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ASH Daily news for 01 June 2010

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  • Duty-free cigarette ban is on the cards

    CEO of World Duty Free reveals plans to remove tobacco from stores as airport retail chain endures a £250,000-a-day sales hit from British Airways strike.

    Cigarettes will disappear from Britain's duty free shops after a period of being sold from "behind closed doors" as the Government tightens anti-smoking laws.

    Mark Riches, chief executive of World Duty Free, Britain's biggest airport shopping chain, expects to set up closed-off areas for cigarette sales from 2013, in which the brands won't be on display. The company aims to replace its most profitable product ahead of an expected total ban.

    "We're not kidding ourselves that we'll have the business forever," Mr Riches said. While such a move is not imminent, "that's the direction we're heading in," he added.

    Such a development would come as a blow to smokers as cigarettes cost £2.50 for a packet of 20 from tax-free shops compared with £6 on the high street. The new Government is expected to review Labour's plans for a ban on displaying tobacco in all shops from 2013. Mr Riches said his business will take a total ban in its stride. Airport shopping has already been transformed "out of all recognition" since the end of duty free limits within Europe in 1999, he said.

    At that time tobacco was by far the biggest seller. Now World Duty Free's (WDF) biggest business is beauty products, which account for around 50pc of sales. Among its most popular products are Gucci aftershave and Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle perfume.

    WDF's cigarette sales are falling by around 5pc a year, while the company's sales rose 6.4pc last year and 8.7pc in the first quarter of 2010, with revenues at £126m. WDF has 85 shops in the UK, with a flagship store at London's Heathrow Terminal 5 which takes in £100m a year.

    After working for Marks & Spencer and Asprey, Mr Riches became the director of retail at Heathrow in 1999, when the shopping part of the airport business was still owned by BAA, Since then, Mr Riches has steered his shops through an industry which has suffered the September 11 attacks, SARS, bird flu, swine flu, numerous strikes, attempted terrorist attacks, increased security and the ensuing queues, liquids restrictions and the fallout of an erupting Icelandic volcano.

    "Don't go into airport retailing if you want a quiet life," he said. The company, which is now owned by Italian-listed Autogrill, always banks on several unforeseen disruptions when it does its annual planning, he says.

    Last year's sales increase came in spite of a 6pc fall in passenger numbers, and Mr Riches does not expect a rise in passengers coming through UK airports this year either. But he does expect further growth in his own business this year, although the second quarter is likely to miss its targets after the "disaster" of the volcanic ash shutdown.

    Airports were closed for six and a half days, but sales were affected for longer than that because angry travellers "were not in the mood to shop," he says, and it took a number of days for normal airline service to resume.

    WDF also loses £250,000 every day British Airways is on strike, he said. Mr Riches is optimistic about the prospects for the business. Revenue grew last year despite the worst economic slump since the 1930s and a 6pc fewer people travelling through Britain's airports.

    "We don't sell things people need, we sell things people want," Mr Riches said. "We felt the recessionary pressure like everyone else but we were quick to offer promotions and exclusive products that aren't available on the high street. I don't think we're operating in a bubble."

    He admits the strength of the euro and the dollar against the pound last year gave the business an enormous boost because it made tax-free goods a bargain for European and US shoppers. But now the euro is weakening, the company is prepared to change its offers. When the pound was at a high of close to two-for-one against the dollar in 2008, WDF offered dollar prices on some ranges to keep sales going.

    The company has also has an enviably high level of information about its customers as they need a boarding card to buy anything in a duty free shop. So WDF has a clear picture of what shoppers from different countries want to buy and can rearrange the products at front of its stores and make sure staff who speak the language are working when flights go out to those destinations.

    From Terminal 5, BA's main destinations are the USA, India, China and Nigeria. WDF says Nigerian shoppers favour top-of-the-range perfumes and aftershaves, Chinese travellers choose cigarettes and night cream while Indians are in the market for Scotch and chocolates.

    Flying from Heathrow's other terminals and around the UK, low-cost airline customers typically buy champagne and chocolate. But the dream duty free couple, according to the chief executive, is a Norwegian man married to a Japanese woman – because of high taxes on alcohol in Norway and strong demand for designer beauty products in Japan.

    Source: The Daily Telegraph - 29 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/c7ophd

  • EU urged to tighten anti-smoking rules

    Anti-smoking campaigners today called for pictures of the health effects of smoking to be emblazoned across 80% of cigarette packs in future.

    They used World No Tobacco Day to mount a new offensive at the European Parliament in Brussels, warning against the seductive promotion of cigarettes - including the packaging itself.

    Instead they want graphic depictions of diseased organs to accompany prominent written warnings that smoking kills.

    The call came after last week's pledge from the EU's new Consumer Health Commissioner John Dalli of legislation soon to tighten up existing anti-smoking rules.

    "Today's World No Tobacco Day is a good opportunity to remind Europeans what tobacco consumption means for their health and lives," Mr Dalli said this afternoon.

    "It means sickness, suffering and premature death. I believe the time has come to strengthen our efforts to fight tobacco and its health consequences. With this in mind, the commission will soon launch a public consultation on the possible revision of the Tobacco Products Directive".

    Earlier the Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) told a conference in the European Parliament that it wants compulsory picture warnings - showing diseased organs - and standardised packaging of cigarettes across the EU.

    "The tobacco industry uses multimillion-dollar promotional campaigns, including carefully crafted package designs, to trap new users, especially young women," said SFP director Florence Berteletti.

    "The tobacco pack is a 'silent salesman', carefully designed with a particular customer in mind. For instance, cigarettes for women are often packaged in slim, long packs, often with pastel or toned down colours, to meet perceived desires to appear feminine and sophisticated."

    She said Mr Dalli's review of the Tobacco Products Directive was a chance to introduce compulsory and graphic warnings and standardised packaging in the EU.

    The SFP, an independent grouping of the European Respiratory Society, Cancer Research UK and the European Heart Network, said health warnings on cigarette packets, including dramatic pictures, can motivate smokers to quit, as well as reducing the appeal of tobacco for those not yet addicted.

    But only six out of 27 EU countries have introduced warnings with pictures on tobacco packs.

    France recently became the sixth by announcing it will do so from 2012, joining Belgium (2006), Romania (2008), the UK (2008), Latvia (2010) and Malta (2011).

    The SFP describes smoking, which kills more than five million people a year worldwide, as "the only legal consumer product that kills half of all long-term users when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer".

    Last week the European Commission launched a £13.5 million anti-tobacco campaign targeting the young after a survey showed that 35% of 15-24 year-olds are smokers.

    The UK figure is even higher at 40% - exceeded only by France and Spain (48%), Belgium (44%) and Bulgaria (42%).

    The new campaign involves anti-smoking messages targeting television, the internet and other sites accessible via mobile phones.

    The commission has said it wants a "smoke-free Europe" by 2012.

    Current EU legislation stipulates limits on the nicotine and tar content of cigarettes, written warnings on packets and a ban on misleading descriptions of cigarette strengths, such as "light".

    So far a dozen EU countries have introduced total bans on smoking in enclosed public places and work places, including bars and restaurants. They are Ireland, the UK, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, France, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

    Source: The Independent - 31 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bwiI80

  • Not in vogue: World No Tobacco Day targets women, girls

    World No Tobacco Day kicked off on Monday aimed at women and girl smokers with posters warning "Chic? No, throat cancer", as health officials said tobacco firms were targeting young women as they became affluent.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) theme for the global anti-smoking day is "gender and tobacco" and the harmful effects of tobacco marketing and smoking on women and girls.

    WHO said tobacco firms are spending heavily on alluring marketing campaigns targeting women as they gain spending power and independence, particularly in Asia's booming economies.

    It is estimated that more than 8 percent of girls between 13 and 15, or around 4.7 million girls, are using tobacco products in the Asia-Pacific region, said the WHO.

    Indian doctors said there had been a considerable increase in women smoking, especially among young college girls, attributing the rise to stress, peer pressure and high disposable incomes.

    "It's a cause of concern that literate women in sectors like business, medicine...college girls from the higher strata of the society are getting addicted to the habit," Dr Pradyut Waghre at Apollo Hospitals told The Times of India newspaper.

    Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world, currently responsible for the death of one in 10 adults worldwide, or about 5 million deaths each year, said the WHO.

    Women make up about 20 percent of the world's 1 billion smokers, but if current tobacco usage continues smoking will kill 8 million people a year by 2030 -- 2.5 million will be women.

    Each day 3,000 people die from tobacco use in Asia-Pacific, with smoking and chewing tobacco among women and girls on the rise, said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

    "Starting early results in addiction that later translates to a life of nicotine dependence, poor health and premature death," said Shin.

    In Cambodia some 17 percent of women, but only one percent of men, chew tobacco. It is estimated that more than a half million middle-aged and older women in Cambodia chew tobacco, believing it alleviates morning sickness during pregnancy.

    A YouTube video of an Indonesian two-year-old boy, who reportedly smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, angered anti-smoking groups around the world last week. The video has been removed by YouTube.

    "The tobacco industry is thriving and if we look at our society, even children have started to smoke," Krida Wacana Christian University (Ukrida) student Stefano Leatemia told The Jakarta Post newspaper on Monday.

    A rally of Indonesian university students on Sunday called for tougher controls on tobacco.

    WHO is calling for comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship to protect women and girls from images that portray smoking as glamorous or fashionable. Only half of the nations in the Asia-Pacific have bans on tobacco advertising.

    India's Waghre said there was an increase in lung cancer among women in India, which was not there in the last decade, due to not only direct but also passive smoking. Close to half of all women in the Asia-Pacific are exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes or in the workplace, often due to cultural and social norms, which can lead to cause lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory conditions, said WHO.

    A study in Shanghai of 72,000 non-smoking women found that exposure to their husbands' smoking increased their risks of dying from lung cancer and heart disease by almost 40 percent. The women also had a nearly 50 percent higher risk of stroke.

    Source: Reuters - 31 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aA376m

  • UAE: Stricter smoking ban expected soon as anti-tobacco fervor sweeps Middle East

    The United Arab Emirates may breathe easier under a strict ban on smoking, the details of which are still being hammered out five months after the actual bill was signed by President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reported this week.

    The new bylaws would ban smoking in all public places, including hotels, cafes and restaurants, and outlaw all forms of tobacco advertising. Even the ubiquitous nargileh, the traditional water pipe puffed across the region by teenagers and grandmothers alike, would be subject to tighter regulations.

    The original law required only a partial ban on public smoking, and the wording was so vague that it could not be implemented, forcing health officials back to the drawing table.

    They ultimately adopted more or less the exact language prescribed by the World Health Organization, banning even special smoking areas within public establishments and requiring smokers to stay at least 25 feet away from the entrance to a public building.

    "We want to prevent the use of tobacco products in all public venues in the country. We want to fight this," Dr. Salim Adib of the Abu Dhabi Health Authority told The National. "I don’t think we should accept anything less than what is happening in Western Europe."

    The new bylaws must be approved by the Ministry of Health and the relevant municipalities.

    Drumming up the smoke-free spirit, Dubai authorities initiated their "Tobacco-Free Women" campaign this week at the Mall of the Emirates. The public awareness effort features free medical examinations at the mall for women who smoke. The campaign will culminate during worldwide Tobacco-Free Day on May 31, reported the official Emirates News Agency.

    In honor of the global occasion, Dubai petrol stations have agreed to stop selling tobacco products for 24 hours, announced the Khaleej Times.

    Most of the Emirates already had full or partial smoking bans in place, but the new legislation will introduce stricter measures, particularly for tobacco advertising and cafes that offer nargileh, which will be banned altogether from residential areas.

    "Tobacco consumption in the gulf region has become an economic, social and health burden over the past 50 years due to the rapid and continuous phenomenon of smoking as well as the emergence of other behaviors such as shisha and medwaakh [tobacco pipe]," Health Minister Dr. Hanif Hassan said in a statement.

    "The GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries have worked for many years on the implementation of several measures aimed at reducing the usage of tobacco and its products among its nationals, [including] anti-advertising, determining the percentage of nicotine and tar in cigarettes, increasing customs duties on tobacco products and finally the publication of numerous decisions and legislation to ban smoking in public places," he continued.

    Anti-smoking efforts are gaining momentum, not just in the Emirates but across the region, signaling a change in the winds of social mores and attitudes towards public health.

    Most recently, Turkey and Syria both banned smoking in public. Saudi Arabia spearheaded a smoke-free hajj campaign last year, and last August, anti-smoking legislation was proposed in the Iraqi Parliament. Israel has had a partial ban on smoking in public since 1983 and continues to pursue reforms. Even in Lebanon, more health activists have raised their voices as of late for a smoking ban.

    Critical of the trend, some analysts suggest that the prohibition will have deleterious effects on the tourism industry. Dr. Jonathan Tomlin recently conducted a study on the potential effect of a proposed ban in India, claiming that the tourist industry would undoubtedly suffer.

    The National Tobacco Control Committee expects the ban to be fully implemented by the end of the year.

    Source: LA Times - 29 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aSIoSF

  • Greece to ban smoking Sept 1 in indoor public places

    Greece, a nation of heavy smokers, will ban tobacco in all indoor public places from September 1 because a partial ban enacted in July last year failed, Health Minister Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou said on Monday.

    Last year's ban was very largely ignored because of exemptions for small bars and restaurants, complex rules and the failure to crack down on offenders, and Greeks routinely light up cigarettes in taxis, larger bars, or even at work.

    "There were problems in the implementation of the law, there were grey areas and contradictions," the minister said. "We had to bring in new legislation ... From Sept 1, 2010, Greece will fully ban (smoking) in all public places."

    Casinos and bars bigger than 300 square meters will be given 8 months to apply the law, she said.

    More than 40 percent of Greeks smoke, making them the heaviest smokers in Europe, and nearly as many are exposed to smoking at work, according to a European Union poll.

    Smoking-related diseases kill about 20,000 people a year, costing the country an annual 2.14 billion euros ($2.62 billion), the health ministry said last year.

    Bar and restaurant owners had complained last year's law was too complicated and was hurting business. Some restaurant owners who had originally implemented the law put the ash-trays back on the table after losing customers.

    The government will publish a draft bill in the coming days, Xenogiannakopoulou said.

    Last year's ban, agreed under the previous, conservative administration, imposed fines of up to 500 euros on convicted smokers, while bars and restaurants risked losing their license.

    Smoking is also becoming more expensive in Greece. The government agreed in talks with the EU and the IMF earlier this month to increase excise tax on cigarettes by 10 percent as part of austerity measures aimed at plugging the huge budget deficit.

    Source: Reuters - 31 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cJCYRW

  • More Belgians favour public smoking ban

    Two-thirds of Belgians favour a smoking ban in cafes and restaurants, marking a jump in support for a law already in force in much of Europe, a poll showed ahead of World No Tobacco Day.

    In 2004, 49 percent of Belgians supported the ban, but this figure has risen to 65 percent in 2010, according to a poll by the global research company Ipsos, carried out on behalf of the Foundation Against Cancer.

    "There is growing support from the population for a ban on smoking in restaurants and cafes," the foundation said.

    The growing consensus is less pronounced among restaurant owners, with just over half favouring a ban, and cafe owners who are 57 percent in favour of the ban.

    Ipsos interviewed 1,000 people and 200 restaurant and cafe owners between April 28 and May 3.

    World No Tobacco Day [was] on May 31.

    Source: Yahoo!/AFP - 30 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9AML6d