Farmers in the state of Karnataka, India, are appealing to the Tobacco Board of India to withdraw what they see as the excessive penalties levied on unlicensed flue-cured tobacco growers, according to a story in the most recent issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter. They want the unlicensed growers to be able to produce […]
New European Commission proposals, if adopted, would ban every e-cigarette on the EU market and would severely limit or make unviable the development of new products, according to Clive Bates, the director of Counterfactual, a public interest consulting and advocacy group. “Late last week the European Commission circulated a confidential new proposal for regulating e-cigarettes,” […]
Tobacco growers in the Indian state of Karnataka sold more than 44.74 million kg of flue-cured at an average price of INR140.46 during the first 62 days of the 2013–2014 selling season, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter quoting figures from the Tobacco Board of India. Average […]
Many shisha cafés in Abu Dhabi face closure because of anti-smoking regulations due to come into force at the end of January, according to a story in The National. The new regulations will come in backed by massive penalties for those who don’t conform, which for most will mean moving their premises. About 90 percent of […]
The U.K. e-cigarette company Vapourlites has launched what it claims is the world’s smallest e-cigarette. The company is marketing the new product as a “try it” gadget that is a perfect check-out buy for people planning to cut down on or quit traditional-cigarette smoking at Christmas or the New Year. A “soft feel,” 7 cm […]
Imperial Tobacco employees in the FYR of Macedonia recently gave up their weekend to take part in a community volunteering event in Skopje aimed at improving the quality of life for some of the city’s most vulnerable young adults. The event formed part of a joint project with the Altadis Foundation and a local charity. […]
The French e-cigarette company Nhoss expects to more than double its turnover next year to over €20 million. In a press note issued yesterday, the company’s rise was described as “extraordinary.” Started in 2010, the company, which produces its own e-liquid, had a turnover of €150,000 during 2011; a figure that will have risen to […]
The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is expected to try to ease Bulgaria’s tobacco smoking ban in enclosed public places in time for New Year celebrations, according to a Novinite story quoting the Bulgarian Trud (labor) daily. Amendments to the country’s Health Act are due to be voted on in parliament in December, just before the […]
British American Tobacco is offering a version of one of its leading brands of cigarettes that provides details of the geographical source and harvest year of the leaf tobacco used in its manufacture, according to a This is Money story. The story doesn’t mention the brand but a picture suggests that it is Dunhill. Naming […]
Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of the U.S. city of Chicago, is trying to raise awareness about the danger of smoking menthol-flavored tobacco by using a new publicity campaign. According to a story by Lewis Lazare for The Business Journals, the campaign has been put together by the Chicago Department of Public Health in conjunction with […]
A new consumer advocacy group will take up the cause of smokers’ rights in Asia. Factasia.org (www.factasia.org) is an independent, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization formed to represent the rights of smokers at government level protect the interests of adults who choose to smoke or consume tobacco provide independent and unbiased data on the issues surrounding smoking […]
Australia’s standardized tobacco-packaging rules are a sticking point in talks over a new free trade agreement with the U.S. and other Pacific nations, according to a story by Chris Pash for Business Insider. An intellectual-property business delegation representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was in Australia last week, is said to view the removal, […]
If the price of cigarettes in South Korea were to be increased to almost four times the current level, even financially well-off smokers might be prompted to quit, according to a story in The Korea Times. According to a survey of 800 smokers carried out by the Korea Health and Social Affairs organization, a price […]
The American Legacy Foundation has suffered a “diversion” of funds estimated at $3.4 million, according to a story in The Washington Post, which has turned the spotlight on some of the U.S.’s nonprofit organizations. Legacy was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1999 out of the funds raised by the Master Settlement Agreement that resolved […]
London-listed Imperial Tobacco shares fell by 63p, or 2.6 percent, to £23.67, and British American Tobacco shares dropped by 79p, or 2.4 percent, to £32.81 after PMI said it planned to enter the e-cigarette market in the second half of next year and would bring forward the launch of another reduced-risk alternative to traditional cigarettes […]
As well as raising health concerns in China, tobacco consumption has negative implications for the country’s sustainable development, according to a Global Times story quoting a Tsinghua University researcher. Hu Angang, director of the university’s Research Center for Contemporary China, was speaking at a three-day seminar on tobacco control that ended yesterday in Beijing. Hu […]
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) has commended the government of Quebec for contributing $4 million to the city of Montreal to fight the contraband tobacco trade. At the same time it has contrasted Quebec’s action to the apparent lack of action by the government of Ontario. “Illegal cigarettes are a serious problem in […]
Questions have been raised about what a proposed damage suit filed by Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) against cigarette companies would accomplish, according to a story in The Korea Times. The state-run NHIS has claimed since August that tobacco manufacturers operating in Korea are responsible for the medical costs of patients suffering from smoking-related […]
The Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration has defended an upcoming ban on tobacco smoking in national parks by saying that subjecting people to second-hand smoke was a violation of their basic human rights, according to a story in the Taipei Times. The administration was responding to a pro-smoking group’s accusation that […]
Essentra Scientific Services (ESS) has published its latest research into the quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in cigarettes. In the study, which was conducted by Dr. William Guthery and Dr. Mike Taylor, the yields of 16 PAHs cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as potentially harmful compounds were tested […]
Philip Morris International is accelerating its launch plans for reduced-risk products, which, it believes, represent its greatest growth opportunity. It intends to start what it describes as several commercial pilot city tests during the second half of next year; while the first national launch of its Platform 1 product is now scheduled for 2015, well […]
China’s cigarette sales volume during the first nine months of this year, at 1,975 billion, was increased by about 1.1 percent on that of the first nine months of 2012, 1,954 billion, according to a Tobacco China magazine story. At the same time, key-brand volume was said to have risen by 7 percent to 1,550 […]
Part of the tobacco control community in India is objecting to companies operating within the tobacco industry being required, along with other companies, to invest in CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities, according to a Merinews story. The Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control (TNPFTC) believes that CSR activities legitimize and popularize tobacco companies’ activities […]
Anti-smoking lobbyists in Hong Kong are urging the government to increase its tobacco tax to at least 75 percent immediately and to 100 percent by the next fiscal year, according to a story by Qi Luo for the Hong Kong Standard. The Council on Smoking and Health said the current tobacco tax accounted for between […]
James Reilly wants to ban smoking on beaches, in cars with young people and in public parks, according to a story by Sarah Bardon for the Irish Daily Mirror. The new bans would be part of Reilly’s war on the tobacco industry and smoking, which he claims is not a war on smokers. He wants […]
Blending nature and technology
With Ploom Tech, Japan Tobacco ups the ante in heated-tobacco products.
