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Ministry Wades into W’Africa Tobacco Firm/Labour Dispute 

The lingering industrial dispute between management of West Africa Tobacco Company Limited/FMCG distribution limited and labour has been resolved; following the intervention by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

Aggrieved workers had last Wednesday shut down the factory and corporate head office of the company over alleged anti-labour practices by management; particularly the alleged victimisation of the branch Chairman, Mr. Reuben Elaiye.

The workers, who were led by leaders of Food Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (FOBTOB), an affiliate of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) accused the management of engaging in anti-union policy by refusing to recognise the in-house union and its executive inaugurated in the company three weeks ago.

The protesting workers and labour leaders had stormed the two locations of the company in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, as early as 7 am and completely paralysed all operations in the company.

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CPC Arrests Lebanese over Sales of Sub-standard Tobacco Products 

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has recorded another major breakthrough in its crusade against counterfeits and sub-standard goods in the country.

The development occurred with the Council's arrest of a Lebanese, believed to be behind the importation of fake tobacco products into the country.

Following a tip-off, the arrest of the culprit was effected in Kano recently, with a team of armed police men, while fake tobacco products worth N10million were confiscated from his warehouse in the town.

A statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs in the council, Mr. Abiodun Obimuyiwa, said the Council's surveillance and enforcement operation was carried out in Sharada Industrial Area, Phase I in Kano, where several cartons of Kings, Capital and Esse Menthol cigarette products found to be sub-standard and hazardous were confiscated.

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• Exclusives - VANCOUVER, BC:Former Tobacco King Appointed New Rector of St. John's Shaughnessy 

When 99 percent of the evangelical Anglican parish of St. John's Shaughnessy walked away from their $20 million dollar parish on Granville Street last September, New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham asked the Archbishop of Canterbury for help to find a replacement for the Australian-born evangelical rector Canon David Short.

Well, St. John's has gotten a new rector and he's the Marlboro Man. The Rev. Michael Fuller who will start in July spent 20 years working as CEO of Philip Morris International, a purveyor of 831 billion cancer-inducing cigarettes per year. Some 443,000 Americans (over 18 percent of all deaths) die because of smoking each year. Secondhand smoke kills another 220,000. Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco worldwide.

So a former evangelical parish is taken over by a beefy, institutional Church of England liberal who has about as much chance of jump starting this parish as a Tsunami wave hitting English Bay. As one blogger observed, one wonders what he has done to deserve to be appointed to a church with no people.

A source in England told VOL that Fuller is certainly no Evangelical. "I expect he has been brought in to finish off what little remains at Shaughnessy. That may be the intention."

The former tobacco king is also a member of the Rowan Williams Fan Club. He did a favorable book review on one of the ABC's books on Amazon.uk.co.

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• Over 3,000 former child laborers enroll in school 

Over 3,000 children, formerly working as child labourers in Masindi and Kiryandongo districts have been withdrawn from tobacco farms and en­rolled in 53 primary schools.

The children aged between 5-17 years, faced a grim future without formal education as their daily routine was toiling in tobacco plantations to eke a living.

The high prevalence of child labour in Masindi and Kiry­andongo has been blamed for the poor performance of both districts in national examina­tions.

Under the project, Com­munity Empowerment for Elimination of Child Labour in Tobacco-growing Areas, children of school-going age working in tobacco farms in­stead of attending school were identified at village level.

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Tobacco giant asks for package payment 

ONE of the world's biggest tobacco companies has told the High Court of Australia that it should be compensated for plain packaging laws if fewer Australians get sick or die from smoking cigarettes.

Japan Tobacco International, which owns the Camel and Benson & Hedges brands among others, also described the deadly harm caused by smoking as "alleged" in its written reply to government submissions in the High Court case.

The chief executive of the Cancer Council Victoria, Todd Harper, said tobacco companies trying to claim compensation in response to lives being saved showed the lengths to which they were willing to go.

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KLEIN: What a cigarette tax should pay for  

NOE: Anti-Smoking Campaign: Good Public Policy Or Heavy Handed Propaganda? : 

38m contraband cigarettes seized in Dublin  

With Vid: Contraband smokes butt out business in Windsor 

Shops selling tobacco close to schools could lose licence 

In a significant move to ensure that the sale of tobacco near educational institutes is stopped, civic officials will revoke licences of shops selling tobacco and tobacco-related products within 100 yards of any educational institute. On April 7, the Brihanmumbai Municipal

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Plain Tobacco Packaging: A Systematic Review (PDF) 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This systematic review outlines findings from 37 studies that provide evidence of the impacts of plain tobacco packaging. The review was conducted following the publication of the March 2011 White Paper Healthy Lives: Healthy People which set out a renewed Tobacco Control Plan for England. One of the key actions identified in the plan was to consult on possible options to reduce the promotional impact of tobacco packaging, including plain packaging. This systematic review was commissioned to provide a comprehensive overview of evidence on the impact of plain packaging in order to inform a public consultation on the issue. . . .

Discussion

This review finds that there is strong evidence to support the propositions set out in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control relating to the role of plain packaging in helping to reduce smoking rates; that is, that plain packaging would reduce the attractiveness and appeal of tobacco products, it would increase the noticeability and effectiveness of health warnings and messages, and it would reduce the use of design techniques that may mislead consumers about the harmfulness of tobacco products. In addition, the studies in this review show that plain packaging is perceived by both smokers and non-smokers to reduce initiation among non-smokers and cessation-related behaviours among smokers. The review also found some evidence of public support for plain packaging, although the majority of the public opinion studies were conducted in Australia.

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• CHALAÑUK and TERESCHUK v. MONSANTO, PHILIP MORRIS (PDF) 

INTRODUCTION

I. This lawsuit concerns children born with severe birth defects.

2. These children and their parents all reside in the Republic of Argentina, in the Province of Misiones. Misiones is located in the northeastern corner of Argentina where it borders both Brazil and Paraguay. This region is largely rural, agricultural and semi-tropical. It is notable as an area devoted to the cultivation of tobacco.

3. Annually, roughly 14,000 metric tons of tobacco is imported into the United States from Argentina. Most of the tobacco grown in Argentina is cultivated in Misiones.

4. The injured infant Plaintiffs are offspring of agricultural workers who at relevant times were engaged in the cultivation of tobacco as well as other crops.

5. Defendants are either corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, manufacture, design, sale, distribution and use of certain reproductively toxic herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and other chemical products which were used by the parental Plaintiffs in the cultivation of tobacco and other crops; and/or corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, cultivation, purchasing, design, sale and distribution of tobacco using the aforesaid toxins.

6. Plaintiffs contend that these Defendants, acting both individually and collectively, in violation of the laws of both Argentina and the United States, wrongfully caused the parental and infant Plaintiffs to be exposed to those chemicals and substances which they both knew, or should have known, would cause the infant offspring of the parental Plaintiffs to be born with devastating birth defects.

7. Plaintiffs further contend that this misconduct proximately caused the birth defects suffered by the injured Plaintiffs.

8. Moreover, Defendants wrongfully concealed information concerning the nature of their misconduct, and also made false or misleading statements respecting the safety of the exposures they were promoting. These statements were made for the purpose of inducing the parental Plaintiffs to acquiesce in the aforementioned exposures, secure in the "knowledge" that their potential offspring were being protected. Defendants were successful in achieving their desired result. By this conduct Defendants also both assumed and then breached duties to the infant plaintiffs.

9. The physical injuries suffered by the infant Plaintiffs and the damages suffered by all Plaintiffs are compensable under the laws of both Argentina and the United States.

10. The misconduct broadly described above was planned, organized and orchestrated by Defendants in the United States for the purpose (that was realized) of earning profits that were received by Defendants in the United States.

11. Defendants' misconduct was, at a minimum, executed with a conscious or reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of Plaintiffs and was motivated by simple greed.

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• HUPAN v. MONSANTO, PHILIP MORRIS (PDF)  

INTRODUCTION

1. This lawsuit concerns children born with severe birth defects.

2. These children and their parents all reside in the Republic of Argentina, in the Province of Misiones. Misiones is located in the northeastern corner of Argentina where it borders on both Brazil and Paraguay. This region is largely rural, agricultural and semi-tropical. It is notable as an area devoted to the cultivation of tobacco.

3. Annually, roughly 14,000 metric tons of tobacco is imported into the United States from Argentina. Most of the tobacco grown in Argentina is cultivated in Misiones.

4. The injured infant Plaintiffs are offspring of agricultural workers who at relevant times were engaged in the cultivation of tobacco as well as other crops.

5. Defendants are either corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, manufacture, design, sale, distribution and use of certain reproductively toxic herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and other chemical products which were used by the parental Plaintiffs in the cultivation of tobacco and other crops; and/or corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, cultivation, purchasing, design, sale and distribution of tobacco using the aforesaid toxins.

6, Plaintiffs contend that these Defendants, acting both individually and collectively, in violation of the laws of both Argentina and the United States, wrongfully caused the parental and infant Plaintiffs to be exposed to those chemicals and substances which they both knew, or should have known, would cause the infant offspring of the parental Plaintiffs to be born with devastating birth defects.

7. Plaintiffs further contend that this misconduct proximately caused the birth defects suffered by the injured Plaintiffs.

8. Moreover, Defendants wrongfully concealed information concerning the nature of their misconduct, and also made false or misleading statements respecting the safety of the exposures they were promoting. These statements were made for the purpose of inducing the parental Plaintiffs to acquiesce in the aforementioned exposures, secure in the "knowledge" that their potential offspring were being protected. Defendants were successful in achieving their desired result. By this conduct Defendants also both assumed and then breached duties to the infant plaintiffs.

9. The physical injuries suffered by the infant Plaintiffs and the damages suffered by all Plaintiffs are compensable under the laws of both Argentina and the United States.

10. The misconduct broadly described above was planned, organized and orchestrated by Defendants in the United States for the purpose (that was realized) of earning profits that were received by Defendants in the United States.

11. Defendants' misconduct was, at a minimum, executed with a conscious or reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of Plaintiffs and was motivated by simple greed.

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• Case ID: N12C-02-171 - ANTONIO EMILIO HUPAN ET AL V. ALLIANCE ONE NTERNAT 

Filing Date Description Name Monetary 14-FEB-2012 05:21 PM INIT FILING PERSONAL INJURY HAUPT, JOHN ZACHARY Entry: INITIAL FILING PERSONAL INJURY DATE DOCKETED: FEBRUARY 16, 2012 . . .

04-APR-2012

02:20 PM WRIT ISSUED

Entry: WRIT(S) ISSUED ON DATE DOCKETED: APRIL 5, 2012 1 WRIT ISSUED ON 04-04-2012 OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT FOR SERVICE ON MONSANTO COMPANY BY SERVING REGISTERED AGENT AT 2711 CENTERVILLE ROAD, SUITE 400, WILMINGTON, DE ACCEPTED BY: RAM TRANSACTION ID: 43474668

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Dubai Duty Free to boost Chinese staff again in 2012 

Cigarette brands from China represent around fourteen percent of DDF’s entire tobacco sales, with top-selling label Chungwa alone accounting for one tenth. The brand, DDF’s bestselling item, brought in revenues of AED15.9m in the first half of 2011.

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