Russia Weakens Anti-Smoking Law Before Key Second Reading

Russia weakened a proposed law aimed at cracking down on smoking in the world’s second-largest tobacco market before a key vote on the legislation tomorrow.

While the bill keeps a ban on smoking in public places, it drops restrictions on cigarette sales and the right to set minimum cigarette prices, said Dmitry Yanin, head of anti- tobacco lobbying group, the International Conference of Consumer Societies. “This is a major victory for the tobacco lobby,” he told reporters in Moscow today. “The tobacco companies have managed to hang onto their second-biggest market after China.”
An aide to Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Alexei Levchenko, said the changes to the legislation were necessary to reach agreement with lawmakers, though he insisted that health goals of reducing smoking will still be met.
Philip Morris International Inc., British American Tobacco Plc, Japan Tobacco Inc. and Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, which control 93 percent of the $19.5-billion Russian market, had opposed the curbs on cigarette consumption, which were supported by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and approved on the first reading on Dec. 14. Lawmakers will vote on the bill in the decisive second of three required readings tomorrow.
Russia’s government had proposed measures that would outlaw all tobacco advertising and sponsorship as well as kiosk sales immediately, with bans on trade in small retail outlets and smoking in public places taking effect Jan. 1, 2015, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

There’s an app for cigarette advertising

Every since tobacco advertising was first forced off our television screens in the 1970s, the tobacco industry has been at pains to splash its logos and brands just about anywhere it can.

Public health officials and governments have never been able to keep up with determined and inspired cigarette advertising executives.

It’s not surprising then that tobacco product promotions have wormed their way on to our mobile phones through app stores. With Smartphone sales and mobile Internet use skyrocketing globally, it just makes good business sense to take advantage of this highly unregulated medium.

Devotees of the most popular cigarette brand in the world, Marlboro, for example, can pay just 99 cents to decorate their phones with the infamous red chevron, reports The Conversation.

While it could be completely feasible that the Marlboro global brand owner, Philip Morris International, is not at all connected with this app, they do not appear to have taken any steps to prevent app developers from abusing their trademark. Given how forcibly Philip Morris defended its trademark rights in the Australian High court over plain packaging this seems strangely inconsistent.

Tobacco industry defenders will undoubtedly contest that any move to regulate content on app stores is tantamount to gagging the most vulnerable citizens who dare to defy the powerful nanny state. When the simple truth is, tobacco advertising laws must be adapted to keep up with new media.