14 November 2022 It seems the tobacco industry’s grip on Indonesia is strong and shows no sign of easing. It operates in an industry-friendly environment not seen anywhere in Asia, enabling it to make huge profits. Although adolescent smoking is rising, Indonesia allows cigarette advertising and sponsorship targeting youth. National top sport, badminton, is still …
Indonesia – still pandering to the tobacco industry Read More »
12 September 2022 It is tax season in several ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, and governments are deciding their 2023 budget. The tobacco control community has proposed tax increase on tobacco as a win-win policy to reduce consumption and improve public health, and increase government revenue. But the tobacco industry continues to oppose …
29 August 2022 Vaping groups and harm reduction advocates have stepped-up their pressure on governments to legalise e-cigarettes and other so called safer tobacco products. In their press statements, webinars, social media posts and letters to governments, they claim among the rationale to embrace these products is because they are 95% safer than cigarettes. Recently, …
Vaping advocates leading policy makers astray with ‘95% safer’ factoid Read More »
13 June 2022 By Irene Reyes In the May edition of the Tobacco Reporter, one of its editors, George Gay, in an article on tobacco and ENDS products, arguing shared responsibility among regulators, manufacturers, and consumers in minimizing the environmental impact of these products. The author pointed out the lack of response from the industry to deal …
Hold TI accountable & liable for destroying the environment Read More »
30 May 2022 Philip Morris International (PMI) at its recent annual shareholders meeting recorded a net revenue of $31.4 billion in 2021. While steering the attention of its shareholders to its non-combustible business, cigarettes remain its core business as PMI shipped about 625 billion sticks which make up more than 70% of its revenue, amounting to US$22 billion. …
2 May 2022 UK company, British American Tobacco (BAT) had its annual shareholders’ meeting on 28 April where it celebrated its GBP 10.23 billion (USD 12.87 billion) profits for 2021 and chartered its way forward to sell more tobacco products. BAT’s overall strategy is to sell more cigarettes to be able to help reduce harm …
BAT aims to sell more cigarettes to reduce harm … Read More »
27 January 2022 In 2021, a new company, DARE (Datametrics Research and Information Centre Sdn Bhd) emerged in Malaysia pushing harm reduction in the media and making a case to “embrace” e-cigarettes. Located in upmarket Kuala Lumpur, it claims to be a think tank that performs “data gathering, strategic analysis and advocacy platform for businesses and …
Daring to promote a harmful industry in Malaysia Read More »
10 January 2022 Big Tobacco has been lobbying ambassadors to help speak up for its business and also engaging ambassadors of a different kind – brand ambassadors – to promote its products to escape being penalized by tobacco control laws. In 2020, the Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia endorsed the handing over of vehicles to the …
2021 has been another chaotic year as the COVID-19 pandemic lingered and the tobacco industry continued to exploit the pandemic to undermine governments’ efforts in tobacco control. As tobacco control took a back seat in some countries, transnational tobacco companies (PMI, BAT and JTI) resorted to their bad tactics and registered huge profits for their …
13 December 2021, China, the world’s largest manufacturer of vapor products, will regulate e-cigarettes under the jurisdiction of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. The government announced they have issued draft rules and will require all e-cigarette wholesalers and retailers to require a license to sell their products through an established unified national electronic cigarette transaction management …
China regulates e-cigarettes but different standards for tobacco products overseas Read More »
