Tobacco Asia

Volume 19, Number 4

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70 tobaccoasia CLOSING NEWS 卷尾新闻 Japan Survey Finds 20% of Adults Smoke Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) today announced the results of its Japan Smoking Rate Survey, a study that has been carried out annually since 1965. The survey, conduct- ed in May 2015, showed that 19.9% of Japanese adults are smokers. The survey, conducted in May 2015, showed that the smoking rate increased due to an increase in men's smoking rate. However, this result is within the margin of statistical error. Hence the company is of the view that the smoking rate in Japan has been on a declining trend as before. The decrease is due to various factors, including the aging of society, growing awareness about the health risks associated with smoking, tightening of smoking-related regulations, and the tax and price hike. The survey was conducted using a stratified two-stage sampling method, by mailing questionnaires to approximately 32,000 adult men and women nation- wide. JT collected 20,112 (62.7%) valid responses from the total population surveyed. India ITC's Q1 Net Rises 4% ITC, India's biggest cigarette maker, reported a 4% increase in its net profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, but revenues were weighed down by cigarette and agribusiness. The conglomerate's net profit for the quarter that ended on June 30, 2015, came in at Rs 2,265 crore (US$355 million), against Rs 2,186 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, but its revenues declined 7.4% annually to Rs 8,505 crore because of lower cigarette sales and lower revenue from its agribusiness. According to Bloomberg consensus broker's estimate, ITC was expected to report a net profit of Rs 2,322 crore on net revenues of Rs 9,349 crore. Revenues from ITC's cigarette business, which contributes nearly half of the total revenue, fell 1.2% year-on-year to Rs 4,150 crore in the June quarter. Sri Lanka BAT Calls for Further Study British American Tobacco (BAT) has reiterated the need for greater under- standing of the illegal tobacco trade, the criminals behind it, and the need for greater cooperation and collaboration to fight it. This call to action launched as part of a new campaign, developed by the company, to raise awareness of the facts around the illegal tobacco trade. Commenting on the situation in Sri Lanka, Felicio Ferraz, managing director and c.e.o. of BAT's local representative – the Ceylon Tobacco Company, said: "The nature and scale of the illegal tobacco trade and the approaches required to tackle it vary from country to country. Here, in Sri Lanka, the illegal tobacco industry is dominated by highly organized smugglers and it is estimated to be 1.5% of the market. The implications of the growth of this industry are far reaching and include substandard products reaching the consumer, non- compliance of local laws and regulations, loss of government revenue, etc. As such, we continue to support the Sri Lankan government in their efforts to curb illegal tobacco from entering the market." Director of corporate and regulatory affairs Dinesh Dharmadasa commened: "The amount of illegal tobacco is much more significant than is generally realised: an estimated 400-600 billion cigarettes, the equivalent of approximate- ly 10-12% of world consumption. It is a transnational, multi-faceted issue and one that requires a collaborative approach to tackle it, from governments and law enforcement agencies with whom we work in partnership to retailers and customers who can arm themselves with the facts." Dharmadasa continues: "BAT invest over US$75 million globally each year to fight the illegal tobacco trade. The group has dedicated anti-illicit trade teams across the markets that support and work with government agencies, including police and customs officials, to curb the threat of illicit trading of cigarettes." Experts estimate that if all of the different people and organizations involved in the illegal tobacco trade around the world were combined into one conglomerate, they would become the third largest international tobacco company by revenue. Australia Champix Probe Reopened The Queensland coroner has reopened an investigation into the death of 22-year-old Timothy Oldham who committed suicide just days after starting medication to quit smoking. The man, a resident of Brisbane, left a box of anti-smoking drug Champix next to his suicide tape recording when he died in 2013. He began taking the drug just eight days prior to taking his life. There are growing concerns Champix is linked to mental health problems. It was only after he died that she discov- ered the link between Champix and suicide had been made before in the US. The FDA in the US first implement- ed its so-called "black box" warning on Champix packets in 2009, and recently strengthened it, after a huge class action involving 3,000 litigants was settled by pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer. But Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) does not require a "black box" warning and Champix currently does not contain consumer medical information inside the box either. Champix was first introduced to the Australian market in 2007 and 900,000 prescriptions had been filled by 2010. In that time, the TGA had more than 200 reports of suicide-related events for Champix patients. UK BAT Defies Predictions British American Tobacco (BAT), the

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