ASH Daily News for 08 October 2007

Cigarettes are microchipped to beat fraud

Under a new scheme launched last week to combat tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting, every cigarette packet sold in Britain will now contain a microchip.

Since October 1, radio frequency (RFID) tags have been embedded in each packet of cigarettes produced for sale in Britain. The technology will allow HM Revenue & Customs officials to use hand held electronic devices to determine whether an individual cigarette packet is bootleg or genuine and whether or not duty has been paid on it.

“The scheme provides an instant authentication method,” said a spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), which is helping to direct the project with the Government. He added that it would end the existing expensive and lengthy process of sending suspect cigarette packs to a laboratory in order to determine their authenticity.

The TMA said that in 2006, almost two billion counterfeit cigarettes were consumed in the UK, nearly 3 per cent of the 67.5 billion total. The illegal trade in cigarettes is blamed for £3.5 billion in lost British tax revenues per year. 

The TMA said that counterfeiters, many of whom are based in China, have started to use increasingly sophisticated methods both to dodge customs agents and also to market their products. For example, health warnings on counterfeit packs are deliberately printed in Polish and other Eastern European languages to fool UK buyers into thinking that they are buying smuggled tobacco, rather than counterfeit goods.

Most of the cost of the anti counterfeiting scheme is being met by Britain’s four main cigarette manufacturers: British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco, and Gallaher.

The estimated cost of implementing the scheme is expected initially to be as high as 10p a packet, although it will fall rapidly as the technology enters mass production.

The Government agreed to back the scheme this year.

Customs officers will be unable to start to use the technology until some time next year, when old stocks of cigarettes without the RFID technology have passed through the supply chain.

Source: The Times, 08 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yptz4k

Wanderers fans face ban for smoking at the Reebok

As part of a crackdown on lawbreakers,Wanderers fans who smoke at the Reebok [football] Stadium could be banned.

Bolton Council enforcement officers have caught supporters smoking in the toilets and on stairwells.

Inspectors visited the Reebok on September 1 during the Everton game and handed out 12 warning notices to fans.

Now they are linking up with club officials to target fans smoking illegally at the ground.

As part of the crackdown, fans caught flouting the law will be banned and have season tickets revoked without a refund. Non season ticket holders could also be banned.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "The Reebok Stadium is classed as an enclosed public space and the law is quite clear that smoking is prohibited at such venues."

"The club is working closely with Bolton Council to get the message across to fans, but there remains a minority who are not complying with the legislation."

"When the law came into force in July, we adopted a softly, softly approach but now there should be no excuse for people ignoring the law."

"If we see offenders flouting the ban, they will receive a fixed-penalty fine."

"The first person to be taken to court in Bolton was ordered to pay more than £300 this week, which shows there is nothing to be gained from this behaviour."

Bolton Council will carry out further, unannounced, spot checks from October 28th onwards and will hand out £50 fixed-penalty notices to anyone caught smoking.

Wanderers chiefs have agreed to eject any fan from the stadium if they break the law and say repeat offenders will be banned or have their season tickets cancelled.

Jan Kozlowski, facilities director for the club, said: "We're getting a lot of complaints and, following Bolton Council's visit, we have been told they will be issuing fixed penalties."

"We are working very closely with the council and will be taking a much tougher line because some people have been blatantly ignoring the ban.

"The legislation is there to protect people from secondhand smoke and smokers should respect the law."

Notices have already been put up around the stadium and messages placed on video screens at the Reebok Stadium.

A statement from Mr Kozlowski was included in the programme for the UEFA Cup match on Thursday and will be used in future editions of the programme.

Wanderers supporters have backed the club's move. Christine Isherwood, secretary of the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association, said: "It is illegal to smoke in the stadium and the Wanderers had to do something and take some sort of stance, but banning people from games and removing people's season tickets must be a last resort."

Source: The Bolton News, 06 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xfhjb

Ireland: Ban on shop tobacco displays proposed

New legislation which will come into force shortly will bar retailers from displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products in stores.  

A ban on all in store advertising of tobacco products has been proposed after the Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney announced plans to extend the Public Health Tobacco Acts 2002 and 2004.

Tighter controls on the location and operation of cigarette machines and the introduction of a retail register are also due under the new legislation.

A period of consultation on the timescale for introducing the new measures is to take place.

Professor Luke Clancy, Chairman of the anti smoking group, ASH, warned this should not be an excuse for failing to implement the provisions.

"It is imperative that this legislation is implemented as a matter of urgency. This legislation was published in 2002 and 2004 and has been delayed for different reasons.

"There are no further barriers to implementation so it is difficult to understand why we might have further delays at this point by way of consultation," Professor  Clancy said.

The decision to add further provisions to the act is the latest in a line of regulations that have come into force aimed at reducing the number of smokers in Ireland.

A ban on the sale of 10 packs of cigarettes came into force at the end of May in an attempt to stop young children from experimenting with tobacco. Moreover, Ireland's 2004 workplace smoking ban has influenced the creation of similar laws in other countries.

According to the Office of Tobacco Control, the level of compliance with the ban stood at 95 per cent last year, with 2 per cent of restaurants and 5 per cent of hotels non compliant with the ban.

It's estimated that just under 25 per cent of Irish people smoke, although that figure is believed to have fallen since the introduction of the smoking ban.

A recent Cancer Research survey found that 22 per cent of survey respondents said they had reduced the amount they smoked at home since the legislation was brought in. Six per cent reported smoking more, and 71 per cent said their behaviour had not changed.

Source: The Irish Times, 05ctober 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2vaoeg

Smoking ban wins global support

According to a recent study conducted by research firm Synovate, 80 per cent of respondents in 15 countries across the globe are in favour of smoking bans.

The study also shows that 60 per cent of respondents who say they are smokers support bans in public places such as restaurants, bars and buildings, compared to nearly 90 per cent of non-smokers.

The study was conducted as smoking bans continue to make headlines in Germany, Australia, the UK and the UAE.

Synovate's smoking ban study polled over 8,500 respondents in Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the UK.

Just under half of the people globally and 66 per cent of the UAE respondents supportive of smoking bans are in favour of them because they believe they have a positive influence upon public health.

Source: Trade Arabia, 08 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2tfaho