Higher cigarette taxes bring down sales

Higher excise duty on cigarettes announced in the Union Budget last year and increases in value-added tax by Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam has resulted in a below-par performance in the quarter ending December 2014, tobacco giant ITC has said. 

"The cigarette segment revenue, as a consequence, remained flattish during the quarter," ITC said.

ITC reported a net profit growth of 10.4 per cent at Rs 2,635 crore in the December quarter against Rs 2,385 crore in the year-ago period, according to a story in the Business Standard on 22 January 2015. 

The below-par performance was a consequence of slow growth in the cigarette business. Revenue in ITC's cigarette segment grew 0.6 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,142 crore. 

The Union Government in the 2014-15 Budget raised specific excise duty on cigarettes in the range of 11 to 72 per cent.

Kerala Government raised taxes of cigarettes by fifty per cent during the fiscal year 2014-15. From 20 per cent in 2013-14, cigarette taxes were raised to 22 per cent in the Kerala Budget 2014-15. In a mid-term post Budget revision, cigarette taxes were raised from 22 to 30 per cent in September 2014. 

Tobacco kills one million Indians every year and drains away Rs 104,500 crores as direct and indirect costs of treatment. 

The World Health Organisation has stated that increasing tobacco taxes is the most effective way to reduce consumption and save lives. It can also bring in much-needed resources to cash-starved economies. 

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COTPA (Amendment) Bill 2015: Slew of affirmative tobacco control measures

The war against tobacco has gained further vigour and momentum with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently placing in the public domain a draft Bill that seeks to amend the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. 

Among the changes proposed, the one that will have an immediate and lasting impact on reducing tobacco consumption is the prohibition on using a “name or brand of tobacco products for marketing, promoting or advertising other goods, services and events”.

Falling within the ambit of indirect advertising, the use of a brand name of a tobacco product to market and advertise a non-tobacco product is a clear case of brand-sharing, which the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) prohibits. 

Using the brand name of a tobacco product to market a non-tobacco product is a ploy that is routinely resorted to by companies to get round the ban on tobacco product advertising, which has been singularly responsible for the dramatic reduction in tobacco consumption in India and across the world. It is one of the changes that the government can easily implement and effectively enforce.

The draft Bill removes the ambiguity around point-of-sale display by banning the showcasing of tobacco products at the entrance to or inside a shop; it is in line with the FCTC recommendation to keep these products “out of public view”.

Displaying tobacco products prominently inside a shop is a “key means” to promote them. Besides effectively bypassing the ban on tobacco product advertising, it fuels impulse buying. While the prohibition can further reduce tobacco consumption, putting it into effect will be a major problem as tobacco products are sold predominantly at small shops. 

For the same reason, banning the sale of these products to anyone under the age of 21 can hardly be enforced. The very fact that 15- to 24-year-olds account for over 27 per cent of tobacco consumption in India clearly indicates that sale to those below 18 years, which is currently not allowed, is a reality. 

The outcome will be no different in the case of a ban on the sale of cigarettes or bidis in the loose. Since ensuring that users are forced to notice the pictorial warning and message on the packets is one of the main reasons for banning the sale of tobacco products except as a whole packet, the amendment, on paper, will have a significant impact, particularly on bidi-smokers.

Bidis constitute nearly 85 per cent of all tobacco smoked in India, involving mainly those in the lower economic stratum, on whom pictorial warnings could be expected to have the maximum impact.

Courtesy: The Hindu

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Governor sets agenda to monitor tobacco control measures in educational centres

His Excellency Governor of Kerala with Dr Paul Sebastian

Shri Justice (Retd) P. Sathasivam, Hon’ble Governor of Kerala, said that Tobacco control in campuses of higher learning will be made an item in the agenda at Vice Chancellors’ Meet held every quarter.

He said this during an interaction at Kerala Raj Bhavan with the activists of ‘Tobacco Free Kerala’ led by Dr Paul Sebastian, Director, Regional Cancer Centre and Vice Chairman of the Organisation.

Expressing concern at the growing affinity for tobacco products among youngsters and the increasing number of tobacco-induced cancers in Kerala, the Governor said that he will also direct the inclusion of tobacco control measures in campuses in Vice Chancellor’s monthly reports.

“Every month, Vice Chancellors send reports to me on any instances of sexual harassment, ragging and the like in campuses, action taken and steps planned for the future. Tobacco control measures in campuses too will be included in the monthly reports,” the Governor said. 

Dr Sebastian briefed the Governor about the extent of tobacco use and the harms it causes in Kerala. “An alarming 21.4 per cent of Kerala’s adults above 15 years use tobacco products in any form. Around 50,000 new cancer cases are detected every year, of which more than 40 per cent of cancers in males are tobacco-induced. The economic burden of tobacco use in Kerala is over Rs 1500 crore a year.”

Tobacco-induced cancer victims also shared their experiences with the Governor. Fisherman Saju K, a 34-year-old tobacco-induced oral cancer victim from Kollam recounted how he started smoking in his early 20s as a means to fight chill while fishing.

“Gradually, I was drawn to smoking and I would smoke cigarettes in addition to using smokeless tobacco products. Tobacco use made me an oral cancer patient that changed the course of my life forever,” Saju said.

The group requested the Hon’ble Governor’s intervention for strengthening tobacco control in educational institutions, particularly in centres of higher learning, and in mentoring and directing to sustainable completion the plan to make three districts of Kerala models in tobacco control by adhering to the provisions of the Indian tobacco control law COTPA, 2003.

With a view to creating replicable benchmarks in tobacco control for the rest of the state and the country to emulate, District Collectors of Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Kozhikode are driving efforts to make these model tobacco free COTPA compliant districts. Police, Health and Education Departments are supporting the District Collectors in this endeavour to improve Kerala’s public health through effective tobacco control. 

Shri S Jayaraj, State Coordinator, Tobacco Free Kerala was also present during the interaction. 

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Smoke-free regulations: Study finds crucial role of Government workers

Government workers play important roles in formulating, implementing and enforcing smoke-free regulations, reports a cross-sectional study conducted to assess factors associated with support for smoke-free policies among government workers in six Chinese cities.

The study called 'Factors associated with support for smoke-free policies among government workers in Six Chinese cities: a cross-sectional study' is the first to examine support for smoke-free settings among government workers, an important set of opinion leaders and a large segment of the working population in China.

Data were from an evaluation of the Tobacco Free Cities initiative of Emory University''s Global Health Institute - China Tobacco Control Partnership. As many as 6,646 workers in 160 government agencies in six Chinese cities completed self-administered surveys.

Over 90% felt that smoking should not be permitted in hospitals, elementary and middle schools, colleges, public transportation, religious sites, worksites or restaurants, found the study conducted to examine support for smoke-free settings among government workers from 160 agencies in six Chinese cities. 

Nine settings were examined, including colleges, hotels and religious sites which have not been examined in prior studies.

Levels of support for smoke-free public places typically vary by smoking status, knowledge about the harmfulness of SHS, and demographics. Levels of support also vary by the type of restriction. Knowledge about SHS was associated with increased support.

Data from the 2010 Global Adult Tobacco Survey documented that 52.5% of adult non-smokers were exposed to SHS daily in China and 72.4% were exposed in a typical week.

The study and the important role it assigns to Government workers has a bearing in Kerala where 41.8 per cent and 18.7 per cent of adults were exposed to second-hand smoke at home and in public places respectively, as per GATS. 

Around 92.6% of Kerala’s adults believe that exposure to smoke causes serious illness in non-smokers.

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