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ASH Daily News

13 November 2006

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HEADLINES

Industry lobbies against cigarettes that are less likely to cause fires

Launch of RIP coalition

New government adverts on secondhand smoke

EU taxation ruling may allow people to buy cigarettes over the internet

Islamic area of Somalia bans sale and smoking of cigarettes

FULL TEXT

Industry lobbies against cigarettes that are less likely to cause fires

Plans to force tobacco firms to make cigarettes that are less likely to start fires are under threat amid lobbying from the industry.

According to Canadian scientists, 'reduced ignition propensity cigarettes' (RIP cigarette) can cut cigarette-related fire deaths by 68% a year.

Documents obtained by The Observer show how that the Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA) is disputing scientific claims made for these cigarettes. At a meeting with government ministers on 5 October, the TMA delivered a briefing designed to refute the arguments made for the RIP cigarettes. The document has also been presented to EU officials who will meet on the issue this week and have the power to make the proposals law.

Anti-smoking groups are concerned that a number of member states will be influenced by the tobacco lobby and will reject the plans.

"The UK tobacco industry's behaviour on this issue is despicable," said Deborah Arnott, director of ASH. "Tobacco industry documents show that the technology has been around for at least 20 years to reduce the fires caused by cigarettes. All it requires is simple design changes which could already have saved thousands of lives. Yet the industry is still trying to argue that the time is not right and to push for yet more delay. It's worried introducing the standards might hit profits."

Since the new cigarettes were introduced in New York State, the average number of people who have died in smoking-related fires has fallen from 43 a year to 32.

"These cigarettes are good news," said Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union.

"Cigarettes not put out properly cause one in 10 house fires and are responsible for one in three deaths from fire. What's most shocking about this is the timing. This week is the 19th anniversary of the King's Cross tube station fire in London, which was started by a discarded cigarette."

The TMA is urging the EU commission to revaluate the science behind the RIP cigarettes and promote 'responsible handling and disposal of cigarettes'.

"What we are looking for is some sort of realistic standard," said Chris Ogden, director of TMA. "Any change to the product invokes costs. We are not opposed to sensible regulation but we want to be sure that it's justified."

Source: The Observer 12 November 2006
Link to article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1945880,00.html


Launch of RIP coalition

UK fire chiefs and safety groups are lobbying the European Health and Safety Directorate to make tobacco firms to manufacture self-extinguishing cigarettes. The Directorate will discuss the proposal on Wednesday.

"Reduced ignition propensity" (RIP) cigarettes will mean fewer house fires and save hundreds of lives states the RIP Coalition. The coalition includes the Chief Fire Officers Association, the British Burn Association, public health organisations and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health.

London Fire Commissioner Sir Ken Knight said that "Far too many people still die or are seriously injured every year in avoidable fires involving cigarettes."

Fire chiefs say discarded cigarettes are the main cause of fatal house fires. Some 114 people died and 1,260 were injured in smoking-related fires in the UK in 2004.

Sir Ken Knight added: "This standard has worked in the United States and Canada and could mean a big fall in the number of domestic fires if it was introduced in the UK and across the European Union.

"As far as fire and rescue service is concerned, the sooner the new standard comes in the better."

Deborah Arnott, spokeswoman for the coalition and director of ASH, said the introduction of RIP cigarettes would save up to 1,300 lives in Europe. Dr Keith Judkins, chair of the British Burn Association's prevention committee, said every year a "significant proportion" of the 250,000 NHS admissions were for burns as a result of cigarette fires.

Source: BBC News 13 November 2006
Link to article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6141572.stm
Information on the RIP coalition: http://tinyurl.com/ycsj6e


New government adverts on secondhand smoke

The government is about to release dramatic adverts, created by one of Hollywood leading figures, over the next month as part of a new campaign to prepare England for a ban on smoking in public places.

The ads are part of a £10m campaign to make people think about the dangers of inhaling cigarette smoke.

Using ordinary people from the street, cinematographer Barry Ackroyd has used a technique so that viewers have the sensation that they are part of the cigarette smoke winding its way between people as they sit in the pub or walk around a cafe

"The TV commercials feature second-hand smoke personified as a malignant, unseen predator which stalks customers at a pub and cafe location" said Phil Hickes, creative director at Golley Slater, the creative agency behind the adverts.

Deborah Arnott, director of ASH said: "This is just the sort of advertising campaign that's needed to make sure people get the message that secondhand smoke is a complex killer. The reason ventilation can't protect you from secondhand smoke that it can only remove the largest, most visible particles from the air, but many of the thousands of chemicals in tobacco smoke are tiny particles, odourless and invisible, but deadly all the same. That's why the legislation to ban smoking from all workplaces is vital."

Source: The Observer 12 November 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yhvbos


EU taxation ruling may allow people to buy cigarettes over the internet

The European Court of Justice is ruling on whether goods bought in one European state can be brought into another country with only the duty being levied in the country of origin. The ruling is set for 1st December.

If the decision is passed it would mean that shoppers could use the internet and mail-order companies to have alcohol and tobacco shipped to Britain at a lower cost than going to the country themselves.

British shoppers, who pay the highest duty on cigarettes and alcohol in Europe, have used cross-Channel ferries for years to stock up on cheaper alcohol and cigarettes. If they are for personal use, customers pay only the tax levied in the country of purchase.

The test case was referred to the European Court by the Dutch courts. The Dutch government levied alcohol duty on wine brought into the country but an advocate general at the European court found that it had been wrong to do so.

The British Government is one of a number across Europe that has urged the court to reject the adjudication. The UK Treasury stands to suffer a large drop in revenues as it currently collects about £15 billion a year in tax levied on cigarettes and alcohol bought into the country.

The British Retail Confederation said that such a move could hit business in Britain hard, unless excise duty rates are harmonised across the EU.

Ferry companies said that they may be adversely affected by the ruling. But a spokesman for P&O Ferries said it believed that there may be benefits. "We have a large offshore logistics operation and a large fleet of ships. We could offer our customers a door-to-door service."

Source: The Times 13 Nov. 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yl473c
Also reported in the Mirror http://tinyurl.com/y9ktlw
The Metro: http://tinyurl.com/ybd8ey



Islamic area of Somalia bans sale and smoking of cigarettes

Somalis caught smoking or selling cigarettes risk punishment in the south-central town of Jilib where the town has adopted the strict application of sharia law by Islamists who control much of the region.

Speaking at a public rally in Jilib, 365 km (227 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, senior Islamist official Sheikh Mohamed Hassan issued the decree, which also banned the sale and use of leafy stimulant khat chewed by Somali men.

"From today onwards if a person is seen smoking, selling cigarettes, chewing khat or selling it he or she will be punished" he told the crowd.

One man who said he has smoked heavily for 25 years said the Islamists should not just slap the new rule into place without giving him time to quit. He said "I am now hiding in the bush to smoke. We know it is for our own good to quit smoking but we need more time. I now have to quit smoking slowly."

Source: Reuters Alertnet 10 November 2006
Link to article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/11631867331.htm

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