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January 1st, 2012:

EU-China cigarette conference in Beijing 14-16 December OLAF and Chinese authorities join forces to fight cigarette smuggling from Asia

http://www.iewy.com/38274-eu-china-cigarette-conference-in-beijing-14-16-december-olaf-and-chinese-authorities-join-forces-to-fight-cigarette-smuggling-from-asia.html/print/

Operational cooperation was the focus of the cigarette smuggling conference which ended today in Beijing. It was hosted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and attended by the Chinese authorities involved in controls and investigations into the manufacturing and smuggling of cigarettes. The conference resulted in the establishment of direct contacts between OLAF and regional Chinese authorities in key trade regions and discussions about EU-Chinese cooperation in large-scale international cigarette smuggling cases.

“The considerable increase in counterfeit cigarettes entering the EU black market from China and other Asian countries in recent years requires closer international cooperation. From China alone, we have seized one billion cigarettes in the last 18 months. The Chinese customs Anti-smuggling Bureau has proven to be an important partner by providing information that has led to significant seizures in the EU. We intend to further develop our good cooperation,” said OLAF Director-General Giovanni Kessler.

The conference in Beijing is part of a wider effort to enhance cooperation between OLAF and the Chinese authorities. Earlier this month, Mr Kessler met with Professor Cao Jianming, the Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

The Chinese authorities attending the conference were the police (Ministry of Public Security), customs, State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and Ministry of Justice. These authorities all have competence in the area of controls and investigations into the manufacturing and smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes.

The illicit tobacco trade costs EU taxpayers an estimated €10 billion each year. Therefore, the European Commission and OLAF have decided to step up their efforts against smuggling. In June this year, the Commission introduced an action plan to be implemented together with Member States and Eastern neighbours to tackle cigarette and alcohol smuggling along the EU’s Eastern border. It proposes targeted actions, including the strengthening of capacities on both sides of the border, and the setting up of trained mobile units and new equipment alongside the border such as automated recognition tools, scanners and night vision. There is also the need to review the way customs penalties currently apply throughout the EU, and to enhance international cooperation, in particular with EU Eastern neighbours.

OLAF
The mission of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is threefold: it protects the financial interests of the European Union by combating fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities; it protects the reputation of the European Institutions by investigating serious misconduct by their staff that could result in disciplinary proceedings; and it supports the European Commission in the development and implementation of fraud prevention and detection policies.

For further details:
Pavel BO?KOVEC Head of Unit Spokesman,
Communication, Public Relations
European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
Phone: +32 2 296 72 00
E-mail: olaf-media@ec.europa.eu

http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_en.html

Revenue seize nine million cigarettes described as ‘sports socks’

http://www.thejournal.ie/revenue-seize-nine-million-cigarettes-described-as-sports-socks-308273-Dec2011/

The cigarette seizure in Co Monaghan

The cigarette seizure in Co Monaghan

Image: Revenue Customs Service

OFFICERS FROM Revenue Customs Service have seized nine million cigarettes which arrived in Ireland described as ‘sports socks’.

The seizure – in conjunction with the gardaí – was made at a premises in Co Monaghan on Saturday with the ‘President’ brand cigarettes carrying an estimated street value of €3.8 million and a potential loss to the Exchequer of €3.2 million.

The cigarettes had arrived at Dublin Port in a 40-foot maritime container from Malaysia, via Rotterdam and were described as ‘sports socks’ on the manifest.

The seizure was made as part of an ongoing strategy between Revenue and the gardaí to combat cigarette and tobacco smuggling into Ireland.

The Revenue has reminded anyone who is tempted to buy cheap cigarettes from an irregular source that there is a “high possibility” they are counterfeit and provide an unknown set of health risks.

“It also takes much needed funds from the exchequer; hurts legitimate trade and is funding criminal activity,” a statement says.

Anyone any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes can contact Revenue on 1800 295 295.

The health minister, the tobacco lobby, and a major campaign to derail a cigarette ban

Leaked emails reveal how a Tory peer canvassed lobbyists for Marlboro maker Philip Morris – and became a willing partner in its bid to thwart legislation that would have banned its products from display in shops

Earl Howe

Tory health minister Earl Howe. Photograph: Rex Features

The shadow health minister’s email, dated 7 March 2009, was short and to the point: “I should be most grateful for any comments from Philip Morris on the attached.”

The “attached”, it transpired, was a letter from campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), warning that the tobacco industry was using a series of legal manoeuvres to wreck plans for cigarettes to be sold in plain packets.

But instead of responding directly to Ash, the Tory hereditary peer Earl Howe immediately forwarded the letter to Gardant, the Westminster lobbying firm representing Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris, requesting their input.

Subsequent leaked emails show that the following afternoon – a Sunday – Gardant and executives from Philip Morris International (PMI) scrambled to prepare a briefing for Howe ahead of a crucial debate in the Lords on Monday 9 March about a health bill containing a series of tobacco control measures.

The emails show Howe and Labour peer Lord Borrie, who also opposed parts of the bill, agreed to meet the lobbyists on Tuesday 31 March to discuss “strategy” and “amendments to the bill”. This meeting was one of a series of private briefings that have dismayed health campaigners, who question whether Howe, now a health minister in the coalition, should remain in his post.

Ash’s letter had been triggered by a story in the Observer revealing that the tobacco lobby was using arcane trademark laws to oppose proposals to sell cigarettes in plain packets.

The prospect of losing their branding was alarming for the tobacco giants: analysts suggest it is the industry’s “single biggest regulatory threat”. The tobacco firms would throw everything into opposing another measure – which cancer charities wished to see included in the health bill – to prohibit behind-the-counter displays of cigarettes in shops.

It is only now that a Philip Morris whistleblower has leaked scores of the company’s internal emails that the lengths to which lobbyists went to derail tobacco control measures have become apparent – nurturing a “grassroots” campaign that painted an apocalyptic picture of what would happen to newsagents if displays were banned.

Howe, a Rugby-and-Oxford-educated peer who left a high-flying banking career to run his family farm and serve the Tories, shared these views. Along with many Conservatives, he agreed that the ban was “anti-business” and would damage the livelihoods of small shopkeepers. He also agreed with the tobacco industry’s disputed claim that the ban would have no impact on reducing smoking among young people. Indeed, in one debate, he claimed that evidence from Canada and Iceland, where such bans already exist, was “at best speculative” – the key line advanced by the tobacco industry’s army of lobbyists.

PMI was encouraged that Howe had actively sought its views. Emails between PMI and Gardant dated 19 March 2009 noted: “The Conservative party are feeling more optimistic about withdrawing the clause implementing a display ban… I think the Conservatives will wish to escalate the issue of [a] display ban up the political agenda.”

Another email discussing Gardant’s 31 March briefing to Howe revealed the shadow health minister had disclosed his intention to kill the proposal to introduce the ban: “Earl Howe and the Conservative party are determined to challenge the POS [point of sale] display ban outright at the next [report] stage.” It also explained that Borrie would table delaying amendments to the bill, noting he “carries considerable weight on the competition issue as he is a former chairman of the Competition Commission”.

A year later, as the prospect of a display ban loomed following the bill’s successful passage through parliament, PMI, British American Tobacco and other cigarette giants funnelled money and support to organisations, such as the National Federation of Retail Newsagents, that represent the interests of small shops. The message advanced by lobbyists and spin doctors working for the tobacco industry, and disseminated via slick email and direct-mail campaigns, was that a ban would force thousands of small stores out of business. “Project Clarity”, as it was codenamed, targeted 300 MPs, encouraging them to conclude that “commercial arguments” must “outweigh all other criteria”.

Then, according to the emails, shortly before the election in 2010, PMI’s lobbyists started pushing the line that if a future government was “not comfortable” with the ban, “they should delay the implementation”. Briefings were drawn up for senior Tories then in opposition, including health secretary Andrew Lansley, cabinet office minister Francis Maude, and Howe.

MPs were sent a poll, commissioned by a retail organisation supported by the tobacco industry, suggesting 80% of shopkeepers believed the ban would damage them. At a time of rising unemployment, the campaign struck a chord and, to the delight of the tobacco lobby, the Tories came out against the ban.

Following the election, a deal was thrashed out that will not see a display ban in supermarkets come into force until this April, and which has left smaller shops exempted until 2015. To the further disquiet of health campaigners, a promised consultation on plain packaging, due before the end of last month, was pushed back until spring. Howe denied in parliament in the summer that the delays were due to lobbying but health campaigners remain sceptical. He has also pointed out that he met anti-smoking groups over the same period.

The UK is a signatory to the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which says governments must be transparent in their dealings with organisations that have links to the tobacco industry.

“The coalition government has committed to live up to its legal obligations to protect its public health policy from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry, but it cannot do so if industry lobbying is covert and hidden from public scrutiny,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash.

Coming at the end of a year in which the defence secretary, Liam Fox, resigned over his links to lobbyist Adam Werritty, and after several lobbying firms were embarrassed in newspaper stings that exposed their willingness to work for dubious clients, this latest row will raise further concerns about the relationship between politicians and big business. In 2010, prime minister David Cameron warned lobbying could be the next “big scandal”, acknowledging there was a “far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money.”

It was concerns about the relationship between lobbyists and policymakers that has led a former PMI manager to resign in the summer and set up a website publishing internal emails exposing his former employer’s efforts to thwart regulations that threaten its profits. Interviewed by the Observer last week, the whistleblower, who gives his name only as “Max”, suggested he had plenty of ammunition left. “We have more stories,” he said. “One on Australia, one on the EU, possibly another on the UK. There will be more to come.”

TWENTY YEARS OF PRICE-FIXING AND COVER-UP?

Our Marlboro Cartel story describes the massive, widespread cartel operated by the four
multinational tobacco companies today. An interesting question remains: how long has this pricefixing
conspiracy been going on for? Our own story presents proof of the cartel’s operations in the
present and the recent past, but what about ten or twenty years ago?

Our Marlboro Cartel story describes the massive, widespread cartel operated by the fourmultinational tobacco companies today. An interesting question remains: how long has this pricefixingconspiracy been going on for? Our own story presents proof of the cartel’s operations in thepresent and the recent past, but what about ten or twenty years ago?

Download PDF : Smokingate3

THE MARLBORO CARTEL

Reviled by many as a “merchant of death,” Philip Morris International, the world’s leading tobacco
company, is a darling of investors who love its cash-generating, profit-making, stock-appreciating
potential. Above all, investors love PMI’s unique “pricing power,” the key driver of its earnings.
This love affair may be drawing to a bitter end. An industry insider who has revealed an international
cartel operated by the world’s largest tobacco companies claims that PMI’s astonishing profit-making
machine is powered by illegal price-fixing. PMI’s customers are paying inflated prices for their
Marlboros; PMI’s public shareholders, fooled by the “pricing power” myth, are paying inflated prices
for their stock; and PMI’s senior management are laughing all the way to the bank in their Ferraris.
This is the first in a series of explosive revelations about the multinational tobacco industry and its
leader PMI that will be published on this site. Welcome to SmokinGate.

Reviled by many as a “merchant of death,” Philip Morris International, the world’s leading tobaccocompany, is a darling of investors who love its cash-generating, profit-making, stock-appreciatingpotential. Above all, investors love PMI’s unique “pricing power,” the key driver of its earnings.This love affair may be drawing to a bitter end. An industry insider who has revealed an internationalcartel operated by the world’s largest tobacco companies claims that PMI’s astonishing profit-makingmachine is powered by illegal price-fixing. PMI’s customers are paying inflated prices for theirMarlboros; PMI’s public shareholders, fooled by the “pricing power” myth, are paying inflated pricesfor their stock; and PMI’s senior management are laughing all the way to the bank in their Ferraris.This is the first in a series of explosive revelations about the multinational tobacco industry and itsleader PMI that will be published on this site. Welcome to SmokinGate.

Download PDF : Smokingate2

PHILIP MORRIS IN SECRET COOPERATION WITH A BRITISH HEALTH MINISTER

This story exposes Philip Morris International’s (PMI) secret collaboration with the British Health
Minister Earl Howe to defeat tobacco control regulations.
The story also reveals how PMI creates and underwrites retailers’ “grassroots” campaigns against
these regulations — campaigns cynically designed “for the commercial arguments to outweigh all
other criteria.” And it starts a new series of articles about PMI’s strategy of fomenting and financing
opposition to tobacco control efforts around the world.

This story exposes Philip Morris International’s (PMI) secret collaboration with the British HealthMinister Earl Howe to defeat tobacco control regulations.The story also reveals how PMI creates and underwrites retailers’ “grassroots” campaigns againstthese regulations — campaigns cynically designed “for the commercial arguments to outweigh allother criteria.” And it starts a new series of articles about PMI’s strategy of fomenting and financingopposition to tobacco control efforts around the world.

Download PDF : About

Conservative health minister comes under fire over tobacco briefings

Three teenage girls sitting at cafe terrace, smoking cigarettes, low angle view

Anti-smoking campaigners say that young people are particularly prone to impulse-buying of cigarettes when they see them in shops. Photograph: Alamy

The position of Tory health minister Earl Howe was under scrutiny after it was revealed he received a series of briefings from lobbyists representing a global cigarette company while drawing up his party’s opposition to tobacco control measures.

A whistleblower who previously worked at Philip Morris International’s headquarters in Switzerland has posted scores of internal company emails and documents on the SmokinGate website.http://www.smokingate.com/

The communications lay bare the company’s determination to resist anti-smoking legislation in Britain.

Among them are exchanges between Howe and the company’s lobbyists, Gardant Communications, that have alarmed health campaigners.

The emails, exchanged in 2009 when Howe was a shadow health minister, show that the peer approached lobbyists requesting the company’s views on calls for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging. Subsequent emails show that the lobbyists gave several briefings to Howe, who led Tory opposition to the Labour government’s plans to introduce a ban on behind-the-counter cigarette displays in shops.

“It is deeply disturbing that Earl Howe not only met the tobacco industry but also appears to have connived with them to try to undermine public health policy while in opposition,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash, the anti-smoking pressure group. “Worse still, he did not make his contacts with the tobacco industry known during the debate in parliament, when he was fighting to prevent the legislation to put tobacco out of sight in shops becoming law. This is unacceptable and his fellow peers should be asking whether he is the right person to lead on health for the government.”

Introduction of the measure was delayed when the coalition came to power, after a powerful lobbying campaign by small shops – co-ordinated and funded by the tobacco companies – pushing the disputed line that the ban would hurt the high street. Supermarkets must observe the ban by this April, but small shops have until 2015 to comply – to the dismay of cancer charities. Health groups and cancer charities say cigarette displays normalise smoking in the minds of the young and removing them will result in fewer children taking up the habit.

A report for the European commission claims: “Restricting or banning the promotion of tobacco products in retail outlets, and restricting or banning the display of tobacco products at the point of sale have been shown to remove smoking cues and reduce triggers for unplanned tobacco purchases in stores. This effect is thought to be particularly strong among adolescents and young people, who are thought to be more susceptible to such displays and promotions.”

Howe endorsed the tobacco industry’s claims that the evidence linking the removal of the displays to a reduction in smoking was inconclusive and that banning them would see many newsagents go out of business.

A spokesman for Howe said any suggestion that the government’s health policies had been influenced by the tobacco industry was completely incorrect. “As an opposition spokesman, it was incumbent on Earl Howe to speak to all sides in the runup to debates on government plans to ban the display of tobacco products in shops,” the spokesman said. “He met with anti-smoking groups as well as representatives of the tobacco industry. The job of any opposition spokesman is to challenge and scrutinise all proposals to ensure laws are as well drafted as possible.”

However, the Labour shadow health minister, Jamie Reed, said Howe still had some explaining to do.

“It is alarming that a health minister ever thought it appropriate to seek the help of the tobacco industry in sabotaging plans to reduce smoking-related diseases,” Reed said. “Howe is the minister now tasked with forcing the government’s reckless dismantling of our NHS through parliament in early 2012.

“Labour will be asking serious questions about his links to Philip Morris International and this further example of the close ties between Tory ministers and tobacco and junk food manufacturers.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/31/tory-earl-how-tobacco-ban/print

Insider II

http://www.smokingate.com/

Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults

Download (PDF, 270KB)

The role of packaging imagery on consumer preferences for experience goods

Download (PDF, 1.84MB)