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ASH Daily News

18 November 2004

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Wales to be granted powers to implement smoking ban
Liverpool's smokefree bid rejected by Ministers
Health trust asks patients not to smoke at home
Smoking ban affects industry shares
Honda closer to deal with BAR
Tobacco companies appeal against $280bn levy


FULL TEXT

Wales to be granted powers to implement smoking ban

The Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said that the public health bill, expected in 2005, would give the National Assembly of Wales powers to introduce its own ban on smoking in public places. Unlike the compromise deal in England, the National Assembly is expected to back proposals for a blanket ban on smoking in all workplaces, pubs, restaurants and clubs. It is expected to take four years to implement, in line with the England's timescale.

Western Mail (Cardiff) 17/11/04



Liverpool's smokefree bid rejected by Ministers

A total ban on smoking in Liverpool's pubs and clubs has been rejected by the national government. Health Secretary John Reid has ruled out any chance of Liverpool enforcing its own rules. But City Council Leader Mike Storey said campaigners would continue to campaign for the Liverpool bill to go through parliament. An editorial in the Liverpool Echo refers to the White Paper as a "half-hearted policy" and "a sop to the tobacco industry and to the brewers".

Liverpool Echo 16/11/04



Health trust asks patients not to smoke at home

Smokers will be asked to refrain from smoking whilst being treated by health staff, a health trust has decreed. The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in Greater Manchester said the move tackles passive smoking dangers that threaten their staff.

A spokesman said: "We are adapting this smoke-free environments policy and, as part of that, staff who are making home visits should also have that right. Where a member of staff has asked a patient not to smoke and they are persisting, we would try our utmost to resolve that through amicable discussion. As a last resort we would reserve the right for that meeting to be rearranged at a smoke-free venue but we hope this would only be relevant only to a handful of cases."

Daily Express, Daily Star, Daily Mirror 18/11/04




Smoking ban affects industry shares

The release of the government's White Paper had an immediate effect on tobacco and pub group shares, driving down their value. Gallaher's shares fell 2.3% (16.5p) and BAT dropped 0.9% (8p), while Enterprise Inns dropped 11.5p to 610p.

The Scotsman, 17/11/04



Honda closer to deal with BAR

Honda is edging close to a deal to buy out British American Racing, the most improved formula one team of the 2004 season - they finished second in the constructors' world championship behind Ferrari thanks largely to Jenson Button's run of 10 podium finishes in the year.

BAR insiders have hinted that the team's owner, British American Tobacco, has been discreetly sounding out potential buyers for almost a year and selling to Honda, BAR's engine partner, could make sense on two crucial counts.

It would dramatically raise Honda's profile to be a team owner, rather than simply an engine supplier, at a time when its rival Toyota is seeking to raise the competitive performance of its own formula one team. And a buyout would relieve BAT of its share of the $200m (£108m) cost of running the team at a time when tobacco sponsorship of any sport is being increasingly restricted.

The Guardian, 18/12/04
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/formulaone/story/0,,1353576,00.html



Tobacco companies appeal against $280bn levy

The Tobacco industry yesterday urged a federal appeals court in Washington to throw out an attempt by the US government to levy a record $280bn (£150bn) from companies for allegedly misleading the public about the dangers of smoking.

The move is an attempt by tobacco companies to strike out the claim, which they say would bankrupt them.

In the largest ever case brought by the Department of Justice, cigarette-makers including British American Tobacco (BAT), which used to own Brown & Williamson in the US, are accused of destroying or withholding scientific research on nicotine in a conspiracy dating back to 1954 to keep "profits above the public health".

The Department has brought the case, now being heard in a district court in the country's capital, under a 1970 civil racketeering statute originally designed to prosecute mobsters.

The tobacco industry is arguing that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, or Rico, does not permit prosecutors to seek a defendant's past revenue.

Michael Carvin, for the defence, told an appeals court hearing that the government should have filed its case under criminal racketeering laws. "Forfeiture of illegal proceeds to the government is strictly limited to the criminal context," he said. "If the government wants to put money into the Treasury, they've got to jump through the hoops of proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt."

The Independent, 18/11/04
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=584009






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Amanda Sandford
Research Manager
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