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ASH Daily News for 26 October 2007

Nigeria: Tobacco companies don't deserve tax waivers, says ERA

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has condemned calls by tobacco companies for tax exemptions and said, "Tobacco is a product known to kill its consumers if used as recommended by its manufacturers. Any tax waiver to a company that manufactures such a product is an incentive for them to further kill Nigerians, create a public health catastrophe and further worsen our economy."

ERA/FoEN in a reaction to a memorandum by a tobacco company in Nigeria to the Presidential Review Committee on Waivers, Concessions and Incentives through which it is seeking duty wavers, said any tax waiver to any tobacco company is antithetical to the spirit and purpose of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which Nigeria has signed and ratified.

In the memorandum presented by the Managing Director of the tobacco company argues that it deserves tax waivers and concessions because it had built a state-of-the-art factory and contributes about N30 billion into the economy among other things.

But in a statement issued in Lagos, ERA said that rather than tax concession which will allow tobacco companies to target children, governments across the world are raising taxes to discourage smoking.

"It is an insult on our national psyche that a company that produces a highly controversial product, a product that constitutes high health risks and risks to our economy is seeking tax waivers. It is even more insulting that this request is coming at a time that governments in their home countries are raising taxes periodically to discourage smoking. Article 6 of the FCTC obligates parties to implement tax and pricing policies to reduce tobacco consumption."

Rather than duty concessions, ERA/FoEN urged the Federal Government to recoup from the tobacco company every tax waiver and concession it secured from the immediate past government. It also urged the Federal Government to commit itself to the implementation of the global tobacco control convention, raise taxes on tobacco products and take a cue from Lagos, Kano, Gombe and Oyo states that have instituted law suits to reclaim what they have lost treating victims of tobacco addiction.

Source: All Africa, 25 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/342bnu

EU fines Åland over smokeless tobacco

The European Union is imposing a fine on the semi-autonomous Åland Islands for violating the European Union ban on the sale of smokeless tobacco.

In May of last year the Commission noted that the practice violates European Union legislation, and the total of the fine grows with each day that Åland fails to comply. The sum now stands at more than two million euros.

After the decision, the province was given the task of preparing a law that bans the sale of the moist smokeless tobacco known as snus. The aim is for a legislative proposal to be ready when the new provincial government takes office in November.

Sweden is the only EU country in which the sale of smokeless tobacco is permitted; when Sweden joined the EU, it was given special permissison to keep its snus tradition. In spite of the ban that is in force in the rest of the EU, sale of the product has continued on board passenger ships registered in Åland.

Commissioner Olli Rehn says that the size and special status of Åland was taken into account when setting the fine. If Finland as a whole had been considered, the fine would have been much higher.

The final amount that Åland will have to pay will be set by the European Court of Justice. It could take a year before a decision comes.

Violations of EU health legislation tend to incur large sanctions. An aggravating circumstance in Åland’s case is that the violation has continued for a very long time.

Åland and Finland have an agreement according to which Åland pays its own EU fines.

Source: Telsingin Sanomat, 24 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/32wmew

Smoking ban is having ‘positive’ effect on many

People are eating out more often, and smokers are smoking less, since the introduction of the smoking ban, a new survey has shown.

The poll is evidence of the positive effect of the UK wide smoking ban in public places.

The news was welcomed by both the British Medical Association and British Hospitality Association.

Market research agency NEMS questioned a representative sample by telephone poll and asked how they felt the smoking ban had affected the experience of going out.

There was a significant perception that the introduction of the smoking ban had improved the experience of going out, with nearly three out of four saying it was better and one in seven saying that it had made no difference.

Eighty four per cent of non-smokers felt the smoking ban had improved the experience of going out, with only three per cent indicating that they thought it had made it worse.

Even among smokers there was an acknowledgement that it had improved their experience, with 44 per cent of all respondents believing going out was now a better experience.

More than half of the smokers who answered the questions (55 per cent) said they now smoked less since the introduction of the ban.

An Increase of eating-out was recorded among the non-smokers, who made up 84 per cent of the total sample.

A spokesperson for the British Medical Association said: “The BMA is 100 per cent behind the smoking ban."

“We always said it would be a good move, both for people's enjoyment and health. Very few people enjoyed eating a meal in a smoky restaurant or pub and now they do not have to."

“It is also a very good incentive for smokers to give up, a fact which is backed up by this survey as respondents are reporting that they smoke less. And the smoking ban will protect health and save lives."

Source: North West Evening Mail, 25 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2n7a3s

Now the smoke has cleared


Three months into England¹s smoking ban ­ and six months into the ban in Wales ­exclusive research carried out among five hundred licensees has begun to pinpoint the trading opportunities for pubs and the facts surrounding the smoking ban are slowly beginning to emerge

There is a growing positive mood coming back from the trade ahead of the winter months, with seventy three per cent licensees saying they would not like to see the smoking ban overturned. It's clear that publicans are waking up to the fact that there is more to trading under the smoking ban than simply keeping smokers happy.

While most pubs say they have catered for smokers, and ninety five per cent report they have a smoking area, a large number of these admit it is little more than the pavement outside the pub.

How many prospective new customers are being put off by this is difficult to quantify.

But we do know that non-smokers are visiting pubs, with a twenty five per cent reporting they are seeing new regulars since the ban.

One of the challenges for licensees is to keep the new customers coming, while holding on to the existing customer base.

Much of the mantra surrounding the end of smoking in pubs has been about the growing family opportunity.

Twenty six per cent of pubs in Wales has seen an increase in families coming into the pub since April 1 and twenty eight per cent of pubs are seeing new regulars since the ban.

Moreover, ­twenty eight per cent of pubs in Wales are ­seeing regular new customers since the ban.

There are forces of change at work. These are likely to be replicated in England in the months to come, and it is up to pubs to capitalise on them.

Source: The Publican, 25 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2ngexz

Blindness warning on cigarette packs

Warnings that smoking could lead to blindness are one step closer to appearing on cigarette packets.

Members of the European Parliament have adopted a report calling for member states to include the warning on all tobacco products.

Dr Simon Kelly, a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital, who carried out ground breaking research linking smoking to blindness, has welcomed the move.

He said: "I'm very pleased with this progress. The evidence from countries like Australia, where this has already been adopted, is very compelling and shows people were not aware of this risk."

Source: The Bolton News, 25 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2w9rmd