Smoking ban 'should apply to all' in UAE

Standing outside the emergency exit to have a cigarette, the owner of a cafe in Marina Mall looks through the glass partition and into his near-empty restaurant. Since adhering to a smoking ban in malls put into effect by the Department of Economic Development (DeD) at the beginning of July, the owner has seen a vast drop in sales. The drop, he said, is not so much to do with customers not being allowed to smoke but the inefficient way the ban has been implemented. As of July 1, any mall cafe or restaurant owners who still allowed smoking on their premises were to be given fines reaching up to Dh100,000, some cafe owners say, for repeat offenders.

Out of more than 80 food and beverage outlets, across the five biggest malls in Abu Dhabi city, 38 had not yet introduced the ban by the start of July. More than three months later, that number has dropped by three quarters. But those who have cleared the smoke from their establishments have also seen their profits disappear as a result of the DeD's inability to enforce a blanket ban, said the owner. "We don't have a problem with non-smoking. We were the first to introduce the ban, before Ramadan," said the owner, who was fined shortly before introducing no-smoking signs to his restaurant. However, with one establishment in Marina Mall still allowing smoking - and several more still ignoring the ban in other malls across the city - there is an unfair advantage.

"If I'm suffering, don't let my neighbour, in the same mall ... they should stop smoking," he said. After taking his complaint to officials, the owner was told the DeD did not have enough staff to tackle the problem all at once. Another restaurant owner said: "When a decree is issued by the government, it should be implemented ... across all restaurants, across the food and beverage operators inside all the malls." "It [the ban enforcement] should have been planned before it had started. They should have targeted all the malls in one go." Having so far been fined four times, Mr Emad Kara, the co-owner of Le Terrace, in Mushrif Mall, who says 75 per cent of his customers are smokers, has put the needs of his business above all else.

 "I cannot cover ... the rental without shisha. I cannot stop. If I stop I will lose my business," he said. Given the restaurant's outside area, the smoking ban should not apply to him, he added. In Noir Cafe, a couple of fines were enough to make them introduce the ban, said Opeola Ohiyinka, a staff member. "We sent the fines to the office but I told my manager there are still some shops in the mall that allow smoking," she said. With many customers wanting to sit down for a coffee and a cigarette, they will go elsewhere in the mall.

Having spoken with the official who gave them their last fine, however, Ms Ohiyinka was told that every food and beverage outlet in every mall had been told about the conditions. "If we had a smoking area, we would still have most customers. But we had too many fines," she said. The message is the same from other cafe and restaurant owners - whether or not they agree with the smoking ban, it must be implemented correctly. At one popular cafe, in Abu Dhabi Mall, no smoking would signal the end of the business, said a supervisor. "We have been fined twice. If we don't have smoking, we close the shop. No business, no anything."

MUM HOPES TO INSPIRE OTHER SMOKERS TO QUIT

Rachael Fisher, who smoked for 14 years before giving up last summer, realised enough was enough when her two-year-old daughter, Sarah-May, started copying her by pretending to smoke with a pen. The 25-year-old Hindpool mum said: “She was forever rooting through my handbag for cigarettes, wanting to know what they were because she’d seen me sneaking outside with them but knew I wouldn’t let her touch them.

“It was the same with lighters – she was always trying to get hold of them.” Miss Fisher also realised her 20-a-day habit was hurting her daughter Sophie, six, who became very upset after doing a smoking course at school. She said: “She just kept saying ‘Are you going to die?’. “It was the same with my niece. She started junior school and was forever on about it. “There’s no way to justify to a child why it’s OK for grown-ups to smoke but not children.” Miss Fisher had tried to quit twice before, using the replacement chewing gum and lozenges, but found they did not work for her. This time, she decided to call the Stop Smoking Service provided by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

With the help of the scheme, which offers ongoing help, support and advice, Miss Fisher finally managed to give up. She has shared her story in a bid to get people taking part in Stoptober – a mass quit attempt launched by the Department of Health. Having given up on August 13, two days after her last birthday as a smoker, Miss Fisher is already feeling the benefits. A keen runner, she is now doing an 11-minute mile rather than a 13-minute one. She saves up to £20 per night out as she used to smoke around 40 cigarettes while socialising. But the best effect she has noticed is on her children. Miss Fisher said: “Sarah doesn’t wait for me by the baby gate for me to come back into the house because I’ve been outside smoking. “That whole thing of sneaking out for a cigarette – I don’t have to do it any more.”

Anti-tobacco campaigners vow to make ‘sin’ tax measure an election issue

Anti-cigarette smoking advocates on Tuesday threatened to embark on a campaign for higher tax on tobacco and liquor products an election issue if lawmakers will not pass a “real sin tax measure” that will cause the price of cigarettes to go up. Dr. Maricar Limpin of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance-Philippines and Dr. Tony Leachon, Department of Health consultant on non-communicable diseases, along with Emer Rojas, president of New Vois Association of the Philippines, said their campaign against cigarette smoking will not stop with the passage of the so-called sin-tax law by Congress.

“Even after the 2013 elections, we will make sure that our campaign will affect the political careers of our lawmakers who will make a vote in favor of cigarette companies,” Limpin told reporters during a press conference in Quezon City. Organized by the Action for Economic Reforms, the group said members of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means seemed to be leaning towards multiple tax tiers that would not lead to higher price of cigarette products. “Cheap cigarettes will still be accessible to the youth and the poor, which will lead to higher non-communicable diseases deaths in the future,” says Leachon.

 According to Rojas, a largynectomee, or a person who has undergone laryngectomy enacting sin-tax law that will cause cigarette and liquor products to go up is necessary to discourage smoking among the poor and even children whose addiction to smoking and drinking is widely known in the Philippines. Rojas is using an electronic gadget, a simple vibrating machine which replaces his lost vocal cords, to be able to communicate verbally. “Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. It kills more people than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

 And what is alarming is that 72 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries like the Philippines,” he told reporters. Limpin and Leachon are both members of the Philippine College of Physicians. Both specialize in lung care, while Rojas leads the group of cancer survivor. Also, members of the Senate’s Committee on Ways and Means, according to the group, are leaning toward the passage of low tax rates, similar to the industry’s proposal. Its implication, they said, results to lower revenues that can be used for health care for the poor.

 Former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, during the same press conference, urged lawmakers to do away with their lip service by enacting a real sin-tax measure that will cause price of liquor, especially cigarettes, to go up so that they will no longer be cheap and affordable. According to Cabral, the sin-tax measure should be a health measure, more than a revenue measure. The group expressed grave alarm that Sen. Ralph Recto, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, who, according to the group, is likely to come up with “a very diluted version of the bill,” which renders the health objective irrelevant and leans toward the tobacco industry’s proposals.

Jharkhand cuts VAT on kerosene; tobacco items to get costly

The Jharkhand government has reduced value added tax (VAT) on kerosene from five per cent to two per cent, while the VAT on tobacco products has been increased from 14 per cent to 20 per cent, official sources said today.

The decisions were taken at the cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Arjun Munda, yesterday. The new rate for kerosene would be Rs 13.76 per litre from the current Rs 14.19, the sources said.

Imperial Tobacco Group Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Canaccord Genuity

Canaccord Genuity reiterated their buy rating on shares of Imperial Tobacco Group (LON: IMT) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm currently has a $45.17 (2800 GBX) target price on the stock. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Analysts at Oriel Securities Ltd reiterated a buy rating on shares of Imperial Tobacco Group in a research note to investors on Thursday, September 27th.

They now have a $46.77 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Barclays Capital reiterated an equalweight rating on shares of Imperial Tobacco Group in a research note to investors on Friday, September 21st. They now have a $43.95 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at JPMorgan Chase reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Imperial Tobacco Group in a research note to investors on Thursday, September 20th. They now have a $50.44 price target on the stock. Imperial Tobacco Group opened at 2315.72 on Tuesday.

Imperial Tobacco Group has a 1-year low of GBX 2112.00 and a 1-year high of GBX 2629.00. The company’s market cap is £23.176 billion. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (Imperial Tobacco) is a tobacco company. Through the Company’s total tobacco portfolio it provides consumers a range of brands and products, including cigarettes, fine cut tobacco, cigars and snus.

20% Off Electronic Cigarettes by Firelight Fusion End of September Sale

Lower prices should not deter vapors from looking at the Firelight Fusion e cigarette line. The Fusio e cigarette is the KR808D-1 model that has become a sensation and sold by many other top brands across the U.S. over the last few years. The Firelight brand has built a solid reputation online with the total package of great products, low prices, and a customer service department that is untouchable.

 "We already know that we have a great product with an even better company backing it, so we decided to off this sale so that both new customers and our current loyal following could benefit," States Tiffany Ellis of Firelight Fusion. "It helps with refills and all accessories for current customers and discounted prices for smokers looking to change their lifestyle for the better." The brand was rated the no 1 e cigarette company and product online by Smokers Utopia, the most brutal smokeless cigarette review site in the industry.

NHS Launches Stoptober, But Experts Say Buy Tobacco Shares

The start of thousands of smokers' journeys to quit smoking for good began on Monday but investors say there's never been a better time to buy shares in tobacco. Stoptober, backed by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, hopes a united effort will help many of England's eight million smokers to quit successfully. Research shows people who stop smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to stay smoke-free. Smokers who join Stoptober are given free support to help them quit, including a mobile phone app that can monitor quitters' progress and offer daily motivational texts to keep them on track.

 There is also a Stoptober Facebook page where people can exchange ideas and get additional tips and advice. But perhaps smokers looking for somewhere sensible to stick their new cash - which would have been spent on fags - could invest it in tobacco companies' shares? Ethical? Maybe not, but tobacco has long been recognised as a solid performer in terms of gaining returns, particularly during times of economic stress - typical returns range from 7% to 16%. Charles Stanley's tobacco analyst, Tina Cook, told Huffington Post UK that tobacco companies make for a good investment as its strong industry pricing power has continued to more than offset the smaller volumes of sales despite the challenging economic conditions "The sector boasts strong defensive qualities, global reach, and secure dividends underpinned by robust cash flows," she added.

 "A recent surge in news flow around tighter tobacco legislation in mature markets has been negative, witnessed by recent share price underperformance, but growth continues to be fuelled by increased trading in emerging markets." Research by Euromonitor International in 2009 showed consumers do not tend to smoke less in times of trouble and stress and that selling tobacco products is intrinsically profitable and the business is a legendary cash flow generator, making it a savvy investment choice. In addition, the traditional strength of tobacco brands means that prices generally tend to remain robust and, unlike many other products, it's not believed cigarettes will not be overtaken by new technology, despite pushes for electronic alternatives.

 Having said that, British American Tabacco has taken steps to invest more than £100m to develop smoking alternatives as new tobacco bans and higher taxes persuade more smokers to extinguish their cigs. Martin Deboo, analyst at Investec Securities, said Investec currently recommends investors to buy shares in British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. The negative sentiment surrounding some of the major tobacco markets was in danger of being overplayed, he said in a recent analyst note.

 "Russia is a big market, but also a finite one at around 8% of BAT & IMT’s sales," he said, referencing fears that a ban on smoking in public places in Russia is about to come into action. Russia has one of the highest rates of smokers in the world: around 60% of Russian men and 22% of women smoke, making it the second largest tobacco market, behind China. "Plain packaging in the UK is a threat only to Imperial Tobacco," Deboo continued. "We have been arguing that the share price impact is finite and that Imperial could be a relative gainer from any move due to its strength in value cigarettes and roll your own/make your own tobacco."