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** 9 December 2020
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** UK
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** Johnson shifts position in bid to break Brexit talks impasse (#1)
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** Northern Ireland could have cheapest cigarettes in the UK if it is a no-deal Brexit (#2)
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** Scotland: Fife Council pension fund lost £2.4m over the last three years (#3)
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** British American Tobacco sees 2020 at the upper end of the forecast (#4)
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** International
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** US: San Francisco nixes cigarette smoking ban in apartments (#5)
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** UK
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**
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** UK offer on internal market bill clauses follows Barnier saying he could not guarantee a trade deal in coming days.

Boris Johnson has offered to scrap lawbreaking clauses from contentious Brexit legislation if discussions over implementing last year’s EU divorce deal are successful. The overture came less than an hour before the British prime minister was due to speak to Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, to take stock of deadlocked trade negotiations.

Ministers admitted that the clauses would allow ministers to break international law, since the legislation would override Britain’s withdrawal treaty with the EU; the issue has dogged trade talks ever since. The offer to remove or deactivate the offending clauses came after a meeting between Michael Gove, the British Cabinet Office minister, and Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission vice-president, in Brussels. They sit on a joint committee overseeing the Northern Ireland protocol, a provision that leaves the region under the EU’s customs code after the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 and thus subject to special trading arrangements.

The UK government confirmed that if the joint committee concluded its work as planned then ministers would neutralise the “notwithstanding” clause that allows ministers to override international law. It would remove a clause on export declarations while it would also “deactivate” clauses relating to state aid, so that they could only be used “when consistent with the UK’s rights and obligations under international law”. Similar clauses in the taxation bill, due to be voted on by MPs on Wednesday, would also be “kept under review.”

Editorial Note

The public health-related provisions in the Bill which had been strengthened by the House of Lords were removed by the House of Commons on Monday. The Bill is back with the Lords today as part of the ‘ping pong’ process and the Lords are continuing to push for stronger public health-related provisions. ‘Ping pong’ is likely to conclude by the end of this week or early next week.

Source: Financial Times, 7 December 2020
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** Northern Ireland could end up with cheaper cigarettes and tobacco than the rest of the UK because of a no-deal Brexit, a report has said. The UK would apply tariffs to imports from the EU of cigarettes and tobacco in the event of a crash-out exit. However, Dr Rob Branston, an economist at the School of Management at the University of Bath, said Northern Ireland would avoid any rises.

The protocol means Northern Ireland will continue as part of the single market, subject to EU customs union rules and therefore avoiding tariffs. He said Brexit could also bring more flexibility in how tobacco is taxed in Britain, which could again widen the price gap with Northern Ireland if levies are increased.

Dr Branston said Northern Ireland would also retain the current photo health warning labels on tobacco packaging, whereas the remainder of the UK will switch to using Australian imagery.

Source: Belfast Telegraph, 9 December 2020

See also: International Journal of Drug Policy - What does Brexit mean for UK tobacco control? ([link removed])
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** Fife Council’s pension fund lost £2.4 million over the last three years, leading to calls for it to stop investing in fossil fuels. The fund, which administers pensions on behalf of Fife Council, is one of ten local government pension funds which new research reveals saw investments in oil companies collapse between April 2017 and November 2020.

MSP Mark Ruskell said: “Public pension funds invest millions in bankrolling oil companies, the arms industry and big tobacco every year. Not only are these investments unethical, but as this research shows they are actually losing pension funds substantial amounts of money. I don’t believe that most people who have chosen a career in public service want to see their pension funds funnelling cash into these companies when this it could be invested in socially responsible endeavours. I urge the Fife Council pension fund to divest its stake in fossil fuels now and call on Fife Council to bring to bear its influence to make this happen.”

Fife Council’s head of finance Elaine Muir commented: “Our Superannuation and Pensions committee works to a set of investment principles. These are in place to ensure investment managers consider the social, environmental and ethical policies of companies in which they invest. …We’ll continue to closely monitor our investments, making sure members of the pension scheme receive the best possible return while taking full account of our wider ethical responsibilities.”

Source: Fife Today, 8 December 2020
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** British American Tobacco (BAT) on Wednesday raised its revenue forecast for 2020 to the upper end of its prior expectations, thanks to a smaller-than-feared hit to cigarette demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.

BAT said it expects adjusted revenue growth on a constant currency basis to be at the upper end of its previous forecast of 1% to 3% in 2020. The company, which also owns vapour product brand Vype, maintained its annual growth forecast for adjusted earnings per share at mid-single digit.

Source: Reuters, 9 December 2020
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** International
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** An ordinance to ban cigarette smoking in San Francisco apartments failed to get a second vote from supervisors on Tuesday, meaning the proposal is dormant for now.

Supervisors last week approved the measure, saying that non-smoking residents living in cramped apartment buildings should be free from secondhand smoke. The measure carved out an exemption for marijuana as it is illegal under state law to smoke cannabis in public places.

The legislation required two separate votes, and Tuesday’s yes vote was considered a given. However, Supervisor Aaron Peskin on Tuesday requested the proposal be sent back to committee, saying that he had heard from long-time, low-income tenants and worried about the ban’s impact. Those against the ban argued that it infringed on their rights inside their homes.

Source: Daily Mail, 9 December 2020
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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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