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October, 2011:

Big tobacco ‘abusing’ FOI process: govt

Oct 19th, 2011
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http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/big-tobacco-abusing-foi-process-govt-20111019-1m7g1.html

The federal health department is considering taking action against big tobacco for lodging “vexatious” Freedom of Information (FOI) claims as part of the industry’s fight against Labor’s plain-packaging push.

Health department secretary Jane Halton says the department is being “swamped” with FOI requests as part of a deliberate campaign by cigarette manufacturers.

“This is a very specific and deliberate attempt to divert resources,” Ms Halton told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

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“There will come a point where we will have to consider what to do about that.”

Ms Halton said there was a provision in the FOI legislation relating to vexatious applicants.

“We are intending to take advice on that,” she said.

“It is being discussed.”

The health department has received 63 FOI requests, of which 52 were from big tobacco. Some 35 are still being dealt with.

The Gillard government wants to force all cigarettes to be sold in drab olive-brown packs from mid-2012.

Cigarette manufacturers have threatened to challenge the world-first laws in court after they pass the Senate later this year.

Ms Halton said on Wednesday big tobacco’s FOI requests had cost the department “an awful lot”. Industry is disputing some of the charges.

The department secretary said she supported the principle of openness but “the way the current FOI laws are written there are huge opportunities for people who wish to abuse process to do so”.

The amount the department can charge for processing requests “goes nowhere near meeting our costs”, Ms Halton said.

It can only charge $15 per hour for search and retrieval and $20 an hour for decision-making time. The staff doing the work can earn up to $50 an hour.

“So we are hardly talking reasonable recompense for the amount of time and energy it’s taking,” Ms Halton said.

British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) argues it’s been forced to rely on freedom of information applications because Health Minister Nicola Roxon refuses to consult industry.

BATA has lodged 15 FOI requests with the health department in the past 18 months and is currently waiting on six to be finalised.

“Documents (already obtained) from the government show they have concerns about the need to pay compensation to the tobacco industry for removing our intellectual property, the growth in illegal tobacco once all packs look the same and an increase in smoking rates due to cheaper cigarettes,” BATA spokesman Scott McIntyre told AAP in a statement.

An April 2010 briefing note from the government body which administers Australia’s intellectual property rights system states plain packaging would impinge on trademark rights.

But, IP Australia points out, that might not be a problem if it serves the public interest.

Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale says big tobacco is using every tactic possible to derail plain packaging.

“They have resorted to trying to clog up the health department with vexatious FOI requests,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The tobacco industry should halt their campaign of mischief and let the health department do its job protecting the public’s health.”

Under Australia’s FOI laws an applicant can be declared “vexatious” by the information commissioner.

© 2011 AAP

CTA letter to CEO Hong Kong

Oct 19th, 2011
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Download PDF : CTAletterCEOHK

Lai hits back over donations furore

Oct 18th, 2011
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South China Morning Post 18 Oct. 2011

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has defended multimillion-dollar donations to Hong Kong’s pan-democrat community and Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun after details of his charitable giving were leaked this week.

A spokesman for Lai’s private office said the tycoon’s private donations to political groups were entirely legal, and “consistent with Mr Lai’s well-known support of an open and free Hong Kong society”.

While his office would not comment on specific donations, documents have surfaced on the file-sharing search engine Foxy which show that the billionaire Next Media (SEHK: 0282) mogul spent more than HK$60 million from 2005.

Zen was the biggest recipient, receiving more than HK$20 million. It was also stated that the Democratic Party received HK$13,690,000 from 2006 to last year and the Civic Party was given HK$14,566,500 for the same period. The radical League of Social Democrats was awarded HK$1 million last year, while former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang received HK$1.3 million from 2007 to 2009.

A purported cash-flow forecast, printed on another leaked document, also showed the Civic Party would be given another HK$2 million from July to September this year, while the Democratic Party would receive HK$3 million. Past donations made amount to more than HK$60 million, the documents state.

Other officials close to Lai said they believed private commercial records had been circulated for political motives. They claim the resultant media frenzy serves as a diversion from more worrying issues for Hong Kong’s political establishment.

In the longer term, the revelations could be used to smear Zen and his allies across the democratic camp – even though all parties and churches in Hong Kong are free to accept local donations without making them public, they said.

A senior cleric with the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, Vicar General Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming, said that Zen could receive donations and spend them at his own discretion.

“This is his private matter. We cannot investigate,” he said.

It is understood Zen has spent donations on supporting official and underground religious workers on the mainland, as well as on religious and charity programmes in Hong Kong.

He has helped various projects on the mainland, including infrastructure construction in underprivileged areas. Sponsorships have also been provided for followers who embark on spiritual trips to Rome.

Zen could not be reached for comment yesterday but his secretary, Teresa Fung, said the cardinal often directly supported followers financially.

For example, he has funded a charity programme in Hong Kong which sends mooncakes to prisoners and the elderly.

Anthony Lam, a senior researcher at the Holy Spirit Study Centre, a Hong Kong think tank funded by the church, said Zen would not be the only one who received funding from private donors. Top religious leaders such as cardinals and bishops often received donations from the wealthy, and distributed funding to religious workers in developing countries, such as the mainland, he said. “I believe Cardinal Zen is helping everyone in China, both official and underground church members,” he said.

Zen has actively pushed for universal suffrage in Hong Kong over the past few years and has been seen as closely linked to the pan-democratic movement.

Democratic and Civic Party officials have refused to comment, seeking to protect the identity of their donors. The Civic Party said it did not accept funds that came with conditions.

The documents show a variety of other Lai donations, including sums given to the club and fashion impresario David Tang, conservative Washington think tank the American Enterprise Institute, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The prominent US China scholar Perry Link was also on the list.

Additional reporting by Danny Mok, Tanna Chong and Peter So

American Enterprise Institute tobacco support and global warming denial

http://www.aei.org/issue/9288

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Enterprise_Institute

1.    Climate change denial – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial – CachedSimilar

You +1’d this publicly. Undo

As one tobacco company memo noted: “Doubt is our product since it is the best … More than 20 AEI employees worked as consultants to the George W. Bush

The Guardian reported that after the IPCC released its February 2007 report, the American Enterprise Institute offered British, American, and other scientists $10,000, plus travel expenses, to publish articles critical of the assessment. The institute, which had received more than $US 1.6 million from Exxon and whose vice-chairman of trustees is Lee Raymond, former head of Exxon, sent letters that, The Guardian said, “attack the UN‘s panel as ‘resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent and prone to summary conclusions that are poorly supported by the analytical work’ and ask for essays that ‘thoughtfully explore the limitations of climate model outputs’.” More than 20 AEI employees worked as consultants to the George W. Bush administration.[36] Despite her initial conviction that with “the overwhelming science out there, the deniers’ days were numbered,” Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer said that when she learned of the AEI’s offer, “I realized there was a movement behind this that just wasn’t giving up.”[8]

Corrupt tobacco chief expelled from ruling party

Oct 18th, 2011
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China Daily – 18 Oct. 2011

GUANGZHOU- A local government tobacco chief has been removed from his post and expelled from the ruling party over rampant corruption charges in a case that has also exposed China’s tobacco monopoly’s huge profits, officials said Tuesday.

The Guangdong provincial disciplinary watchdog for the Communist Party of China (CPC) has ordered Chen Wenzhu, head of the local branch of the tobacco monopoly in the southern city of Shanwei, to be expelled after probes confirmed graft allegations against him, Lin Jianhua, a spokesman for the Shanwei tobacco monopoly, told Xinhua.

Lin said Chen has also been removed from the monopoly’s top post, pending legal procedure.

Chen’s case created a sensation after an anonymous informant posted a list of the monopoly’s lavish bills on the Internet, showing that 2 million yuan ($ 314,960) a month was spent on dining and entertaining in addition to 120,000 yuan spent on the monopoly’s canteen each day.

Initial official probes said the monopoly’s expenditures on entertainment activities exceeded its budget, but did not give specific numbers.

Investigations found that Chen had given nine relatives and 36 others jobs in the monopoly without following official hiring procedures.

He also forged IDs to bypass the ruling party’s restrictions on cadres traveling outside the mainland and “illegally visited” Hong Kong and Macao about 74 times, according to investigations.

China’s state tobacco monopoly, also known as China Tobacco Corporation, is the world’s largest cigarette producer. China has the world’s largest population of smokers at over 300 million people, and about 1.2 million people die of smoking-related illnesses each year.

Huge profits generated by the tobacco industry, some of which go to the government as taxes, are said to have hampered tobacco control efforts.

From 2006 to 2010, taxes and profits generated by the tobacco industry jumped 139 percent to 604.5 billion yuan with an annual growth rate of about 19 percent, according to figures released by the monopoly.

Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved

Cigarette prices rise above 6 euros

Oct 17th, 2011
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http://connexionfrance.com/Cigarette-tobacco-tabac-budget-Fillon-Marlboro-13081-view-article.html

Oct. 17, 2011

http://connexionfrance.com/newadmin/news_article_images/3080-1318839618_.jpg

FOR the third year in a row the price of cigarettes has risen and the 6% rise means a pack of the most popular brand, Marlboro, costs 6.20 euros.

Anti-smoking groups say that despite tobacco being responsible for 60,000 deaths a year in France the increase will make no real impact on the number of smokers. They say it has only been introduced to help the government’s budget as it will bring in 90 million euros this year and 600m euros next.

Tax makes up 80% of the price of a packet of cigarettes and last year raised 13 billion euros with 10bn euros going to the Secu social security budget. Smoking-related diseases are said to cost the Secu 20bn euros a year.

Prime minister Francois Fillon has already announced prices will rise by 6% again next year without specifying when.

Although cigarette sales dropped from 54.98bn in 2009 to 54.79bn in 2010 actual tobacco sales increased by 0.14% in volume, the French drug monitoring centre Observatoire des Drogues said. It highlighted an increased volume of loose tobacco sold, rising 4.7% from 7,257 tonnes to 7,598 tonnes over the same time period.

French Customs estimates 20% of the cigarettes smoked in France are not bought through the network oftabacs, with 5% coming in illegally and 15% being bought in neighbouring countries such as Belgium and Spain where prices are up to 30% cheaper.

A study by anti-smoking group Paris Sans Tabac said the number of college age youths (12-15) who smoke daily doubled between 2007 and 2010. It added that girls are now more likely to smoke than boys.

HK to show the world how to stop smoking

Oct 16th, 2011
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South China Morning Post –

WHO to set up collaboration centre in the city, in recognition of its success in tobacco control
Dennis Chong in Manila
Updated on Oct 16, 2011
The World Health Organisation has handed Hong Kong a key role in the global battle against smoking, in recognition of the city’s success in cutting tobacco consumption.

A combination of higher taxes, social factors and effective anti-tobacco campaigning has seen the number of people aged 15 and above who smoke in Hong Kong drop to a current level of 11.1 per cent, down from 12 per cent in 2009, and one of the lowest rates in the developed world.

The low rate of smoking has won praise from the WHO, which says Hong Kong’s achievements can serve as an example not only to the mainland – which is home to the highest number of smokers in the world – but the wider region.

Senior WHO adviser Susan Mercado told the Sunday Morning Post that, from next year, Hong Kong will host the international organisation’s global collaboration centre on tobacco control.

Hong Kong will become the first “non-country” to take up the training role, normally only reserved for sovereign states. It will see health professionals from around the region coming to the city to be schooled in smoking-cessation skills.

The collaboration centre, which will come under the auspices of the Hong Kong Tobacco Control Centre, will train 50 health professionals each year. A particular target of their work will be the mainland’s moderate and heavy smokers. It is the WHO’s fourth collaboration centre on tobacco control in Asia, after Japan, Singapore and mainland China.

“Hong Kong is doing very well, particularly in terms of enforcement. It can set an example for China,” said Mercado, the WHO regional adviser on Tobacco Free Initiative.

As home to one-third of the world’s population of smokers, the mainland is seen as an important target for the stop-smoking message.

According to the WHO, at least half of the mainland’s male population smokes, compared with one in five in Hong Kong. Overall, the proportion of mainlanders who smoke – 28.1 per cent – is nearly three times that of Hong Kong.

Mercado said she was “excited by what would be a world-class facility” in the city.

Hong Kong has banned smoking in most indoor areas, including entertainment premises such as pubs and sauna parlours, as well as beaches. Offenders face a fixed penalty of HK$1,500.

Countries in Asia are striving to lower smoking rate, as cigarettes have proven to be a major risk factor for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

During a WHO regional meeting held in the Philippines last week, WHO director general Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun – a former Hong Kong health chief – said the mainland was making progress on tobacco control but that authorities expected to face challenges from the industry.

Implications of the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area on Tobacco Trade and Public Health in the SAARC Region

Oct 14th, 2011
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Download PDF : Tobacco_Free_Initiative_SAFTA

Tobacco should be excluded from free trade agreement

Oct 14th, 2011
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC381059/

Editor—The World Health Organization estimates that by 2030 tobacco will become the world’s biggest single cause of death and disease, killing 10 million people each year.1

Eight cigarette smugglers jailed

Oct 14th, 2011
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http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_723316.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20111014/2885006-ST-main.jpg

Eight Indonesian nationals have been jailed for smuggling contraband cigarettes over the past two days. — ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN

By Elena Chong

Eight Indonesian nationals have been jailed for smuggling contraband cigarettes over the past two days.

Four of them – Jamal, 41, Hasan, 28, Linggo Laksito, 31, and Abdul Salam, 29 – were each given two years’ jail on Thursday for importing 1,375 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and not paying goods and services tax on the goods on board Dahlia II at Jurong River on Tuesday.

The unpaid excise duty and GST amounted to $118,976 and $10,348 respectively.

Background story

Refer to an earlier article on the story here. Pictures: Cartons of illegal cigarettes seized from 2 Indonesian vessels

On Friday, four more Indonesians on board wooden coaster K. M. Seni Jaya, who were arrested on Tuesday night, were given between 18 months and 22 months for smuggling 1,164 cartons of assorted cigarettes at the same location.

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20111013/asd04.jpg

Global assembly praises NZ tobacco control

Oct 14th, 2011
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http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/global-assembly-praises-nz-tobacco-control/5/104305

Global assembly praises NZ tobacco control

New Zealand’s advanced work in tobacco control praised at global assembly

The scientific session on tobacco cessation at the World Medical Association General Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay has praised New Zealand’s “end-game thinking” approach to tobacco cessation.

Dr Richard D. Hurt, founder and director of the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Centre, said that while most counties focus on reduction in tobacco consumption New Zealand has a vision of a smokefree society and has the courage and political will to achieve this.

New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) Chair Dr Paul Ockelford, who is attending the Assembly, says that while New Zealand has been fortunate that successive governments, supported by health professionals and the wider community, have been proactive in tackling this public health issue, we have a moral and social responsibility to continue the momentum towards a smokefree New Zealand.

The NZMA position statement on tobacco control outlines the key steps that need to be taken and aligns strongly with today’s recommendations by international experts. These include plain packaging and graphic warnings to replace all brand imagery and a call for the Government to extend the smokefree environment legislation to cover all locations where young people are present.

Action to make it more difficult for minors to obtain cigarettes is also recommended with targeted research into smoking cessation to ensure that at risk population groups, such as Maori and Pacific Peoples, are reached.

“New Zealanders can be proud of our aspiration to be smokefree by 2025. It is a testament to this commitment and our progress to date that we are recognised in this way by the international community,” says Dr Ockelford.

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