Super Fund caught investing in tobacco

The Green Party has caught the New Zealand Superannuation Fund investing in tobacco, failing once again to live up to their own self-imposed standards as a responsible investor.

A parliamentary written question today revealed that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund holds 80,000 shares in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd - a company involved in the manufacture of tobacco - despite a promise from the Fund to divest from tobacco-related industries in 2007.

"The Super Fund directors have acknowledged their oversight, but their long record of complacency towards ethical investment makes it no surprise that they have been caught investing in tobacco," said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

"The Fund directors have been caught out previously for unethical investment behaviour after it was revealed they were profiting from the whaling industry and the cluster munitions industry.

"This is not a professional way to manage a $19 billion investment fund and risks serious damage to our reputation as a responsible member of the world community.

"I hope the directors will now reconsider their position of continuing to invest in and profit from the nuclear weapons industry."

The Superfund currently has a $2.1 million investment in Larsen & Toubro, India's largest defence engineering company, involved in the manufacture of a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.

"Our Super Fund should be nuclear free," said Dr Norman.

The decision to divest from tobacco created a strong precedent. Tobacco is not an illegal product, but the Super Fund directors ruled in 2007 that investment in this sector was inconsistent with our responsible investment standards. Their decision was based on 'product safety issues' and New Zealand's commitment to specific international conventions, namely the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"We are a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and I suspect there are obvious 'product safety issues' with nuclear weapons. The bottom line is, we should have nothing to do with investing in this immoral industry," Dr Norman said.

Transcript of Written Question #06011, dated August 2, 2011:

Question: What is the value in New Zealand dollars, if any, of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund's investment in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd?

Finance Minister, Hon Bill English: As at 1 August 2011, the Fund had 80,000 shares in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd, with a NZD value of approximately $333,000.

The Fund has also responded with the following statement: "We are aware that Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd has a private subsidiary, Nanyang Brothers Tobacco, which is a manufacturer of tobacco. Nanyang Brothers does not issue securities and so is not tradeable. Nevertheless, since 2007 we have had in place a policy of excluding companies whose activities include the manufacture or production of tobacco. To date we have used several different screening methods to ensure our portfolio exclusions are complied with. All of these screening methods involve the use of industry classifications. Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd is an example of a company which, because it is involved in a broad range of activities including tobacco, it is classified as an industrial conglomerate and so is not captured by the screening process. We were aware of this issue and have recently completed a project to broaden our screening methodology to resolve it. This has grown the number of companies on our tobacco exclusions list. Pending circulation to our external investment managers, the expanded list will be available on the Fund's website - as the current list has been since 2007 - by 30 August. The list will include Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd. We have often said that our Responsible Investment programme relies on a number of sources of information, including third parties with interests in Responsible Investment matters, such as the Green Party. As such, we appreciate such matters being brought to our attention."

New tobacco products pose old danger to young people

Snus, orbs, sticks, strips, oh my! What are these, you might ask? Some of the new and creative ways tobacco companies are targeting a new generation to become dependent on nicotine. Recently, with the help of local youth from the Holland, Grand Haven and Hudsonville areas we took a look at some of the new and emerging trends in tobacco here in Ottawa County.

What did we find? After visiting 17 venues, including gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores, we found of course many of the age-old tobacco products like cigars, cigarettes, chew, etc. But we also found some of the new, emerging tobacco products. Among the most popular was snus, a product similar to chew/spit tobacco. Snus is a smokeless tobacco product, packaged in little pouches that can be placed in the mouth or in some cases swallowed — very much like chew/spit tobacco, but without the mess. It is sold in a variety of flavors like “winterchill” and “frost,” flavors that remind me of chewing gum intended to freshen your breath, with tag lines like “bar friendly” and “enjoy anytime, anywhere, it’s limitless.”

As communities stand together committed to smoke free environments, the tobacco companies are changing their tactics, marketing these new products as “smoke-free” and as “safer” alternatives to smoking. But what they are really doing is just filling our minds, and especially the minds of youth, with a lot of smoke.

Tobacco companies market ‘orbs’ lower doses of nicotine

Bite-sized dissolvable “orbs” that look like breath mints and melt in your mouth are the tobacco industry’s latest attempt to fight falling U.S. cigarette sales.

Charlotte is one of two test markets for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc.’s newest products: dissolvable, smokeless tobacco lozenges that come as orbs, sticks or strips.

The products all contain less nicotine than cigarettes, between 0.5 and 3 milligrams instead of 12 to 15. And, Reynolds spokesman David Howard said, they meet a “societal expectation.”

“There’s no secondhand smoke, no spitting and no cigarette butt litter,” Howard said.

But health officials still worry about the risks of smokeless options. Smokeless tobacco users may not get lung cancer, health experts say, but they risk mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss. Prenatal dangers for pregnant women also still exist.

“There are no safe tobacco products,” said Matt Carpenter, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina who is researching the effect of smokeless products on smoking habits.

Huntersville, N.C., resident Joey Hodge, who has smoked for almost five years, sees the appeal of smokeless products that won’t be as tough on his lungs or make him smell like smoke. But the 20-year-old isn’t sold on Reynolds’s newest offering.

“They were definitely not the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted,” Hodge said. Plus, he added, the products “really didn’t do much” to satisfy his nicotine craving.

Hodge’s reaction isn’t the sort tobacco makers are hoping for. As cigarette sales slide because of the health risks and social stigma, tobacco companies are counting on smokers like Hodge to fuel the new smokeless market. The dissolvable products sell for about $2 for a 12-pack _ comparable, Reynolds says, to its other smokeless products.

“They can enjoy tobacco pleasure without bothering others and without having to leave the workplace, or the restaurant or the bar,” Howard said.

Analysts say new laws banning cigarettes in public places, like the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars that took effect in North Carolina last January, are among the factors driving a steep decline in cigarette sales.

“In recent years you’ve seen smoking banned in most states in most bars and restaurants. That kind of takes away the fun,” said Phil Gorham, industry analyst for investment firm Morningstar.

In its second-quarter earnings report last month, Reynolds reported the number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. fell 4.4 percent. Gorham said companies like Reynolds can combat falling sales by increasing prices in the short term, but they’ll eventually need to diversify revenues.

While American sales of cigarettes drop 3-4 percent every year, the market for smokeless products grew 3 percent in 2009 and 7 percent in 2010, said Mary Gotaas, tobacco industry analyst for researcher IBISWorld. This year, smokeless sales are expected to jump 8 percent, Gotaas said.

While Reynolds is testing its new dissolvables, Richmond, Va.-based rival Philip Morris has its own product in the works: a dissolvable tobacco stick.

The growth of smokeless products worries some public health advocates who think the new products appeal to children. During the first round of testing , the orbs’ packaging resembled Tic-Tacs, creating concern that children might confuse them with candy, said John Spangler, professor of family health and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

For this round of testing, there’s larger packaging and new warnings. Packages now say “This product contains nicotine and is for adult tobacco consumers only” and “There is no safe tobacco product,” in addition to one of four required FDA warnings.

The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the FDA is holding hearings exploring the implications of smokeless products. Right now, all tobacco products must be age-restricted and kept behind the counter, just like cigarettes.

Warning labels on smokeless tobacco products must cover at least 30 percent of the packaging and every product must carry one of four messages: “Smokeless tobacco is addictive,” “This product can cause mouth cancer,” “This product can cause gum disease and tooth loss,” or “This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.”

Cigarette shares slide on speculation of hike in excise duty on tobacco products

ITC (down 1.48%), Godfrey Phillips India (down 1%), VST Industries (down 1.48%) and Golden Tobacco (down 0.07%), edged lower.
The BSE Sensex was up 58.16 points or 0.32% at 17,998.71.
According to reports, the government will take a decision to hike excise duty on tobacco products at the end of the Parliament session because price rise is a politically sensitive issue. The excise duty rate on cigarettes currently varies depending on the length of the cigarette.

Gas station gunman steals money and cigarettes

Police are looking for the man who robbed a Shell Station in eastern Henrico County.

Police say on Monday, August 1, at 10:34 p.m., a man carrying a long barrel revolver robbed the Shell Station at 2707 Williamsburg Road of money and cigarettes.

Police describe the robber as a black male, 28-35 years of age, 5'8", 160-180, and medium complexion. Police say he was wearing a black shirt and gray sweat pants during the robbery.

Cigarette smoking ignites South Austin house fire

Officials with the Austin Fire Department say a house fire in South Austin Wednesday morning was caused by an occupant smoking cigarettes near an open oxygen cylinder.
Firefighters responded to the home on Mockingbird Lane around 10:30 a.m. Fire crews had to work around some fallen power lines, but had it out in about 20 minutes.

No one was hurt, but two people were taken to the hospital to be evaluated. One person suffered minor injuries.

With the drought, officials are urging people to keep the area near their homes clear of brush so fires don't spread.

Damages are estimated at $75,000 in structure and $50,000 contents.

Suspect charged in fatal stabbing over pack of cigarettes

Authorities have identified a suspect in a fatal stabbing Monday night that apparently began with an argument over a pack of cigarettes at a group home in northeast Houston.
Jarvis De-Allo Leverett, 35, is charged with murder in the death of Arthur Lee Washington, 52, in the 9200 block of Kerry Glen Circle about 7:30 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department.
Officers said Washington died at the scene.
Leverett is being held in the Harris County jail without bail, according to county records.
Houston police said two men, later identified as Leverett and Washington, began arguing about 3:30 p.m. at the group home where they lived.
Both men have been diagnosed as schizophrenic, police added.
Washington had asked Leverett to pick up a pack of cigarettes for him at the store, and was upset when Leverett returned with only half a pack, police said.
The pair reportedly argued for hours, then separated. When they met again later that night on the patio behind the house, the confrontation apparently escalated.
Police said Leverett came at Washington with a knife and stabbed him after a brief chase through the backyard.
A caretaker at the group home disarmed Leverett and called police.
Responding officers quoted Leverett as saying, "The guy kept messing with me."