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ASH Daily News for 10 December 2007

North Korea:  Fake contraband cigarettes produced to earn foreign currency

Sankei Shimbun reported that North Korea has been producing up to 41 billion cigarettes for illicit sale under foreign brands earning up to 700 million US dollars annually.

North Korea has been accused of producing counterfeit greenbacks and narcotics to earn badly needed hard currency. However Sankei said they have shifted to foreign brand cigarettes in recent years as cigarettes are cheaper to make and harder to detect. 

Law enforcement officials said that North Korea has six tobacco factories in Pyongyang and four in Rajin, North Hamgyeong province, on the border with China, that produce the cigarettes.

Japanese law enforcement authorities presume North Korea has already established a marketing network for Marlboro, Mild Seven and other foreign brands in Japan and Taiwan. They note that Japan has been closely monitoring North Korea's imports of tobacco leaves from China, its harvest of domestic tobacco leaves and its production of tobacco, through satellite surveillance.  

U.S. authorities have detected 1,300 counterfeit brands, suspected of having been made by North Korea, circulating in the U.S. since 2002.

Source: Yonhap News, 09 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2sjyp2

Canada: Nova Scotia town to vote on outdoor smoking ban 

A town in Nova Scotia is considering a bylaw that would outlaw smoking outdoors.

Some city councillors in Bridgewater say secondhand smoke is a danger not just indoors, but also at places such as parks, sidewalks and inside cars.

Kevin Marlin, the councilor who proposed the bylaw said that people are walking right through secondhand smoke on the sidewalks.

The town mayor disagrees with fellow councilors pushing for the ban. Carroll Publicover said, “Sidewalks are rarely so congested that secondhand smoke would pose a health hazard to pedestrians.”

Others, both critics and supporters of an outdoor smoking ban, say the bylaw would likely to be unenforceable.

Deanna Baker, who likes the idea of a smoking ban on city property said, "It would be great if it could be controlled. But I don't think the town can monitor and control it."

Some town residents say the bylaw infringes on personal rights and that town councilors should not be telling people what they can do outside.

Bridgewater is along Nova Scotia's south shore. It's the second community in the province to make headlines in recent months. The town of Wolfville recently passed a bylaw banning smoking in cars with children in them.

Councillors are expected to vote on the proposed bylaw in January.

Source: CTV, 08 December 2007  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/28jmus

Scotland: One-third of shops breaking new law

A test purchasing scheme has revealed that a third of shops are illegally selling cigarettes to underage customers.

New laws making it illegal to sell tobacco to under-18s came into effect on October 1. Shortly after, local authority trading standards departments took part in a survey in which 16 year old volunteers attempted test purchases from 159 stores that ranged from corner shops to supermarkets.

The scheme revealed 53 illegal sales that resulted in 50 stores receiving a formal warning and three reports being submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Ian Hillier, co-ordinator for the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland, said the number of illegal sales was unacceptably high
.
He said: "We are urging retailers to always ask for proof of age. The current information and advice we give is that if someone doesn't look 18 they should ask for photographic identification."

The Scottish government has been criticised for not publicising the change in legislation well enough.

Hillier said that although some retailers may have been forgetful, this was not an excuse, because trading standards officers had visited every store in Scotland to ensure they were aware that the legal age for buying cigarettes was rising from 16 to 18.

Maureen Moore OBE, chief executive of anti-smoking campaigner ASH Scotland, said retailers that wanted to sell tobacco products should be licenced.

"This shows that a positive system of licensing tobacco sales should be introduced in Scotland to act as an active deterrent as well as a penalty for retailers who sell to those underage."

John Drummond, chief executive of the Scottish Grocers' Federation, said the organisation was opposed to the introduction of a licensing scheme as it would create more bureaucracy and be too costly. Instead, the federation was renewing its calls for a national proof-of-age card, he said.

Source: The Sunday Herald, 08 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/ywzdol

Lorry driver accused of smuggling cigarettes

A court has heard that more than four million cigarettes were smuggled into the West country on a lorry, evading tax of nearly £653,000.

Lorry driver, Steven Allen, of  South Somerset, is accused of fraudulent evasion of duty payable on the importation of goods.

Prosecuting, Russell James told Plymouth Crown Court that Allen had driven a lorry from Portugal to Santander, in Spain, and sailed on the ferry to Plymouth with a lorry, half filled with garden pots, and the remainder with cigarettes.

He said Allen had lied on his common movement record (CMR) form about the goods in his lorry and that he had written the name of a non-existent firm, Keith Buhers and company number on the invoice.

Alan Chorley, officer and director of Langport Transport Ltd, told the court Allen had approached the firm for haulage work in July last year.

After checks by HM Revenue and Customs officials at Plymouth ferry port, they found no company under this name, but found Keith Butters Ltd, at the same business address.

Jennifer Brown, who manages the ordering and importation of goods at Keith Butters Ltd, said: "The size and shape of these pots are not suitable for us."

The case continues.

Source: This is Plymouth, 06 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/346wt3