Tag: United Kingdom

  • Heated or burnt?

    heat photo
    Photo by srqpix

    British American Tobacco has proposed a five-step approach to establishing whether tobacco is being combusted or heated in devices described as ‘tobacco-heating products’ (THPs).

    THPs are designed to heat rather than burn tobacco; so whereas the burning zone in a cigarette can reach temperatures of between 600 and 950 degrees C, in THPs the temperature is said to be hundreds of degrees lower. The THP temperature is high enough to release nicotine and flavorings but not so high as to result in the decomposition of the tobacco and the creation of high temperature smoke toxicants thought to be involved in the development of the serious diseases associated with smoking, BAT said in a press note issued to coincide with a presentation the company is making today at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Florence, Italy.

    ‘These products therefore produce fewer toxicants and have the potential to be significantly reduced risk compared to conventional cigarettes,’ BAT said.

    ‘Although various THPs are commercially available, they differ in the way they heat tobacco and in their temperature characteristics. Currently, there is no standard way of assessing whether a product is mainly heating rather than burning tobacco. So scientists at British American Tobacco have developed a five-step approach to comprehensively assess this aspect of a THP.’

    Dr Chuan Liu, head of THP science at BAT, was quoted as saying that to ensure a THP product was producing an aerosol by heating and not burning tobacco, it was important to characterise its thermos-physical performance as fully as possible. “Our five-step approach provides a comprehensive yet practical assessment irrespective of the heating mechanism in the device.”

    The method was given as:

    Step 1: Measure changes in the physical and chemical properties of the tobacco (the type normally used in the device) as it is heated to THP operating temperatures.

    Step 2: Using a thermocouple inserted into the tobacco, measure the maximum temperature the tobacco is heated to, and how long it is heated for when the THP is used.

    Step 3: Analyse the levels of the following combustion products: CO, CO2, NO and NOx produced by the device when heating tobacco. (These are key markers for tobacco that is heated to high temperatures or burnt).

    Step 4: Quantify emissions of a range of other known cigarette smoke toxicants potentially produced by the device.

    Step 5: Examine the physical integrity of the tobacco rod after it has been heated in the device, to assess the extent of any degradation from heating to high temperatures or burning.

  • Ninety percent tax and rising

    90 photo
    Photo by Steve Bowbrick

    Giles Roca, director general of the UK’s Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (UKTMA), has expressed disappointment that yesterday’s budget raised tobacco taxes.

    “We are disappointed that the government has once again raised taxation on tobacco when tax on some of the lowest priced cigarettes already accounts for 90 percent of the price,” he said.

    “Taxation on tobacco in the UK is already the highest in the EU meaning that prices in the UK are up to four times higher than in other European countries.’

    The UK pre-budget retail price of a typical pack of 20 cigarettes was given by the UKTMA as £9.91, which compares with the equivalent of £3.93 in Spain and £2.81 in Poland.

    Taxation on tobacco was said to have increased by more than 50 percent during the past five years.

    Yesterday’s increase would simply encourage people to buy from the black market and take business away from the legitimate trade, Roca said.

    Such black-market activity added up to about £2.4 billion in lost taxes in the past year alone.

    The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, yesterday announced the imposition of a minimum excise tax on cigarettes, whereas previously the UK had been one of several EU states that had not applied some form of minimum tax. “Today’s announcement to introduce minimum excise taxation at a rate of £268.63 per 1,000 cigarettes from 20 May 2017 will increase the total amount of taxation paid on lower priced cigarettes,” said Roca. “We will wait and see how this impacts the tobacco market as a whole.”

    The TMA describes itself as the trade association for tobacco companies that operate in the UK: British American Tobacco, Gallaher (a member of the JTI group of companies), and Imperial Tobacco.

  • E-cig tax plea in UK

    tax photo
    Photo by erikaow

    With National No Smoking Day coinciding with Budget day in the UK, the Chancellor is being urged to recognise the role of vaping in ‘improving public health and saving billions of pounds for the NHS [National Health Service]’.

    A press note from the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said that it was known that in delivering his budget today, the Chancellor would be looking to impose a rise in tobacco excise.

    But it was vital that he ignored calls from the EU to treat vaping products in the same way. Evidence from other European Countries demonstrated that imposing excise duties on vaping products put at risk a ‘potentially seismic public health opportunity that is already saving the NHS billions’.

    ‘The public have displayed a huge vote of confidence in vaping; figures show that over 2.8 million people have now embraced vaping, the press note said. ‘Public Health England is clear that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking, and this view is now being endorsed by the wider UK public health community. It is self-evident that adopting a harm reduction approach, the promotion of safer alternatives to those who would otherwise smoke, can bring enormous public health benefits.

    ‘Smoking levels are being drastically reduced by the availability of hugely popular vaping alternatives. The NHS values each person who quits smoking as saving £74,000; even simple arithmetic shows that the smokers who have switched to vaping, and no longer smoke, already represent a saving of more than £96bn.

    ‘It would make no sense for the Chancellor to ignore these benefits and elect instead to follow the example of European Commission; the architects of the ill designed vaping regulations who to date have ignored the UK’s harm-reduction approach and are instead seemingly prioritising excise measures on vaping products.’

    Mark Pawsey MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on e-cigarettes, was quoted as saying that the group had taken evidence from many representatives of the public health and research community, as well as from vapers and the vaping industry itself.

    “What is clear is that the key driver in the popularity of e-cigarettes is the desire from smokers to switch to a much less harmful alternative,” he said. “The UK is a leader in harm-reduction policy, and it is important that we continue to be. I am sure the Chancellor will be led by the evidence, and the evidence suggests that punitive taxation on vaping products discourages their uptake. Given the cost savings they potentially represent to the health service; punitive measures would surely be a backward step.”

    Meanwhile, UKVIA’s Charles Hamshaw-Thomas, said that the almost half of Britain’s 2.8m vapers who no longer smoke already represented a saving of £96 billion.

    “With there still being approximately nine million smokers in the UK just imagine the savings if we get more of them to switch,” he said.

    “They say Mr Hammond [the Chancellor] has an eye for detail, so surely he can see how those numbers stack up, particularly while occupying the national platform he has on No Smoking Day.”

  • Fat cat executives slammed

    fat cats photo
    Photo by Big Eyed Sol

    Campaigners have criticised Philip Morris International after it was reported that the tobacco company was supporting an increase in taxes on cigarettes in the UK to encourage smokers to switch to alternative nicotine products.

    “It’s very easy for fat cat executives to call for the tax on cigarettes to be increased,” said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco).

    “The hardest hit will be the less well-off including the low paid and the elderly who have to survive on a state pension.”

    Clark made it clear that Forest supported the development of safer nicotine products including electronic cigarettes because it supported choice.

    “But making smoking even more expensive when we already have punitive levels of taxation discriminates against consumers who choose to smoke,” he said.

    Clark accused Philip Morris of wanting to force smokers to switch to electronic cigarettes and other products.

    “New nicotine products are great because they give smokers a choice,” he said.

    “However, many smokers enjoy smoking and don’t want to switch.

    “Government, the anti-smoking industry and Philip Morris should respect that choice and focus on education not coercion.”

    PMI has put a lot of investment into reduced-risk products, especially its iQOS heated-tobacco device. In September, it inaugurated its first manufacturing facility for the large-scale production of two heated-tobacco alternatives to cigarettes – a facility that was said at the time to represent ‘an anticipated investment of approximately €500 million’.

    Towards the end of last year, PMI’s CEO, André Calantzopoulos, in announcing that iQOS would be launched in the UK, said he would like to work with governments towards the “phase-out” of conventional cigarettes. He was quoted by the BBC as saying that the company knew its products harmed their consumers and that the only correct response was to “to find and commercialise” ones that were less harmful. “That is clearly our objective,” he said.

    But iQOS is proving to be a hard sell in respect of some authorities. Earlier this year a report in Australia said that PMI was unlikely to get permission to sell its iQOS heated tobacco device in that country under current regulations, and the New Zealand’s Ministry of Health was said in report in that country to have declared that a heated-tobacco product launched in New Zealand by PMI was illegal.

    The European Commission has said that it is in favor of a cautious approach to heated-tobacco products because it believes that there is a lack of evidence relating to the short- and long-term health effects of using such devices.

    Christopher Hope, chief political correspondent reported in the Daily Telegraph on Friday that Philip Morris international ‘has for the first time asked to be taxed more by [UK] Chancellor Philip Hammond – to encourage smokers to switch to healthier alternatives’

    The Telegraph story is at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/03/tax-us-worlds-biggest-cigarette-maker-tells-philip-hammond/.

  • UK campaigners condemn ‘sexist’ study on plain packaging

    Campaigners in the U.K. opposed to plain packaging of tobacco have described as “sexist” a study that says young female smokers get less satisfaction and less enjoyment from smoking cigarettes that come in plain, standardized packs.

    Hands Off Our Packs campaigner Angela Harbutt, a smoker, said, “The idea that plain packaging will have a greater impact on young women suggests that women are more easily influenced than men. This is not only an outdated view of women, it’s also incredibly sexist.

    “Women can think for themselves and if they enjoy smoking, as many do, the packaging will make no difference. It may influence which brand they buy, but not their habit.”

    According to researchers at Stirling University, women in the study said they were more embarrassed about smoking from plain packs and felt more negative about smoking from the plain packs, even though they were smoking their regular cigarettes.

    The same women allegedly reported smoking fewer cigarettes, stubbing out cigarettes early, smoking less around others and thinking more about quitting when using the plain packs.

    Harbutt added, “This is perfectly normal behavior but it doesn’t last.”

  • Report dismisses industry claims about plain packaging

    A report commissioned by Cancer Research UK dismisses the tobacco industry’s claims that the U.K. government’s plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes will boost the trade in illegal cigarettes, reports HealthCanal.

    According to the report, which was prepared by Luk Joossens, advisor to the World Bank, the European Commission and World Health Organization on illicit tobacco trade, producers of counterfeit cigarettes find all existing cigarette packaging easy to forge, and that introduction of plain packaging is unlikely to cause more counterfeiters to make more fake packs.

    Noting that producers of counterfeit cigarettes are able to provide “top quality packaging at low prices in a short time,” Joossens said “plain packaging will not make any difference to the counterfeit business.”

    Cancer Research UK’s director of tobacco control Jean King said the tobacco industry “has a track record of facilitating smuggling and often says policies that cut smoking will increase smuggling, even though smuggling has been falling for a decade.”