 residents remembers how or why Skotino became tobacco-smoking free, but somehow its smoke-free status became part of an unwritten law unique to Greece.

    It is known, however, that the villagers’ decision to embrace a healthier way of life wasn’t based on an anti-smoking campaign imposed from outside or on any legal prohibition.

    “There has been no smoking in this village since the 1970s,” Zaharias Moudatsakis – presumably a resident – reportedly told the local news site Cretapost. “This has passed on to our children, with the result that even the younger generation does not have this bad habit.”

    The residents of Skotino are proud of their successful resistance to smoking but they are perplexed as to why there aren’t many more people who follow their lead.

    “I am very curious to know why people smoke,” said local resident Vasilis Zervakis. “We know how harmful is smoking … Here in Skotino, we prefer to drink a raki or a wine rather than light up a cigarette.”

    Cigarettes are not sold in the village, and even most visitors respect Skotino’s unwritten law.

  • Lazy regulation

    Lazy regulation

    At least one manufacturer of cigarette alternatives has criticized the Greek Government for lumping heat-not-burn products and electronic cigarettes with combustible cigarettes when considering legislation, according to a story at ekathimerini.com.

    An urgent bill debated in Parliament yesterday provides for the alternative products to be treated in the same way as conventional tobacco products are treated.

    The story said that, under the provisions of the bill, the alternatives would have to carry warnings saying that they damage health, but it wasn’t clear from the report whether those warnings would mirror those carried by combustible products.

    In a statement, the Philip Morris International subsidiary Papastratos accused the Health Ministry of avoiding launching a dialogue and examining the scientific data relating to alternative products.

    It said that because the bill assumed cigarette alternatives to be equal to cigarettes [in respect of risk], eventually, smokers would choose the most damaging option – continuing to smoke.

  • Workers in share-out

    Workers in share-out

    Papastratos said yesterday that it would apportion among its workers €1 million in shares in its parent company Philip Morris International, according to a story by Nick Kampouris for The Greek Reporter.

    In a statement, Papastratos said it was rewarding its workers for their exceptional performance last year, which had resulted in what was reported as ‘large profits’.

    Papastratos noted also that its workers had helped to transform its manufacturing unit into an exclusive production center for IQOS products.

    All workers, regardless of their positions, wages or lengths of service, will receive shares worth more than €1,000. Board members will abstain from the share-out, offering their own entitlements to company workers.

    Papastratos, which was named Greece’s top employer for 2017, was said by Kampouris to be well-known in Greece for its exceptional relationship with its workers, who often received extra bonuses, benefits and other perks.

  • Emissions reassessed

    Emissions reassessed

    A study has found that the levels of three compounds in e-liquid emissions were hugely lower than those reported in a previous study, according to a ScienceDirect.com story relayed by the TMA.
    The replication study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Konstantinos E. Farsalinos at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center and the University of Patras in Greece, is scheduled to be published in the May edition of the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.
    It tested three e-liquids from a previous study (in standard and sweetened versions) using the same device and puffing patterns, and found a 589-fold decrease in the levels of formaldehyde (8.3–62 μg/g), acetaldehyde (12.1–26.0 μg/g) and acrolein (5.4–19.4 μg/g) from those reported as part of the earlier study.
    The earlier study had identified aldehyde emissions up to 10,000-times higher in flavored e-liquids than in unflavored e-liquids.
    But the latest study found that aldehyde emissions from all flavored e-liquids were 79.0–99.8 percent lower than those associated with smoking.
    And they were lower than commonly measured indoor levels and occupational and indoor safety limits.
    The researchers said the devices tested emitted very low levels of aldehydes, and that while some flavorings might contribute to aldehyde emissions, the absolute levels were minimal.

  • Vapor lumped with smoke

    Vapor lumped with smoke

    Greece’s Council of State has ruled that vaping and electronic cigarettes are covered by the laws that restrict smoking and traditional cigarettes.
    The ruling by the country’s Supreme Administrative Court means that e-cigarettes cannot be used in public places or on public transport, and cannot be promoted in advertisements.
    In reaching its decision, the Court rejected a petition by the Association of Greek E-cigarette Businesses.
    But the court added that the Association, which claimed it had been financially harmed by the law, imposed in 2017, may file a lawsuit for compensation.

  • Turning the HEETS up

    Turning the HEETS up

     
    Philip Morris International said yesterday that it had stopped cigarette production at the Aspropyrgos factory of its Greek affiliate, Papastratos, which was now exclusively producing HEETS, the tobacco units used with its heated-tobacco product, IQOS.
    ‘This first full conversion of a cigarette factory is a landmark step in our vision of a smoke-free future where people who smoke switch from the most harmful form of nicotine consumption – cigarettes – to scientifically substantiated smoke-free alternatives,’ the company said in a note posted on its website.
    ‘The €300 million investment included the construction of three new buildings and the replacement of cigarette production lines with high-tech facilities capable of producing 10,000 smoke-free tobacco units per minute.
    ‘The conversion of the factory started in August 2017. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2018 and will create 400 new jobs.’
    “This is a historic day for our company,” said André Calantzopoulos, PMI’s CEO. “Papastratos is the first of our factories to end cigarette production and fully shift to manufacturing our smoke-free alternatives.
    “We will continue to convert existing sites and invest in new facilities to answer global adult smoker demand for better alternatives to cigarettes.
    “We made a commitment to provide all people who would otherwise continue smoking with potentially less harmful products. The momentum around this revolutionary change for the benefit of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers, public health and society at large is growing, and we will continue working towards a smoke-free future.”
    Along with PMI’s plant near Bologna, Italy, Papastratos is its second facility fully dedicated to manufacturing smoke-free products. PMI has announced plans also to transform, either fully or partially, its cigarette factories in Korea, Romania and Russia.
    ‘Since 2008, we have invested more than US$4.5 billion in scientific research, product and commercial development, and production capacity related to IQOS and other smoke-free products,’ the note said. ‘In 2017, over 70 percent of our global R&D expenditure and over 30 percent of our global commercial expenditure was allocated to smoke-free products.
    ‘We estimate that at the end of January 2018, nearly five million adult consumers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to IQOS. Our ambition is that all those who would otherwise continue smoking abandon cigarettes and switch completely to scientifically substantiated smoke-free products as soon as possible. Appropriate regulatory policies and decisions can substantially accelerate the speed and magnitude of this historic change.’

  • SEKAP fine suspended

    SEKAP fine suspended

    The First Instance Administrative Court of Komotini, Greece, has suspended a €44 million (US$54.2 million) fine imposed on SEKAP SA for alleged customs violations dating from 2008, prior to its acquisition by the Russian-Greek investor Ivan Savvidis, according to a Greek Reporter story relayed by the TMA.
    The court accepted the company’s request and suspended the execution of the notice of the Xanthi customs office for the payment of a fine of €38 million (US$46.8 million), which had increased to €44 million with the accumulated penalties for being in arrears since 2009.
    Employees of the tobacco company supported the suspension application filed by Savvidis’ lawyer Alexandros Lykourezos, arguing that the company would be forced to go bankrupt if the fine were not overturned.

  • Illegal trade 'prevalent'

    Illegal trade 'prevalent'

    About 4.6 billion contraband cigarettes are sold in Greece every year, ‘costing the state €600 million (US$741 million) in lost taxes,’ according to a story in the Greek Reporter quoting a conference report.
    The conference was said to have involved Transparency International, the General Secretariat on Corruption, Europol, the Economic Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police (SDOE) and other organizations. There was no mention of when or where the conference took place.
    According to estimated figures presented at the conference; for every container of smuggled cigarettes, about €2 million are ‘lost from taxes and duties’.
    Taken together, all EU member states are estimated to ‘lose a total €11 billion every year’ to the illegal trade in tobacco.
    In crisis-stricken Greece, the Greek Reporter piece said, contraband cigarettes were particularly prevalent.
    It had been stressed during the conference that higher taxes and shrinking incomes had made Greece a lucrative field for international criminal rackets and Greek smugglers.
    According to Greek law enforcement authorities, one in five cigarette packs on the Greek market are illicit. And Greek Customs said that about 142 million smuggled packs of cigarettes were seized in 2017.