Namibia: Cigarette smuggling ring cracked

A chance discovery of hundreds of boxes of cigarettes, hidden behind bags of charcoal, has tipped off Namibian Police and customs officers and their South African counterparts to a massive international smuggling syndicate that appears to stretch from Zimbabwe via Namibia to South Africa.

A vigilant South African customs official at Vioolsdrift discovered several hundred cartons of Peter Stuyvesant and Pacific Blue cigarettes hidden under a single row of charcoal during a routine inspection of a Namibian truck headed for Cape Town.

Acting on the information, local customs officers and NamPol's Commercial Branch on Thursday morning raided a warehouse at in Windhoek's Southern Industrial Area.

Customs officers and Police seized several dozens more cartons of cigarettes, which originated from the same batch as those seized at Vioolsdrift.

The cigarettes were in their original factory packaging and are believed to have originated in Zimbabwe, where British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns the Peter Stuyvesant and Pacific Blue brands, owns a factory outside Harare.

The Police and customs officers appear to have been led to the Bessemer Street warehouse by main suspect Ian Attree.

Attree was arrested in Windhoek and made a brief appearance in the Katutura Magistrate's Court, where he was charged with three counts of fraud.

Police sources said it appeared that the cigarettes first seized at Vioolsdrift, worth an estimated N$7 million on the South African black market, were of the same origin as those stolen about a month ago from the harbour in Walvis Bay.

Smugglers pocket the "sin taxes" levied on cigarettes, which amount to more than three-quarters of the price of a packet of cigarettes.

The smuggling of cigarettes is one of the most lucrative forms of organised crime as cigarettes are "a legalised drug, freely available everywhere", as a senior South African investigator put it.

"What we got here is the tail of the lizard, and who knows how big or where the head is," this officer said.

"All we know that this is big business - worth hundreds of millions of rands."
 

Source: AllAfrica, 04 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/654b39

Wokingham: Pubs are not going up in smoke after ban was enforced.

Pubs in Wokingham say they have seen very little change in trade a year after smoking was banned from public spaces.

Some publicans say they have even seen an increase in people going to the pubs to eat.

A number of pubs in the town spent thousands on providing outdoor smoking areas for customers and it appears to have paid dividends.

It was thought at the time of the ban pubs may struggle to attract punters.However, it appears this is not the case in Wokingham.

Jane Flatters, landlady at The Crispin in Denmark Street, said: “I don’t think the ban has affected us at all. We have actually seen a rise in profits over the last year. I think we are up 17 and a half per cent since last year."

Andy Rogers, landlord at The Redan in Peach Street, said: “We haven’t seen a drop in trade since the smoking ban came in. In fact, we have actually seen an increase in food trade."

Debbie McAllister, landlady at The Molly Millar in Station Road, added: “The only thing we’ve noticed here is a drop in the amount of money we make on the fruit machines."

“People used to sit there chain smoking and playing the games, so takings from them are down."

“But generally, there isn’t much difference. Food trade is up and I’ve had a lot of smokers say they prefer it because the pub smells nicer.”

Source: getwokingham, 05 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/55uezu

Smoking remains major danger to children

Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey hospital, says in general children are growing up in a safer environment than 20 years ago, but the one area the consultant paediatrician has not seen improvement in is exposure to cigarette smoke.

As a way of addressing the issue, the hospital has now become part of the SmokeFree Kids campaign, the latest arm of SmokeFree Liverpool’s battle against cigarette exposure.

He said: “Parents will protect their children from anything, yet it is different for smoking for some reason."

“We know it affects children coming into the hospital. It makes it more likely that children will come here unwell with conditions like asthma, chest infections and bronchitis. Many would not have these problems if their parents had not smoked around them.

“Generally the health of children has improved. The immunisations that we have brought in for example: there is a lot less meningitis, less children come in with pneumonia, and less with severe injuries from accidents as well, children grow up in a much safer environment."

“But the one thing that really has not moved on is the exposure to cigarette smoke.”

Source: Liverpool Daily Post, 06 August 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5p4k5b

USA: Reynolds American spent $615,715 lobbying in the second quater

According to a recent disclosure report, cigarette company Reynolds American Inc. spent $615,715 in the second quarter to lobby on anti-smoking programs and other issues.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company also lobbied the federal government on other tobacco-related legislation that involves the labelling and mailing of cigarettes.

Reynolds is the nation's second-largest tobacco maker behind Altria Group-owned Philip Morris USA. Reynolds makes the Camel, Kool and Pall Mall brands, while Philip Morris makes Marlboros and others.

In the April-June period, Reynolds lobbied Congress, the Executive Office of the President and the Department of Agriculture, according to the report filed July 14 with the House clerk's office.
 

Source: The Associated Press, 06 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/69nhd2

Germany mulls way forward for smoking ban after court ruling

Following the recent ruling by the German Constitutional Court to partially overturn bans in several German states politicians are now calling for a comprehensive, nationwide law against smoking.

After years of dragging its feet on implementing a smoking ban, Germany went smokefree in bars and restaurants this year in a move that has both raised hackles and won praise. 

Renate Kuenast, the parliamentary co-leader of the opposition Green Party, criticised the federal government in comments on the Web site of German newsmagazine Der Spiegel on Sunday.

"It was an act of cowardice to leave protection of non-smokers up to the states," Kuenast said.

That's a sentiment that many Germans are echoing. In a survey by the Emnid Institute that was published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, some 81 percent of the respondents said they were in favour of the federal government setting rules on smoking in bars and restaurants instead of ceding responsibility to the states.

Kuenast said that the Green Party would seek a nationwide ban on the basis of worker safety, which is regulated by the federal government.

As the law stands, each state has been able to devise its own regulations against smoking. In Bavaria, that means smokers get a reprieve during the state's annual Oktoberfest, when the beer tents synonymous with the festival become smoking zones.

Roland Koch (CDU), premier of the German state of Hesse, promised to put that issue on the agenda of the next meeting of state premiers in Dresden in October.

Kock said, "It is sensible for the states to reach as much of an amicable consensus the protection of non-smokers and prevent a patchwork of regulations across the country. We should also agree not to turn this into a political debate."

Marlies Volkmer, the Social Democratic spokeswoman for the German parliament's committee for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, said, "The state parliaments are now called upon to use their discretion in order to impose a general smoking ban. Only a consistent approach will truly serve health protection measures and would be completely clear for both pub owners and guests. We must get rid of Germany's patchwork of different rules regarding smoking."

Source: Deutche Welle 07 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5ozku5