In the wake of the UK government’s decision to scrap plans for plain packaging of cigarettes, and the ensuing furor following allegations about the possible influence on that decision of political strategist Lynton Crosby, who has links with the tobacco industry, four prominent addiction researchers from UCL have issued a call for health care organizations and governments around the globe to avoid using market research firms that also work for tobacco companies.
Blog dedicado a compilar las estrategias de la industria tabacalera, así como las leyes y las campañas a nivel mundial para el control del tabaco.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Reino UNido. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Reino UNido. Mostrar todas las entradas
miércoles, 4 de septiembre de 2013
healthcanal.com - 4 de septiembre de 2013 - UK
Should public health bodies use firms that support the tobacco industry?
jueves, 15 de agosto de 2013
theguardian.com - 14 de agosto de 2013 - UK
Tony Abbott 'may keep tobacco tax rise'
The Coalition has signalled it may keep Labor's savings measure of a 50% increase in the tobacco tax, owing to what Tony Abbott described as a "budget emergency".
Abbott said he would be reluctant to reject tobacco savings measures announced by the Treasurer, Chris Bowen, just over a fortnight ago, even though the opposition has been highly critical of them.
"Given there is a budget emergency, we are going to be very reluctant to reject measures, even measures such as [the tobacco excise], that we don't like," Abbott said.
The tobacco tax rise, a 50% increase over four years, raises the price of an average pack of cigarettes by a dollar in the first year and by up to $5.25 by the end of 2016. It will push the price of a packet of cigarettes to more than $20 in 2016 and is expected to raise $4bn.
martes, 13 de agosto de 2013
thisisgloucestershire.co.uk - 13 de agosto de 2013 - UK
Trading Standards explains how they catch dodgy tobacco sellers in Gloucestershire
Publicación original:
WITH two high-profile cases exposing the big problem of fake and illegal cigarettes being sold in the county, LISA JONES spoke to a Trading Standards officer about they are cracking down on the black market.
IT'S a scam carried out by a number of shopkeepers in order to cash in on the black market in fake and illegal cigarettes.
But the 'under the counter' sale of these cigarettes not only deprives the Treasury of funds, it leaves the purchaser with a considerably more toxic type of tobacco than they might imagine.
Rob Cardew, enforcement officer for Gloucestershire County Council, is part of a Trading Standards team responsible for securing the convictions of five people for selling fake or illegal cigarettes.
lunes, 22 de julio de 2013
guardian.co.uk - UK - 22 de Julio de 2013
David Cameron urged to probe claim that aide had £6m tobacco deal
Labour has urged David Cameron to investigate claims that a contract that his electoral strategist, Lynton Crosby, signed to provide the cigarette firm Philip Morris International (PMI) with lobbying services could be worth as much as £6m.
As the row over Crosby's role in a government U-turn on plain cigarette packaging continues, an informed source claimed that the PMI contract was signed personally by Crosby last November after another lobbying firm, Luther Pendragon, severed its ties with the company following criticism from leading health organizations.
Información publicada originalmente en: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jul/20/cameron-lynton-crosby-contract-philip-morris
jueves, 11 de julio de 2013
the independent, Londres - Inglaterra, 11 de Julio de 2013
Ban on tobacco displays hits sales at Booker's Makro
The cash-and-carry giant Booker outlined the huge impact the display ban on tobacco and black market cigarettes are having on its new Makro division yesterday.
Like-for-like sales of tobacco at Makro crashed 20.8 per cent in the three months to the end of June compared with a year ago.
Booker's chief executive, Charles Wilson, bought the loss-making Makro last year and expects it to take three to five years to turn around.
Tobacco sales have always been a discretionary purchase at Makro, whose customers tend to be small businesses rather than corner shops, so it has been hit particularly hard by the display ban. At Booker, where tobacco is a much bigger part of its total revenues, like-for-like tobacco sales were off by only 2.5 per cent.
Mr Wilson has a big task at Makro. Booker sales grew 1 per cent compared with a 6 per cent fall in Makro, like-for-like figures showed.
Información publicada originalmente en:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ban-on-tobacco-displays-hits-sales-at-bookers-makro-8701580.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ban-on-tobacco-displays-hits-sales-at-bookers-makro-8701580.html
viernes, 21 de junio de 2013
dailymail.co.uk. Reino Unido, 21 de Junio de 2013
How seeing just 10 tobacco adverts can boost risk of teenagers smoking by 40%
Para leer esta noticia en su contexto original, por favor visite el siguiente enlace:
To read this information, please follow the link below:
How seeing just 10 tobacco adverts can boost risk of teenagers smoking by 40%
Seeing 10 adverts for tobacco can increase teenagers' risk of taking up smoking by almost 40 per cent, a new study has today claimed.
Para leer esta noticia en su contexto original, por favor visite el siguiente enlace:
To read this information, please follow the link below:
lunes, 17 de junio de 2013
reuters.com. Reino Unido, 17 de Junio de 2013
Reino Unido considerará los e-cigarrillos medicinas a partir de 2016
Reino Unido regulará los cigarrillos electrónicos como medicinas sin receta a partir de 2016, en un intento de mejorar su calidad, aunque el regulador de los medicamentos dijo que se seguirán vendiendo en las tiendas de barrio.
Las autoridades sanitarias de todo el mundo dudan sobre cómo regular estos dispositivos, que funcionan con una pequeña batería y permiten a los usuarios inhalar un vapor nicotinizado, y que cada vez son más populares como una alternativa aparentemente menos perjudicial que fumar.
Algunos países los han prohibido completamente, como Brasil, Noruega o Singapur, mientras que otros están optando por diversos grados de regulación que en algunos casos incluyen limitaciones a la publicidad o a su uso en lugares públicos.
Las ventas de cigarrillos electrónicos han aumentado en parte por las restricciones al tabaco. Sin embargo, los efectos a largo plazo siguen sin confirmarse y algunos médicos argumentan que su popularidad podría minar los esfuerzos contra el tabaquismo.
También podrían afectar a las ventas de productos regulados sustitutos de la nicotina, como parches, vendidos por fabricantes de medicamentos como Pfizer y GlaxoSmithKline.
Bajo el nuevo sistema británico, los fabricantes tendrán que demostrar la calidad de sus productos y que contienen la cantidad correcta de nicotina. Sin embargo, no tendrán que realizar pruebas clínicas.
La Agencia reguladora de medicamentos y productos de atención sanitaria (MHRA por sus siglas en inglés) dijo el miércoles que los cigarrillos electrónicos existentes en el mercado no eran suficientemente buenos, ya que se encontraron contaminantes en algunos productos y niveles de nicotina que a menudo variaban ampliamente.
Sin embargo, los fabricantes tendrán tiempo para solicitar una licencia, permitiéndoles vender dispositivos regulados como productos sin receta en un amplio abanico de tiendas minoristas a partir de 2016.
To read this information, please follow the link below:
miércoles, 12 de junio de 2013
viernes, 7 de junio de 2013
jueves, 6 de junio de 2013
jueves, 28 de febrero de 2013
Noticia publicada originalmente en:
http://noticias.lainformacion.com/economia-negocios-y-finanzas/tabaco/el-gobierno-britanico-estudia-prohibir-fumar-en-coches-con-ninos_wCicJgNUg2XTzCuAraWNZ3/
TABACO
El Gobierno británico estudia prohibir fumar en coches con niñoslainformacion.com
miércoles, 27/02/13 - 17:20
[ 0 ]
El Gobierno británico estudiará prohibir fumar dentro de vehículos donde viajen niños a fin de preservar su salud y reducir el consumo de tabaco, según aseguró hoy el primer ministro, David Cameron, en el Parlamento.
http://noticias.lainformacion.com/economia-negocios-y-finanzas/tabaco/el-gobierno-britanico-estudia-prohibir-fumar-en-coches-con-ninos_wCicJgNUg2XTzCuAraWNZ3/
TABACO
El Gobierno británico estudia prohibir fumar en coches con niñoslainformacion.com
miércoles, 27/02/13 - 17:20
[ 0 ]
El Gobierno británico estudiará prohibir fumar dentro de vehículos donde viajen niños a fin de preservar su salud y reducir el consumo de tabaco, según aseguró hoy el primer ministro, David Cameron, en el Parlamento.
Londres, 27 feb.- El Gobierno británico estudiará prohibir fumar dentro de vehículos donde viajen niños a fin de preservar su salud y reducir el consumo de tabaco, según aseguró hoy el primer ministro, David Cameron, en el Parlamento.
En su intervención semanal ante la Cámara de los Comunes, Cameron explicó que se examinará esta alternativa, planteada por un diputado laborista, junto con la propuesta de prohibir diseños publicitarios en las cajetillas y de hacer más gráficas las advertencias que se incluyen en ellas.
El diputado de la oposición Alex Cunningham ha presentado una propuesta legislativa para prohibir fumar en coches en presencia de menores.
"Estamos analizando todas las posibilidades, tanto si debemos seguir a los australianos en su prohibición (del diseño) en las cajetillas como qué más podemos hacer para restringir fumar en espacios públicos", afirmó el jefe del Gobierno.
El Ejecutivo de coalición ha tomado en los últimos meses medidas para combatir el hábito del tabaco, que es aún la primera causa de muerte prematura en Inglaterra, con 100.000 víctimas en todo el Reino Unidocada año.
El pasado octubre, el Servicio nacional de salud (NHS, en inglés) puso en marcha una campaña en la que animaba a los ocho millones de fumadores del país a dejar de fumar durante todo el mes, en base a estadísticas que indican que cuando se deja por ese periodo de tiempo hay más posibilidades de abandonar el hábito definitivamente.
Además de esa campaña, en que los participantes tuvieron acceso a apoyo y asesoramiento gratuitos, desde finales del año pasado se emiten anuncios de televisión muy gráficos que muestran cómo un cigarrillo se transforma en tumor.
(Agencia EFE)
En su intervención semanal ante la Cámara de los Comunes, Cameron explicó que se examinará esta alternativa, planteada por un diputado laborista, junto con la propuesta de prohibir diseños publicitarios en las cajetillas y de hacer más gráficas las advertencias que se incluyen en ellas.
El diputado de la oposición Alex Cunningham ha presentado una propuesta legislativa para prohibir fumar en coches en presencia de menores.
"Estamos analizando todas las posibilidades, tanto si debemos seguir a los australianos en su prohibición (del diseño) en las cajetillas como qué más podemos hacer para restringir fumar en espacios públicos", afirmó el jefe del Gobierno.
El Ejecutivo de coalición ha tomado en los últimos meses medidas para combatir el hábito del tabaco, que es aún la primera causa de muerte prematura en Inglaterra, con 100.000 víctimas en todo el Reino Unidocada año.
El pasado octubre, el Servicio nacional de salud (NHS, en inglés) puso en marcha una campaña en la que animaba a los ocho millones de fumadores del país a dejar de fumar durante todo el mes, en base a estadísticas que indican que cuando se deja por ese periodo de tiempo hay más posibilidades de abandonar el hábito definitivamente.
Además de esa campaña, en que los participantes tuvieron acceso a apoyo y asesoramiento gratuitos, desde finales del año pasado se emiten anuncios de televisión muy gráficos que muestran cómo un cigarrillo se transforma en tumor.
(Agencia EFE)
miércoles, 23 de enero de 2013
La República. Lima Perú, 21 de enero de 2013
Casos de asma infantil descienden tras legislación anti-tabaco en Reino UnidoLunes, 21 de enero de 2013 | 10:07 am
El aire libre de tabaco en espacios cerrados estaría beneficiando la salud de los niños.
Los casos atendidos por asma infantil en hospitales de Reino Unido descendieron un 12%, tras la legislación anti-tabaco en 2007, informaron investigadores del Imperial College de Londres.
El estudio indicó que los casos registrados de asma en niños disminuyeron en el primer año posterior a la ley que prohíbe fumar en espacios cerrados.
El autor de la investigación consideró que esto demuestra que la gente está optando por mantener sus hogares libres de humo.
Tomado de:
http://www.larepublica.pe/21-01-2013/casos-de-asma-infantil-descienden-tras-legislacion-anti-tabaco-en-reino-unido
El aire libre de tabaco en espacios cerrados estaría beneficiando la salud de los niños.
Los casos atendidos por asma infantil en hospitales de Reino Unido descendieron un 12%, tras la legislación anti-tabaco en 2007, informaron investigadores del Imperial College de Londres.
El estudio indicó que los casos registrados de asma en niños disminuyeron en el primer año posterior a la ley que prohíbe fumar en espacios cerrados.
El autor de la investigación consideró que esto demuestra que la gente está optando por mantener sus hogares libres de humo.
Tomado de:
http://www.larepublica.pe/21-01-2013/casos-de-asma-infantil-descienden-tras-legislacion-anti-tabaco-en-reino-unido
lunes, 26 de noviembre de 2012
HOLYROOD VOW TO SNUFF OUT TOBACCO HABIT IN SCOTLAND
Para leer la noticias completa, por favor siga el enlace que lo llevará directamente a la página de EXPRESS.CO.UK:
To read the complete notice, please follow the link below:
lunes, 5 de noviembre de 2012
Nothingham.co.uk desde el Reino Unido. 5 de noviembre de 2012
Cigarette gang leader caught in Poland and jailed for two years
By Rebecca Sherdley
ONE of the leaders of a gang who helped set up an illegal tobacco factory in Notts – capable of producing millions of cigarettes – has been jailed.
Dutchman Marius Klein was the last member of a ten-man gang involved in a £131m tax fraud to be sentenced.
Polish authorities enforced a European arrest warrant and captured 57-year-old Klein, of Lubomierz, Poland, and ordered his extradition to the UK.
Yesterday, he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to two years and six months.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to produce cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco.
Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Teare said: "Your and other gang members' expectations were to make a very great deal of money – in fact millions."
The fraud was foiled when HM Revenue and Customs criminal investigators closed down the fully-equipped cigarette factory before it went into production in October 2009.
From his base in Poland, Klein organised the manufacture, production and sale of counterfeit cigarettes. He also arranged the supply and delivery of counterfeit packaging and provided foreign engineers to install and service machinery at factories in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and Laxton, near Newark. Klein also tried to arrange the purchase of leaf tobacco to be supplied to the UK.
HMRC had already seized 1.25 million cigarettes from the gang in two operations. The first was in June 2009, when one million cigarettes were seized in Rainworth; the second was in August 2009, when 250,000 were found at Sherwood Business Park, Nottingham.
The gang had conspired to escalate from trading these illegal cigarettes and tobacco to manufacturing their own counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco on an industrial scale.
In co-ordinated searches at three industrial units in October 2009, investigators seized:
Chesterfield – packaging for 43 million cigarettes, cigarette paper, foil cellophane, glue and cardboard inners for packets of 20 cigarettes.
Blidworth – cigarette manufacturing equipment destined for another criminal gang, capable of producing 750 million cigarettes a year with an annual duty revenue loss of over £141 million, 5,000 litres of 96 per cent proof alcohol in a lorry just before it was delivered to the gang's warehouse. This was enough to produce 25,000 bottles of spirits such as vodka or whisky, with a revenue loss of £109,000.
Forensic analysis showed the alcohol was unfit for human consumption.
Laxton – a five-tonne tobacco-cutting machine to make counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco and cigarettes, and 100,000 counterfeit Golden Virginia pouches.
After the hearing, Gary Lampon, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: "The scale of this fraud was staggering. Klein had a key role in the conspiracy to launch a UK production facility, manufacturing counterfeit tobacco goods by the million. The gang's ambition to progress from importing counterfeit cigarettes to manufacturing them on an industrial scale shows a determined ruthlessness to line their own pockets."
Tomado de;
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Cigarette-gang-leader-caught-Poland-jailed-years/story-17223076-detail/story.html
By Rebecca Sherdley
ONE of the leaders of a gang who helped set up an illegal tobacco factory in Notts – capable of producing millions of cigarettes – has been jailed.
Dutchman Marius Klein was the last member of a ten-man gang involved in a £131m tax fraud to be sentenced.
Polish authorities enforced a European arrest warrant and captured 57-year-old Klein, of Lubomierz, Poland, and ordered his extradition to the UK.
Yesterday, he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to two years and six months.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to produce cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco.
Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Teare said: "Your and other gang members' expectations were to make a very great deal of money – in fact millions."
The fraud was foiled when HM Revenue and Customs criminal investigators closed down the fully-equipped cigarette factory before it went into production in October 2009.
From his base in Poland, Klein organised the manufacture, production and sale of counterfeit cigarettes. He also arranged the supply and delivery of counterfeit packaging and provided foreign engineers to install and service machinery at factories in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and Laxton, near Newark. Klein also tried to arrange the purchase of leaf tobacco to be supplied to the UK.
HMRC had already seized 1.25 million cigarettes from the gang in two operations. The first was in June 2009, when one million cigarettes were seized in Rainworth; the second was in August 2009, when 250,000 were found at Sherwood Business Park, Nottingham.
The gang had conspired to escalate from trading these illegal cigarettes and tobacco to manufacturing their own counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco on an industrial scale.
In co-ordinated searches at three industrial units in October 2009, investigators seized:
Chesterfield – packaging for 43 million cigarettes, cigarette paper, foil cellophane, glue and cardboard inners for packets of 20 cigarettes.
Blidworth – cigarette manufacturing equipment destined for another criminal gang, capable of producing 750 million cigarettes a year with an annual duty revenue loss of over £141 million, 5,000 litres of 96 per cent proof alcohol in a lorry just before it was delivered to the gang's warehouse. This was enough to produce 25,000 bottles of spirits such as vodka or whisky, with a revenue loss of £109,000.
Forensic analysis showed the alcohol was unfit for human consumption.
Laxton – a five-tonne tobacco-cutting machine to make counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco and cigarettes, and 100,000 counterfeit Golden Virginia pouches.
After the hearing, Gary Lampon, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: "The scale of this fraud was staggering. Klein had a key role in the conspiracy to launch a UK production facility, manufacturing counterfeit tobacco goods by the million. The gang's ambition to progress from importing counterfeit cigarettes to manufacturing them on an industrial scale shows a determined ruthlessness to line their own pockets."
Tomado de;
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Cigarette-gang-leader-caught-Poland-jailed-years/story-17223076-detail/story.html
jueves, 13 de septiembre de 2012
Europa Press, 13 de septiembre de 2012
DIFICULTA LOS RECUERDOS
R.Unido.- El tabaquismo pasivo puede afectar a la memoria
MADRID, 13 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Un estudio de la Universidad de Northumbria (Reino Unido) ha demostrado que el humo del tabaco puede causar daños en la memoria de los llamados fumadores pasivos, que viven o están habitualmente entre fumadores, según los resultados que publica la revista 'Addiction'.
En concreto, y después de seguir durante más de cuatro años a un grupo de fumadores y fumadores pasivos, comprobaron que quienes se habían visto expuestos de forma pasiva al humo del tabaco de forma regular mostraron al final del estudio peores habilidades en pruebas de memoria que quienes no estuvieron expuestos.
El mismo equipo de científicos, liderado por los doctores Tom Heffernan y Terence O'Neil, ya había investigado el impacto del fumar en los problemas de memoria.
En un estudio anterior sometieron a fumadores a pruebas de memoria, en las que debían identificar una serie de tareas predeterminadas, y los resultados mostraron que los fumadores lograron identificar un 59 por ciento de las tareas, mientras que quienes nunca habían fumado identificaron el 81 por ciento de las mismas.
En esta ocasión, llevaron a cabo el mismo experimento para conocer el impacto del humo del tabaco en la memoria de no fumadores, pero utilizaron dos grupos: uno que regularmente se vería expuesto a humo de cigarrillo de segunda mano (al menos 25 horas a la semana durante unos 4,5 años) y otro que nunca tenía esa exposición.
Los tres grupos (fumadores, fumadores pasivos y ciudadanos sin exposición al tabaco) fueron sometidos a pruebas de memoria basadas en el tiempo, en las que por ejemplo tenían que recordar como debían llevar a cabo determinadas tareas o actividades más tarde; y otras basadas en eventos, por ejemplo para recordar alguna intención o actividad futura.
Los resultados de las pruebas mostraron que los no fumadores expuestos al humo del tabaco habían olvidado casi 20 por ciento más tareas asignadas que los no fumadores no expuestos al humo.
Los peores resultados, no obstante, fueron los de los fumadores, que olvidaron 30 por ciento más de las tareas asignadas que los no fumadores no expuestos a humo de segunda mano.
Como ha señalado el doctor Heffernan en declaraciones a la BBC, "los hallazgos sugieren que los déficits asociados a la exposición al humo de segunda mano se extienden a las funciones cognitivas de la vida diaria".
No obstante, en el estudio previo sobre el impacto del tabaco en la memoria de los fumadores los investigadores encontraron que, al dejar de fumar, es posible restaurar la memoria perdida a casi el mismo nivel de los no fumadores, por lo que no sólo beneficiaría a su propia memoria sino a la de aquellos que se ven expuestos al humo de forma pasiva.
Tomado de:
martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012
Sunday Mercury, Londres Inglaterra, 9 de septiembre de 2012
Counterfeit cigarettes made of human poo, mould and dead flies found Midlands
Sep 9 2012 by Mike Lockley, Sunday Mercury
UNDERCOVER detectives investigating the booming backstreet counterfeit cigarette trade in the Midlands have found fags made from human excrement, asbestos, mould and dead flies.
Gumshoes working for the tobacco industry have spent weeks rummaging through litter bins in a bid to discover the scale of Birmingham’s black market cigarette industry.
And they have been stunned by the sheer volume of the illicit trade.
One third of the packets fished out of public bins or plucked from the pavement were fakes or brought in by smugglers, making Birmingham one of the worst cities in Britain for counterfeit cigarettes.
MS Intelligence, a Switzerland-based company dedicated to helping companies protect brands, found that 30.9 per cent of packets were either bogus or purchased abroad.
Last year the figure in a similar survey was just 14.1 per cent, and the dramatic increase shows that it is fast becoming big black market business.
Punters tempted by apparent bargain buys are taking huge risks. The UK Border Agency has recently intercepted cigarettes containing asbestos, mould and even human excrement.
Sickeningly, a haul found in Derbyshire was made from the crushed bodies of dead flies.
And the firm’s findings may be just the filter tip of the iceberg.
A spokesman for lobby group, the International Tax and Investment Centre, said: “Duty goes unpaid on almost one in three cigarettes smoked in Birmingham.
“But that does not include hand-rolled tobacco, of which Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs estimates as much as half is sourced on the black market.”
MS Intelligence carried out the research on behalf of a number of cigarette companies who are concerned that plans to introduce plain packaging will help black market tobacco barons flood the market with fakes.
In all, the consumer sleuths collected 13,000 packets in Birmingham between April 3 and May 11.
Most of the bogus brands uncovered originated from the Far East, predominantly from China, and some of the sophisticated packets were almost identical to the real thing.
Operation EDPC – it stands for Empty Discarded Pack Collection – revealed that criminals have changed tactics.
The illicit trade is no longer dominated by so-called “White Van Man” bulk-buying abroad.
An MS Intelligence report states: “Historically, it was made up of genuine brands of tobacco smuggled from lower-priced EU countries. Currently, there are much more counterfeits and, increasingly, illicit ‘whites’.”
Whites are produced abroad legally, but smuggled into the UK where there is no legal market for them.
“Along with counterfeits, illicit whites represent the most significant threat to legitimate trade and tobacco revenues in the UK from large-scale organised criminality,” the intelligence report warns.
One of the most popular ‘whites’ found in the Birmingham sweep is Jin Ling – a cigarette which has enjoyed staggering under-the-counter success. In 2006, they were only found along the Polish border.
Now they are changing hands in at least 16 EU countries.
Former Scotland Yard detective Will O’Reilly, currently carrying out research for tobacco giant Philip Morris International, said mobsters are increasingly turning from peddling hard drugs to tobacco.
Profit margins are said to be just as high because of the scale of the operation, but detection rates are lower and punishment less severe. Recently, heroin and cigarettes have been smuggled together.
“Bring a container of cigarettes into this country and you’re talking a £1.5 million profit,” said Mr O’Reilly. “Organised crime is all over it.
“After a number of years in decline, there has been a sharp rise in illicit cigarettes.
“That’s partly down to the economy – people can’t afford the real product – and it is easier for counterfeiters to copy the packets.
“Plans for plain packaging are simply playing into the hands of organised criminals and counterfeiters because it will be so much easier to make copies.”
“The public must realise they are funding organised crime,” he added.
“Every household pays £180 in tax because of the money lost to the Government.”
Tomado de;
Zeen News, Londres 11 de septiembre de 2012
Human excrement found in cigarettes in Britain
London: Human excrement, asbestos, mould and dead flies have been found in cigarettes being smoked regularly in Britain, a newspaper reported.
Investigators working for the tobacco industry spent weeks rummaging through litter bins for cigarette packets to assess the scale of the black market.
They found that about one-third of packets contained fakes or cigarettes brought in by smugglers.
The survey in Birmingham by MS Intelligence, a Swiss-based brand protection company, found that 30.9 percent of packets were either bogus or purchased abroad.
The UK Border Agency has also intercepted items containing asbestos, mould and human excrement.
A haul in Derbyshire found cigarettes made from the remains of crushed flies.
MS Intelligence carried out the research on behalf of a number of cigarette companies who are concerned that plans to introduce plain packaging will help black market tobacco barons flood the market with fakes, the daily said.
Analysts collected 13,000 packets in Birmingham between April 3 and May 11.
The newspaper said that most of the bogus brands originated predominantly from China, and some packets were almost identical to the real thing.
IANS
Tomado de:
viernes, 10 de agosto de 2012
The Guardian. Londres Inglaterra, 10 de agosto de 2012
Plain packaging for cigarettes would help Britain kick its smoking habit
Young people are being seduced by marketing techniques. A ban would surely reduce the numbers taking up smoking
guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 August 2012 12.04 BS
Despite the many initiatives launched in the last two decades, there is still a long way to go to tackle Britain's big health and lifestyle challenges: alcohol misuse, obesity and smoking. The biggest and worst of these public health challenges remains smoking. Unlike high-fat foods or alcohol, there is no acceptable level of consumption of cigarettes. Smoking kills – it's that simple. Not only does smoking shorten smokers' lives, but it also comes at an enormous cost to the taxpayer. Smoking-related illnesses are estimated to cost the NHS at least £2.7bn a year in England alone.
Today marks the closure of the government's consultation on whether plain packaging of tobacco products should be introduced in the UK. The prospect of standardised cigarette packaging coming into law will inevitably result in a greater focus on the harmful effects associated with smoking and the role that our government can play in helping people to kick the habit.
The medical evidence is startlingly clear; smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of early death and illness in the UK, each year directly accounting for more than 100,000 unnecessary deaths. One in two long-term smokers will die prematurely from a smoking related disease. We also know that smoking harms others through passive smoking in the home, and smoking by pregnant women also remains a significant problem. More than one in six mothers smoke during pregnancy, with potentially harmful results for both mum and baby.
Smoking also comes at a large financial cost, and often to those who can least afford it. The average price for a packet of cigarettes translates to £51.80 a week for a 20-a-day habit. We know that smoking rates are highest among those on the lowest incomes, further entrenching the health inequalities that exist between the richest and poorest people in our country.
So how do we change things? We must discourage young people from taking up smoking in the first place. While there are fewer older adult smokers than there were a decade ago, smoking is still common among young people, and in particular amongst teenage girls.
The triumph of Britain's athletes at the London Olympic Games has provided a once in a generation opportunity to inspire people to do more exercise and to address some of the toughest public health challenges we face as a country, but it is unlikely that sporting inspiration and the Olympic legacy alone will be enough. One of the most overlooked and potentially most successful aspects of the coalition government's recent NHS reforms was the allocation of much of the public health budget and the responsibility for public health and wellbeing to local councils. Given that there is a clear and pressing need to do more to encourage young people not to smoke, and that local councils also have a responsibility for education, there is now a real potential for properly targeted and co-ordinated public health and lifestyle interventions in our schools, building not only on Britain's Olympic success but also looking to the longer-term.
But we need to go further than education. Studies show that it is young people who are also more likely to be seduced by the marketing techniques of the tobacco companies, which include the way in whichcigarette packets are branded and packaged to increase their appeal. The government needs to review all of the available evidence about the effectiveness of such a measure before going ahead with a plain packaging policy, but introducing plain packaging for cigarettes could certainly help to reduce the brand marketing appeal of cigarettes to teenagers, and most importantly, help to stop young people from developing a smoking habit that can only shorten their lives.
Tomado de:
Politics.co.uk, Londres Inglaterra, 10 de agosto de 2012
Moment of truth: Govt decides on plain cigarette packs
Friday, 10 August 2012 9:14 AM
By Ian Dunt
The government may be about to risk billions of pounds in lawsuits, as it mulls whether to ban branded cigarette packets.
During the consultation, which ended overnight, tobacco companies warned the health secretary the move would amount to the "expropriation" of the industry's intellectual property.
"I can see no reason why depriving someone of his proprietary interest in a trade mark for a tobacco product (however much it may be in the public interest to do so) should be different in principle from any other deprivation in which compensation is required," legal opinion by Lord Hoffmann provided for the consultation by tobacco giant Philip Morris said.
Australia became the first country to impose blanket plain packs recently and is now facing significant legal challenges.
Anti-smoking groups insist a ban would see fewer young people take up the habit.
Tomado de;
http://www.4rfv.co.uk. Londres Inglaterra, 10 de agosto de 2012
10 August 2012
Plain Cigarette Package Consultation Ends
The UK-wide consultation on government plans to introduce mandatory plain packaging for tobacco will close later today (Friday).
The consultation was extended by a month to allow more people to respond after strong public interest in the issue.
The proposal could mean information about individual brands being removed from cigarette packets, with just the name and warnings visible.
Campaigners see plain packaging as the next step in discouraging young people from taking up smoking.
When he launched the consultation four months ago, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he wanted tobacco companies to have "no business" in the UK.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of campaign group Ash, said: "Plain, standardised packaging of its lethal products frightens Big Tobacco silly because it threatens its profits.
"That's why the industry has devoted millions of pounds to put pressure on politicians and prevent the government from going ahead with this measure."
But Simon Clark, director of Forest, a pro-smoking lobby group, said: "There is no evidence that standardised packaging will have any health benefits.
"Advocates base their arguments not on facts but on speculation."
(H) Tomado de;
Plain Cigarette Package Consultation Ends
The UK-wide consultation on government plans to introduce mandatory plain packaging for tobacco will close later today (Friday).
The consultation was extended by a month to allow more people to respond after strong public interest in the issue.
The proposal could mean information about individual brands being removed from cigarette packets, with just the name and warnings visible.
Campaigners see plain packaging as the next step in discouraging young people from taking up smoking.
When he launched the consultation four months ago, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he wanted tobacco companies to have "no business" in the UK.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of campaign group Ash, said: "Plain, standardised packaging of its lethal products frightens Big Tobacco silly because it threatens its profits.
"That's why the industry has devoted millions of pounds to put pressure on politicians and prevent the government from going ahead with this measure."
But Simon Clark, director of Forest, a pro-smoking lobby group, said: "There is no evidence that standardised packaging will have any health benefits.
"Advocates base their arguments not on facts but on speculation."
(H) Tomado de;
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