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** 12 August 2019
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** UK
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** Academics question report findings on illicit trade (#1)
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** Tobacco regulations being reviewed (#2)
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** Menthol ban could potentially boost vaping market (#3)
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** More than 70,000 illegal cigarettes found in Huddersfield town centre shop (#4)
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** International
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** Swiss diplomats placed request for tobacco firm in Moldova (#5)
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** German campaigners propose plan to clean up cigarette butts (#6)
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** UK
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A study by the American Enterprise Institute has suggested that high tobacco taxes drive the demand for illegally smuggled cigarettes by driving a price wedge compared to legal tobacco, however its data and methodology have been questioned by academics.
Deborah Arnott, of the tobacco control group ASH, disagreed. Countries at different levels of economic development, such as the UK, Kenya and Georgia, have all improved the effectiveness of their tobacco tax regimes while also reducing smuggling and raising taxes, she said.
Arnott contributed to a World Bank report in February showing that beginning in 2000, the U.K. government implemented a successful anti-smuggling strategy while continuing to increase taxes. Since then, the February report said, the illicit market share for manufactured cigarettes had fallen from 21% to 15%, and from 61% to 28% for hand-rolled tobacco. At the same time, revenue losses were cut from £3.5 billion to £2.5 billion, the paper said.
Over the same time period, the number of adults in the UK who smoke fell from more than one in four to fewer than one in six.
Source: Law360 (Paywall), 9 August 2019
Applied Economics. The perverse effect of sin taxes: the rise of illicit white cigarettes. ([link removed]) 2019.
See also:
World Bank. Confronting Illicit Trade in Tobacco: A Global review of Country experiences. ([link removed]) Editor Sheila Dutta. 2019.
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** The government is reviewing the tobacco display ban legislation, five years on from its implementation in the UK. A public consultation, launched on 22 July, is seeking to determine how effective the tobacco legislation enforced between 2010 and 2016 had been at meeting its objectives of discouraging your people from taking up smoking and encouraging existing smokers to quit.
Under the terms of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, ministers have a duty to review any legislation that imposes requirements or conditions on business.
The findings of the review will be used to inform development of the Government’s approach to the regulations moving forward. The consultation closes at midnight on 15 September and can be accessed here ([link removed]) .
Source: Convenience Store, 9 August 2019
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The vaping market is predicted to receive a boost from the ban on menthol cigarettes coming into force on 20 May 2020. As part of the 2017 EU Tobacco Products Directive, sale of all menthol tobacco products, including capsule and ‘crushball’ cigarettes, which currently account for just over 15% of the overall cigarette market, will become illegal under the EU ban on tobacco products with characterising flavours.
Retailers are anticipating those smokers who favour menthol to transition from tobacco to vaping where they have greater choice of flavours.
Source: Convenience Store, 9 August 2019
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A Huddersfield town centre shopkeeper had more than 70,000 illicit cigarettes and 8kg of illicit tobacco seized from his shop by Trading Standards. Mohammad Zada denied selling the illegal products but was found guilty on 8 July at York Crown Court.
West Yorkshire Trading Standards said it had received several complaints over a number of years about illicit tobacco and cigarettes being sold there. They visited the store multiple times and found illegal tobacco hidden in the sales area and the store room in hidden compartments.
Trading Standards said the inspections and prosecution were part of the Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health Programme. Funded by the five Public Health authorities in West Yorkshire, its aim is to help smokers stop using tobacco for good through education and investigating traders who supply illicit tobacco. To date the programme has taken almost 5,000,000 illegal cigarettes and over a tonne of illegal hand rolling tobacco off the streets, and with more inspections planned in West Yorkshire over the coming weeks these figures are likely to increase.
Source: Examiner Live, 11 August 2019
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** International
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Swiss officials have lodged a request with Moldovan authorities on behalf of Philip Morris to request the cigarette manufacturer be giving a voice in discussions around new tobacco regulation, Swiss media has reported. According to the Le Temps newspaper, diplomats from the Swiss embassy in Kiev – which also covers interests in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital – lodged the request in July as politicians in the eastern European country were debating a new tobacco law.
Philip Morris, based in Geneva, is a big employer and tax-payer in Moldova, a country where some 50% of people are smokers. However, a new administration that took office in June has embarked on a range of progressive reforms, including efforts to raise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products
The foreign ministry in Bern told Le Temps that the request sent to Moldovan authorities solely concerned the consultation process and did not touch on the content of the new legislation, which it said was a matter for the parliament in Chisinau to decide. It also defended its support for Philip Morris: “one of the tasks of Swiss embassies is to represent the interests of the Swiss economy in their host country,” it told the newspaper.
However, the story comes just a few weeks after a public debate around Philip Morris' role in sponsoring the Swiss pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Following negative headlines and criticism by health organisations the Health Ministry dropped the partnership and has committed to review rules around sponsorship.
Source: Swiss Info, 11 August 2019
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This week, the German government is expected to detail a plan for dealing with littered cigarette butts, including forcing tobacco companies to pay for public ashtrays. Germans smoke 204 million cigarettes a day and many butts are discarded on the ground. One study found 2.7 cigarette butts for every cubic metre of pavement in central Berlin.
Campaigners are urging Svenja Schulze, the environment minister, to make smokers pay a deposit of at least 20 cents per cigarette, which would be refunded when they returned the butts. Machines in German supermarkets have dispensed between 15 and 25 cents for returning a glass or plastic bottle for years. Under the Litter Pickers’ plan, set out in a petition supported by 53,000 people, shops would charge €4 on top of the €6 price of a typical packet of cigarettes, and hand out “ash wallets” in which to collect the butts. Customers would get their money back when they returned a full wallet.
However, the environment ministry argues that there are approaches that are more suitable, more hygienic and much less bureaucratic than a deposit system. Instead, Ms Schulze intends to make tobacco companies cover some of the costs of cleaning up roads, parks and beaches.
Source: The Times, 10 August 2019
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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