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August, 2013:

Smoking new battleground as Labour accuses Libs of accepting donations from ‘Big Tobacco’

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/federal-election/smoking-new-battleground-as-labour-accuses-libs-of-accepting-donations-from-8216big-tobacco8217/story-fnho52ip-1226689218475

Smoking new battleground as Labour accuses Libs of accepting donations from ‘Big Tobacco’

  • by: MALCOLM FARR, LANAI SCARR
  • From: news.com.au
  • August 01, 2013 6:44AM

Smokers likely a budget target

Cigarettes and Big Tobacco the new battleground in the lead-up to the election. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

LABOR is launching a surprise attack on the Liberals for accepting donations from the tobacco industry as the Government prepares to increase cigarette taxes.

Smoking has suddenly become the new political battleground and the centre of the economic and health debate.

An ALP video advertisement released last night features recordings of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott defending the donations from a legal industry. Cigarette makers have given the Liberals some $3 million over 12 years.

“I don’t see why, if they want to make a donation, we don’t accept it,” Mr Abbott is shown saying.

Labor has refused money from the industry since 2004.

The advertisement also highlights a figure used yesterday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that smoking costs the economy $31.5 billion a year, and that it is related to thousands of cancer deaths.

The Opposition is today ready to press home its own accusation Mr Rudd has benefited from Big Tobacco.

Mr Abbott is expected to again highlight that as a back bencher last October Mr Rudd accepted plane travel paid for by a foundation with tobacco links.

“He routinely accepted private-sponsored travel, including, quite recently, private sponsored travel from a German firm connected with the tobacco industry,” said Mr Abbott.

Mr Rudd had declared on his MP’s register of interests the air trip to Berlin for a foreign affairs comment. It was provided by the Kober Foundation which owns a major supplier of cigarette making machines and had a turnover of $1.1 billion in 2011.

Treasurer Chris Bowen will release an economic statement before the end of the week to detail how the Government will make up for a revenue decline which has been much steeper than forecast in the Budget last May.

The Government has been looking at spending cuts and tax rises which would not cost jobs, reduce productivity or affect essential services head of the official start of the election campaign.

It has decided on a rise in cigarette excise and Prime Minister Rudd and Health Minister Tanya Plibersek have been talking up the health benefits and economic advantages of reducing smoking rates.

The Opposition has been declining to say it would support or oppose more tax on tobacco and has limited comment to the Government’s need to find more cash.

“This is a government which can’t control its own spending; therefore, it’s always looking to hit the Australian people with new taxes,” said Tony Abbott yesterday.

The last Budget Mr Rudd presided over as Prime Minister, in 2010, increased excise on tobacco by 25 per cent. Since Labor took office in 2007 taxes on tobacco have risen 43 per cent, which includes regular twice-yearly excise increases by the inflation rate.

Taxes now make up some 60 per dent of the retail price of a packet of 30 Peter Jackson cigarettes.

Mr Bowen this morning said all factors had been taken into account when considering the increase in taxes on tobacco, including health and revenue considerations.

“We certainly take into account all the impacts of the decisions we make,” Mr Bowen told ABC Radio.

“We look at things like the fact that last time the tobacco excise was increased there was a reduced consumption by about 11 per cent. We look at the views of health experts that say this will be a substantial step in reducing smoking, and particularly in the number of young people taking up smoking.

“So it is a holistic measure. We look at the impact on government revenue and we also look at the health impact.”

Mr Bowen did not rule out further tax increases in other areas when the government’s economic update was likely released tomorrow.

“We have said there is an economic statement coming and I have said there are some difficult decisions to be made to return to surplus,” he said.

The Treasurer is attending an event this morning with Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare and Youth Off The Streets founder Father Chris Riley in western Sydney. He will doorstop on the tobacco tax increase at around 10am.

Seven held as customs bust cigs racket

A multimillion-dollar cross-border illicit cigarette smuggling racket has been smashed and seven men arrested.

Monday, August 12, 2013

A multimillion-dollar cross-border illicit cigarette smuggling racket has been smashed and seven men arrested.

Customs officers seized five million sticks of illicit cigarettes with a market value of HK$12 million and a duty potential of HK$8 million.

Five were arrested in Sha Tin last Wednesday while unloading the cigarettes, and the other two separately at Man Kam To Control Point on Friday.

“The cigarettes were concealed in the center of cartons that were packed with electronic goods,” Investigation Bureau deputy head Catherine Lai Sau- ieng said yesterday.

Anti-illicit-cigarette investigation division commander Wan Hing-chuen added: “The way they distribute illicit cigarettes has changed from selling on the streets to telephone orders, and the main distribution areas are East Kowloon and the northwest part of Hong Kong, due to the large number of public housing estates.”

Officers also seized 5,000 counterfeit mobile phones and 400 tablet computers with a value of about HK$5.2 million.

“This is a very rare case of mixing illicit cigarettes and electronic products,” Wan said. “We suspect that the syndicates combined their smuggling activities for the sake of convenience.”

The electronic goods were for transhipment to Third World countries.

Wan believes customs dismantled a major smuggling syndicate with the seizure of the largest volume of illicit cigarettes in the past three years. CLEO TSE

Customs seizes 5m cigarettes smuggled from mainland China

Monday, 12 August, 2013, 12:00am

NewsHong Kong

CUSTOMS

Department believes smuggling syndicate smashed after cross-boundary operation

About 5 million illicit cigarettes were seized by the Customs and Excise Department in a one-week special operation to combat the smuggling of cigarettes from the mainland to Hong Kong through a cross-boundary logistics network.

The total market value of the cigarettes alone in the three seizures was about HK$12 million with a duty potential of about HK$8 million. However, in one of the seizures the department also netted 5,000 counterfeit mobile phones and 400 tablet computers that were together worth HK$2.2 million.

Customs believes that a major cigarette-smuggling syndicate has been dismantled, with the seizure of the largest volume of illicit cigarettes in three years.

Seven Hong Kong men aged between 38 and 55 were arrested, one of whom was allegedly a core member of the syndicate.

Lai Sau-ieng, deputy head of the revenue and general investigation bureau of the customs department, said the syndicate had tried to conceal the cigarettes in a hollow stack of paper cartons.

“The cartons were stacked together and were put at the innermost part of the truck.

“After we opened them, we could see that the illicit cigarettes were placed inside the hollow cartons,” she said.

The cigarettes would have been conveyed to designated points for speedy distribution to various buyers in Hong Kong, she added.

Customs last Wednesday intercepted a cross-boundary container truck unloading goods at a factory building in Sha Tin. About 2.4 million illicit cigarettes were seized from the truck and five men were arrested.

With information revealed from the first case, two cross-boundary trucks declared to contain assorted goods were intercepted at Man Kam To Control Point at two different times on Friday, and about 2.6 million illicit cigarettes were seized. On board one of the trucks, a large batch of suspected counterfeit mobile phones and tablet computers were also found. The two male truck drivers were arrested.

So far this year customs has cracked 18 big smuggling attempts involving at least 500,000 cigarettes in each case. There were 17 such cases all of last year.

The maximum penalty for smuggling is a fine of HK$2 million and imprisonment for seven years, while anyone involved in dealing with, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes can be punished with a fine of HK$1 million and a two-year jail term.



Links:
[1] http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1273359/customs-bolsters-seizures-142pc
[2] http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1277485/empty-truck-yields-113m-illegal-cigarettes
[3] http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1268867/illicit-tobacco-trade-sparks-call-joint-response-police-customs
[4] http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1227041/customs-seize-hk24-million-worth-counterfeit-cigarettes-and-tobacco

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/131w/public/2013/07/02/scmp_18may13_ns_customs2_nora7719a_35843653.jpg?itok=68D0s11i

Customs bolsters seizures by 142pc

2 Jul 2013

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/131w/public/2013/07/08/scmp_30apr13_ns_pc1_dw_5147a_35503511.jpg?itok=iK0ng6OX

‘Empty’ truck yields 1.13m illegal cigarettes

8 Jul 2013

Illicit tobacco trade sparks call for joint response by police, customs

26 Jun 2013

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/131w/public/2013/04/30/0a8297b176eb383c68a6b371e7592aac.jpg?itok=wORPm9WU

Customs seize HK$24 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco

1 May 2013

Customs seizes five million sticks of illicit cigarettes

http://7thspace.com/headlines/442825/customs_seizes_five_million_sticks_of_illicit_cigarettes.html

Customs seizes five million sticks of illicit cigarettes

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Hong Kong Customs mounted a one-week special operation against cross-boundary smuggling of illicit cigarettes by a targeted syndicate and smashed three cases in the action. A total of about five million sticks of illicit cigarettes were seized and the total market value was about $12 million with a duty potential of about $8 million. In the operation, seven men aged between 38 and 55 were arrested and three cross-boundary vehicles used for conveying the illicit cigarettes were detained.

A batch of counterfeit mobile phones and tablet computers were also seized.

After conducting a series of in-depth investigations, Customs found that the targeted illicit cigarettes syndicate smuggled cigarettes into Hong Kong by cross-boundary trucks. The cigarettes were then conveyed to designated points for speedy distribution to various buyers in the territory. After comprehensive intelligence analysis and thorough investigation, Customs took action on August 7 and intercepted a cross-boundary container truck unloading goods at a factory building in Sha Tin.

About 2.4 million sticks of illicit cigarettes were seized from the container truck and five men were arrested.

With information revealed from the first case, Customs identified further targets for action. Two cross-boundary trucks declared to contain assorted goods were intercepted at Man Kam To Control Point on August 9 and about 2.6 million sticks of illicit cigarettes were seized. Onboard one of the trucks, a large batch of suspected counterfeit mobile phones and tablet computers were also found.

The two male truck drivers were arrested.

Customs believed that a major illicit cigarette smuggling syndicate has been dismantled, with seizure of the largest volume of illicit cigarettes in the past three years. Customs officers found that the syndicate tried to conceal illicit cigarettes in a hollow stack of carton paper boxes, a concealment method detected by Customs before. Meanwhile, this was also the first time that significant quantities of counterfeit electronic goods were found to have been smuggled together with illicit cigarettes in order to increase profit.

The Deputy Head of the Revenue and General Investigation Bureau, Ms Lai Sau-ieng, said at a press conference today (August 11), “The operation showed the effectiveness of our enforcement strategy, especially the stepped-up enforcement actions at source.

Customs will continue to undertake stringent enforcement against illicit cigarettes activities for protection of government revenue.”

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, smuggling is a serious offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

Members of the public are urged to report suspected illicit cigarette activities by calling the Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.

Source: HKSAR Government

Tobacco lobby’s counterfeit argument – Letters – The Scotsman

http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/tobacco-lobby-s-counterfeit
-argument-1-3039194

Tobacco lobby’s counterfeit argument

Published on the09  August 2013  19:52

THE Tobacco Retailers -Alliance (TRA) is promoting a disturbing story of
one in ten corner shops at risk of closing due to sales lost to -illegal
tobacco (your report, 8 August).

Yet this dramatic claim quickly falls apart under the briefest
examination.

After a long and loud campaign telling their members that counterfeit
tobacco is damaging local shops, the TRA asked shopkeepers whether they
thought their shop was at risk of closing due to counterfeit and
smuggled tobacco.

We are not told how those involved made sure of an unbiased sample or
whether they just relied on their existing friends and contacts.

Of those who responded, 92 were from Scotland.

So the dramatic “one in ten” headline is based on nine individuals
across Scotland giving their personal opinion.

Why would the TRA make so much of such flimsy evidence, and then use it
to argue against the level of tax on cigarettes?

Why would its spokesperson claim that tobacco smuggling “continues to
worsen” when the figures from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs actually
show the illegal market has been declining for -at least a decade?

Perhaps the answer is that the Tobacco Retailers Alliance is paid for by
British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco, three of
the world’s largest tobacco companies.

Funnily enough, a quick glance at the group’s website makes it perfectly
clear that the TRA’s primary role is to argue against the regulation of
tobacco. If only the tobacco companies felt able to come forward and
argue their own case, rather than hide behind front groups, then we
might at least be able to have a more honest debate.

Sheila Duffy

Chief Executive

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) Scotland

Frederick Street

Edinburgh

yet another study showing no economic effect SF

Download PDF : 2013 Economic Impact SF 9 States, US. CDC, PCD.

‘To quarterback behind the scenes, third-party efforts’: the tobacco industry and the Tea Party

Tob Control doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815

  • Research paper

‘To quarterback behind the scenes,

third-party efforts’: the tobacco industry

and the Tea Party

Description: Description: Open Access

  1. Amanda Fallin,
  2. Rachel Grana,
  3. Stanton A Glantz

+ Author Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, San Francisco, California, USA
  1. Correspondence to Stanton A Glantz, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Room 366 Library, 530 Parnassus, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390, USA; glantz@medicine.ucsf.edu
  • Received 1 October 2012
  • Accepted 29 January 2013
  • Published Online First 8 February 2013

Abstract

Background The Tea Party, which gained prominence in the USA in 2009, advocates limited government and low taxes. Tea Party organisations, particularly Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, oppose smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes.

Methods We used the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, the Wayback Machine, Google, LexisNexis, the Center for Media and Democracy and the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) to examine the tobacco companies’ connections to the Tea Party.

Results Starting in the 1980s, tobacco companies worked to create the appearance of broad opposition to tobacco control policies by attempting to create a grassroots smokers’ rights movement. Simultaneously, they funded and worked through third-party groups, such as Citizens for a Sound Economy, the predecessor of AFP and FreedomWorks, to accomplish their economic and political agenda. There has been continuity of some key players, strategies and messages from these groups to Tea Party organisations. As of 2012, the Tea Party was beginning to spread internationally.

Conclusions Rather than being a purely grassroots movement that spontaneously developed in 2009, the Tea Party has developed over time, in part through decades of work by the tobacco industry and other corporate interests. It is important for tobacco control advocates in the USA and internationally, to anticipate and counter Tea Party opposition to tobacco control policies and ensure that policymakers, the media and the public understand the longstanding connection between the tobacco industry, the Tea Party and its associated organisations.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode

Tobacco company must pay lung cancer victim’s family US$37.5 million ‘because they targeted teens with their advertising’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383745/Tobacco-company-pay-lung-cancer-victims-family-37-5-million-targeted-teens-advertising.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Tobacco company must pay lung cancer victim’s

family US$37.5 million ‘because they targeted teens

with their advertising’

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 18:42 GMT, 2 August 2013 | UPDATED: 18:50 GMT, 2 August 2013

A Florida jury has ordered tobacco company R.J. Reynolds to pay $37.5 million for contributing to a lung cancer victim’s death by marketing their cigarettes to youths.

The money will go to the family of Laura Grossman, a mother of two who died in 1995 at the age of 38, roughly 23 years after she started smoking R.J. Reynold’s ‘Vantage’ cigarettes.

Grossman was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993. Attorneys for her family argued during the 20-day trial that she became addicted to ‘Vantage’ cigarettes at the young age of 15 because the company marketed them to youths.

Jessica Grossman died of lung cancer in 1995

Jessica Grossman died of lung cancer in 1995

Jessica Grossman, a mother of two, died of lung cancer in 1995 at the age of 38. She began smoking when she was 15 years old

‘The jury’s message was loud and clear: Big Tobacco should be protecting teens, not killing them,’ said Scott Schlesinger, the Grossman family’s lawyer.

‘They should be curing cancer, not causing it. Instead, they continue to addict kids to nicotine, deliver these death sentences, and then try to blame smokers who they addicted. Their conduct is reprehensible.’

In the 1970s, R.J. Reynolds advertised its ‘Vantage’ cigarettes as containing less harmful chemicals than other cigarettes.

In a newspaper ad from the 1970s, the company states: ‘The thing that makes Vantage so special is that its filter is based on an innovative design concept that gives smokers flavor like a  full-flavor cigarette without anywhere near the “tar” or the nicotine.’

The company – which is expected to appeal the jury’s decision – argued during trial that Grossman knew the risks of smoking and that she was responsible for her own death.

Attorneys for Grossman's family argued that she became addicted to 'Vantage' cigarettes at the young age of 15 because the company marketed them to youths

Attorneys for Grossman’s family argued that she became addicted to ‘Vantage’ cigarettes at the young age of 15 because the company marketed them to youths

Schlesinger countered that Grossman became addicted to the cigarettes at such a young age that ‘she was no match for Big Tobacco.’

Grossman’s case was originally part of a class action lawsuit on behalf of 700,000 smokers that the Florida Supreme Court threw out in 2006. In its ruling, the court found that tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and kept health risks concealed, but that the case could not proceed as a class action. Instead, the court said each case must be proven individually.

The ruling paved the way for plaintiffs like Grossman’s family to sue tobacco companies for negligence.It also said that smokers and their families need only prove addiction to nicotine and that smoking was the cause of their illnesses or deaths.

Australian male smoking rate far lower than HKG

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A.

B.

Victorian smoking rates down to 13%

Kate Hagan http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-smoking-rates-down-to-13-20130805-2rai0.html


Published: August 6, 2013 – 12:00AM

Smoking rates in Victoria continue to fall with just 13 per cent of Victorians now smoking regularly and young people turning their back on the habit, new figures show.

Cancer Council Victoria research to be released on Tuesday shows 13.3 per cent of Victorians were regular smokers who inhaled weekly or more often last year, down from 14.4 per cent in 2011.

The smoking rates are the lowest since the Cancer Council started collecting the data in 1998, when 21.2 per cent were regular smokers, and the 58.2 per cent of Victorians who had never smoked was the highest. More than 70 per cent of young people aged 18 to 29 had never smoked, a much higher rate than for older Victorians.

The research showed that men (16 per cent) were more likely to be smokers than women (11.2 per cent). Also more likely to be smokers were older Victorians, those with lower levels of education and in lower socioeconomic groups.

Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie said particularly pleasing was a “narrowing of the gap” between smoking rates in Victorians of low and high socioeconomic status.

“We’ve seen declines across all age groups and socioeconomic groups in recent years but the acceleration in the decline in smoking rates among Victoria’s most disadvantaged communities and young people is very encouraging,” she said.

“Highly emotive anti-smoking advertising campaigns have been shown to have the greatest impact on low socioeconomic groups and is the result of long-term investment from both state and federal governments. We need to see that investment sustained . . . for this decline to continue.”

Quit policy manager Kylie Lindorff said tax hikes were another measure proven to impact smoking rates, particularly among lower income earners.

She welcomed the federal government’s move last week to increase the tobacco excise by 12.5 per cent a year from December and expected plain packaging would also deliver dividends in coming years, but said there was plenty more work to do.

“It’s often thought that we’ve done so well on tobacco control, we’ve won the battle, but we still have about 4000 Victorians every year dying from tobacco-related illnesses so we can’t afford to be complacent,” Ms Lindorff said.

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-smoking-rates-down-to-13-20130805-2rai0.html

Australian Smoking Rate to Beat U.S.’s on Tax: Chart of the Day

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-04/australian-smoking-rate-to-beat-u-s-s-on-tax-chart-of-the-day.html

Australian Smoking Rate to Beat U.S.’s on Tax: Chart of the Day

By Lee MillerAug 5, 2013 1:00 AM GMT+0800

Q

http://www.bloomberg.com/image/iw1e_Gs0vyNA.jpg

Bloomberg

Australia’s plan to raise excise taxes on cigarettes could reduce its national smoking rate to below that of the U.S., a position it lost last year for the first time since 2004.

The CHART OF THE DAY compares the percentage of adults who smoke in Australia to levels in the world’s five-largest economies. The U.S. rate fell to 18 percent in 2012, below Australia’s 18.1 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. France had the highest rate at 30.5 percent and was the only nation in the group where smoking rose the past decade. Japan declined the most, to 21.1 percent compared with 32.7 percent a decade earlier, the data show.

Among 80 economies tracked by Bloomberg Industries, India had the lowest smoking rate at 6.5 percent, followed by Hong Kong’s 10.2 percent. Georgia and Russia were highest at 46.7 percent and 41.9 percent, respectively.

“We know that increasing excise is the single most effective way for government to reduce premature death and disease due to smoking,” Australian Treasurer Chris Bowen said in a statement Aug. 1. Australia had the 12th largest economy, according to the most-recent global data.

The excise tax measure will increase the average price of cigarettes in Australia to almost A$1 each, or about A$20 ($17.80) per pack of 20. The average price of a pack of cigarettes in the U.S. was $6.10 as of the end of last year, according to data from the Tobacco Merchants Association. Costs and taxes vary among the 50 U.S. states. Minnesota last month raised taxes by about $1.60 per pack, pushing the average price to $7.50, according to a statement by ClearWay Minnesota, a non-profit group that aims to reduce tobacco use.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lee Miller in Bangkok at lmiller@bloomberg.net