Tobacco.org

• Why is tobacco control still a problem in Europe? 

Tobacco control in the EU is at a crossroads. Ideally, politicians and civil servants will clearly delineate and make transparent all contacts with the tobacco industry and those in their pay, as per Article 5.3 in the FCTC. We also call on European governments and the EU to take a more robust stance and legislate more effectively to protect European citizens. The first test of the EC’s willingness to do so will be the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. We await the outcome of that process.

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Table of Contents - February 2012, 22 (suppl 1): Progress on Tobacco Control in Europe: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Europe Project  

Higher tobacco taxes 'could save lives' 

• Top European Executives See Innovation as Key to Growth 

At a time when growth is at a greater premium than ever, investors appreciate such initiatives. All of these executives win top billing within their industries in the 2012 All-­Europe Executive Team, Institutional Investor’s exclusive annual ranking of the best European CEOs, CFOs, investor relations professionals and IR teams. II surveyed 825 buy-side and 1,470 sell-side analysts from nearly 600 firms and asked them to vote for the best executives in their sectors.

EADS and ASML Holding, a Dutch maker of equipment for producing semiconductors, top this year’s ranking. Their CEOs, CFOs, IR professionals and IR teams each win first-place honors from both buy- and sell-side analysts. Trailing only slightly behind, U.K. media giant Pearson and metals and mining company Xstrata of Switzerland come in first place in seven categories. British American Tobacco (BAT), French luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and German software provider SAP tie for fifth place by claiming first in six categories. . . .

Much the same may be said of consumer products companies’ need to deliver something new, even those making the addictive type. Tobacco products maker BAT’s most prestigious brand, Dunhill, is growing thanks in part to Reloc, a resealable pack that helps to keep the contents fresher, according to CEO Nicandro Durante, who is voted best chief executive in the Tobacco sector by both sets of analysts. Durante says innovations account for 12 percent of BAT’s total sales and more than one third of those of its four leading brands. Kent, which he describes as “our most innovative brand,” includes a version called Convertibles that contain a menthol-­flavored capsule that can be pinched at any time when smoking to release that taste. A feature called Click & Roll in Lucky Strike uses similar technology. Those innovations helped the three brands plus BAT’s other leader, Pall Mall, grow revenue by 9 percent in 2011. The four now account for roughly one third of the company’s total of £15.4 billion.

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Overview  

the firms that ranked highest in Institutional Investor’s 2012 All-Europe Executive Team represent a group of heavyweight firms that are managing the recent challenges just fine, according to the buy-side and sell-side analysts who voted in our exclusive ranking of the continent’s best CEOs, CFOs, and investor relations professionals and teams.

These are firms that find a way to be buoyed by their reach into fast-growing regions and markets outside Europe yet unhindered by global scale. They are positioning — in some cases transforming — their businesses to generate steady streams of shareholder value.

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Most Honored Companies  

51 British American Tobacco

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• Report calls for higher tax on 'roll-your-own' cigarettes  

Radically increasing the tax rate on all tobacco products is the most effective way to reduce smoking according to a three-year study published in Brussels today.

The study, funded by the European Commission, says it is a policy that could boost revenues for the Government, while also saving lives.

The report also calls for the tax rate on roll-your-own tobacco to be increased to match manufactured cigarettes, because the recession has led many smokers to switch to the cheaper product.

The co-ordinator of the consortium that ran the study, Professor Luke Clancy, said EU governments should "double the minimum monetary tax level on cigarettes".

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• Plain packaging proposals for tobacco will ‘damage business’ 

UK government plans to strip cigarette packs and other tobacco products of their distinctive branding have been condemned by the former head of the UK Patent Office’s designs and trade marks division.

Peter Lawrence, who was director of the division from 1997 to 2003, said the government’s “plain packaging” proposals for tobacco amounted to the confiscation of intellectual property and would damage business.

He said: “The UK has fought hard at international level to ensure that all countries respect trade mark rights, and for the UK to take action to deprive brand owners of the right to use their marks would be an unfortunate precedent to say the least. There may be circumstances in which the public interest would justify such a move, but I do not think that the case has been made here for such a radical step.

“Trade marks underpin modern economies by helping consumers make their choices and bring rewards to firms that successfully meet their desires. When governments seek to intervene in this way, they risk undermining this fundamental aspect of how markets operate.”

Lawrence’s remarks coincided with the release of a press statement by Europe’s main IP association criticising the proposals announced by health secretary Andrew Lansley on 16 April in a consultation document.

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EU’s plain and simple message on smoking 

• How ACTA stinks of Big Tobacco  

Should an industry that causes five million deaths per year be given any say in drafting public policy?

From the outset, Big Tobacco has been one of the driving forces behind the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). To my astonishment, this crucial nugget of information has been generally overlooked in the debate on this controversial accord.

Shortly after he became chief executive of British American Tobacco (BAT) in 2004, Paul Adams attended a conference on counterfeiting hosted by the World Customs Organisation in Brussels. In his speech, Adams argued that counterfeiting affects cigarettes more than most other products. Counterfeiting "erodes brand values and product integrity," he said.

Adams then made a risible inference that BAT is an ethical company, whereas counterfeiters lack scruples. . . .

BAT is part of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which was intimately involved in the ACTA negotiation process. In 2008, the ICC's Jeffrey Hardy sent a memo to the EU, United States and other governments drafting the agreement. ACTA was necessary, he wrote, because "intellectual property theft is no less a crime than physical property theft." . . .

From his Paris office, Hardy has been striving to prevent the introduction of similar measures in Europe. He has, for example, urged John Dalli, the EU's health commissioner, not to propose plain packaging in a planned revision of the Union's tobacco legislation (Dalli has pledged to publish new anti-smoking recommendations by the end of this year).

So what's going on here? From the available evidence, it appears that Big Tobacco is undertaking a multi-pronged offensive to preserve its ill-gotten gains. One of the most harmful industries in human history is not only pretending to be concerned about public health; it is posing as a defender of intellectual property rules that are nominally designed to stimulate creativity and innovation. . . .

More than nine million people with HIV in Africa, Asia and Latin America lack access to the medicines they need. By 2030, eight million will die from tobacco use throughout the world, if present trends continue. Hollywood, Big Pharma and Big Tobacco have joined forces to sell ACTA. Why should anyone buy anything from that toxic alliance?

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EDITORIAL: Smoke signals of the very worrying kind 

Crime proofing the policy options for the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive 

• Analysis of the Draft Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products 

This report analyses the Draft Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, currently under negotiation by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body established by the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

This study assesses the impact of the Draft Protocol on the illicit trade in tobacco products, identifying strong and weak points and possible improvements. This report also surveys the existing measures falling within the scope of the Draft Protocol in four countries in different continents (Canada, Italy, Singapore and South Africa), highlighting the differences and the incoherence among the surveyed countries.

The report is carried out by Transcrime, funded and supported by Philip Morris International (Switzerland).

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Transcrime \ Other Publications 

Transcrime  

Transcrime is the Joint Research Centre on Transnational Crime of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan and the University of Trento. The Centre, directed by Ernesto U. Savona, Professor of Criminology at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, represents the multi-year union between experience and innovation in the field of criminological research in Italy and also abroad. . . .

Transcrime is financed through contracts and sponsorships by private and public local, national and international institutions.

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