Tobacco News

Smokers hit by hefty price rises are flooding Quitline with calls for help. Twenty South Canterbury smokers contacted the quit group over the first three days of the year. Staff expect that figure to reach 200 by the end of this month, compared with 140 for the same period in 2011 and 62 in January 2010. Nationally, 1200 people have signed up to quit in the first three days of January.
The last of the three tiered increases in the tobacco tax came into effect on January 1, pushing the price of a pack of 20s to $14.
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The price of cigarettes in Slovenia will go up on Saturday as part of an increase in excise duty on tobacco. The best selling brand will be 10 cents dearer at EUR 2.8 a pack, a rise of 3.7%, wholesaler Tobacna Ljubljana said reports Slovenia Times. The price hike is in line with last year’s changes to the excise duties act, which already raised the excise from EUR 77 to EUR 80 per 1,000 cigarettes in April. Ream more »

British American Tobacco Plc (BATS), Europe’s largest cigarette maker, said first-half operating profit rose 12 percent as higher prices offset a decline in shipments.
Adjusted profit from operations rose to 2.76 billion pounds ($4.5 billion) from 2.46 billion pounds a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement today. That beat the 2.67 billion-pound median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales increased 2 percent to 7.44 billion pounds. Ream more »

Health officials have welcomed the enhanced tax on tobacco products which last weekend culminated in the price increase of most low-end cigarettes but left premium brands untouched.

Deputy director of Medical Services William Maina also said the move to fund cancer screening equipment in the Budget would be a positive spin-off in the government policy.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been pushing governments globally and in recent months held seminars for African tax and treasuries officials in Nairobi to push its case. Ream more »

Smokers in Bulgaria will pay an average of one lev more for a packet from April 1 2010, when the increased cigarette prices come into force.From April 1 2010, shops can only sell cigarettes with the new excise stamps and anyone caught selling cigarettes at their old price will face sanctions of up to 2000 leva. The cigarette packets with old excise stamps will be destroyed. Read more