Discount cigarettes online blog

British American Tobacco, the owner of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes, is among four groups that have submitted final bids for Tekel Cigarette, the state-owned Turkish cigarette group.

An auction for the group, which analysts value at $1bn-$1.5bn (£513m-£769m), could be held by the end of the week.

The other final bidders are one consortium that includes Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holding; another consortium including the Turkish construction group Lima Insaat; and the private equity firm Cinven, which is bidding in a consortium under the name of Strand Investment.

The auction will be shown on Turkish television and is also expected to be recorded by international channels such as CNN to avoid allegations of corruption.

The government opened the sale of Tekel late last year. This is the third time the Turkish government has tried to sell the cigarette maker. Previous attempts have failed because the government did not get the price it wanted or it did not get sufficient bids.

The smoking of cigarettes by the ladies is quite common, especially among the higher classes. In no part ofthe world is smoking so common as in

South America; here all classes and all ages use the weed. Smoking is
encouraged in the family and the children are early taught the custom. A traveler who has observed this
custom more particularly than any other, says of the use of tobacco in Peru:--
"Scarcely in any regions of the world is smoking so common as in Peru. The rich as well as the poor, the old
man as well as the boy, the master as well as the servant, the lady as well as the negroes who wait on her, the
young maiden as well as the mother--all smoke and never cease smoking, except when eating, or sleeping, or
in church.

If there is any place on our planet where magnificence is true value, then it is unquestionably the Hellenic Republic, or Greece, a country of myths and legends. It was, perhaps, an inspiration for bringing Karelia Tobacco Company to this part of the world.
This world famous smoking product producer was founded by George Karelias, in 1888, in Kalamata city, as a family-run business. Now, this cigarettes manufacturer is acclaimed as one of the major tobacco companies in Greece and the owner of most exclusive world brands.
The features that made Karelia Company known on the international tobacco market are its respect for time-stabled quality and recent technologies. The advanced equipment (the most advanced in Europe) allows producing 16,000 cigarettes per minute or more than 15 billion cigs per year.

Release the product in the original packaging, to appoint him for "exclusive" pay to ensure successful display in the store and can carry on an advertising campaign. Perhaps in the early days there will be grow sales - an issue, whether long happiness, how many live in such cigs brand. The experience of the world's biggest companies shows that the premium brand does require perseverance. For example, Mercedes sought popularity in its segment more than 8 years. The number of fans brand grew steadily, but it has become a cult only after participating in a German car. Massive advertising campaign, of course, can accelerate the process of moving, but lower product reputation: as stated above, "exclusive" consumer drifting away from the brand when it becomes obsession. Other techniques are needed, such as a movie room, where cult actor nadevaet Profiled jacket certain brands. Practiced long-term contracts with athletes fashionable TV, photo. Sometimes brand becomes popular no advertising - what happened, for example, with cigarettes Parliament. In 1980 - s many people looking for an alternative to Marlboro - distinguished brand, which became at some point too massive. The owners have taken advantage of this brand Parliament Cigarettes and the party played in two turns: first, to put their cigarettes at a higher price than that of Marlboro. Secondly, Parliament Cigarettes began to supply only to those stores, which gave a commitment not to sell them in one tray with Marlboro. After four years since the beginning of advancing Parliament Cigarettes became one of the leading premium segment.

Parliament cigarettes are the first to introduce their unique recessed filter, which, along with their soft flavor and smooth taste, made Parliament a very popular brand. The recessed filter of Parliament cigarettes makes the smoking experience more pleasant, fulfilling and softer, which is a great advantage for heavy smokers. Our shop offers you the Parliament king size cigarettes, Parliament light/blue cigarettes, Parliament 100's cigarettes and Parliament 100's light/blue cigarettes.

Rick Thomas Cofield appointed to the post of head of the Russian branch company Japan Tobacco International.
Earlier Colfield Camel led an international team at the headquarters in Geneva, he supervised the markets in Japan, Malaysia, headed the unit for the marketing and sales region, including the CIS, Baltic States, Turkey, Romania, the Middle East, Africa and the free-trade market.

According to the State Customs Committee, in recent months the incidence of smuggling cigarettes across the border. And if even a few years ago, the lion's share of tobacco smuggling accounted for imports, in the near future Russia may become a major supplier of illegal cigarettes Belarusians, Ukrainians, and even countries of Western Europe. Recently, however, Russian ports only used as trans-shipment points. According to the MOE, which cause "Izvestia", in Russia in 2001 were made nearly 400 billion cigarettes. In fact, as claimed by the leading manufacturers - at 80 billion cigarettes less. In turn, consumption is estimated at 300-320 billion pieces. Specialists tend to believe that between 40 and 80 billion pieces variance in the shadow sector within the country or exported to neighboring Ukraine and Belarus. In the SCC recognize that accurate assessment of contraband not to, but the unofficial figures, smuggling of cigarettes is about 20% of the illegally imported and exported goods from the country.

This is the third outdoor campaign Vogue Cigarettes in 2008 after campaigns in February.

According to widespread press service, since the beginning of 2008, growth in sales volume brands Vogue Cigarettes was more than 22%.

Model 6 x 3 posters have already been implemented in the memory violet-white colors c izobrezheniem petals of roses.

To date, "BAT" Russia is one of the leaders of Russia's tobacco market. According to the international research agency ACNielsen, in July 2005, the proportion of "BAT Russia" at the tobacco market was 20, 7%. The company owns three factories: "BAT-Java", "BAT"-St. Petersburg and "BAT-STF". In 2004, the company's sales volume exceeded 65 billion cigarettes.

An increase in the smoking tax could help close the gap — but only a little, historical data suggests. In 2004, the state tax on discount cigarettes was increased 26 cents, from 16.5 cents per pack to its current level.
 That resulted in a $58.3 million revenue boost. If Todd's bill were to have a similar effect, the state would still face a General Fund budget gap of well over half a billion dollars. For Todd, more state money is only part of the goal. "There's only so much you can tax cigarettes before people stop smoking — which I think is a good thing," she said. In addition to the state tax, the federal government has a cigarette tax of 39 cents per pack, according to the American Lung Association. Todd said her bill goes "hand in hand" with the decade-long effort of Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, to ban smoking in most public places. "Both of my parents died from smoking-related illnesses," Todd said, adding that she has never smoked. Riley is a former smoker who quit in 2007, according to his office. He has supported Figures' bill, but Riley spokesman Todd Stacy said the governor's opposition to Todd's bill is based on taxes, not smoking.
"I spoke with the governor, and he told me that he would not be proposing or supporting any new taxes or tax increases in the upcoming session," Stacy said. "Now is not the time to be raising taxes." Stacy would not say whether Riley planned to veto the smoking tax increase if it passes the Legislature. The 2009 regular legislative session will begin Tuesday.

Electronic cigarette smokers predict that by 2010, thirty-five percent of smokers will switch to cheap cigarettes online. E-cigs are among the fastest growing consumer products on the market today, so it makes sense that smokers would want to enjoy the best.
    The New Year is a time for new beginnings, and that's certainly true for the remarkable new product, Fifty-One electronic cigarette. A unique electronic cigarette unlike any others, it promises to be the hottest product of the year, and it has certainly lit the world of smoking on fire.
    Fifty-One is an electronic cigarette that looks and feels just like a real cigarette which is a definite plus among users. It offers users the nicotine they crave without the harmful carcinogens. Users simply pick it up and inhale. Its construction is simple and easy to use. It has only two parts: the rechargeable battery and the disposable cartridge, which includes both the nicotine pad and atomizing mechanism.
    Why is this product taking the smoking world by storm? Other e-cigarettes have reusable atomizers, which are dirty, messy and prone to clogging. Fifty-One's atomizer is built into the disposable nicotine cartridge, so every time you plug in a new unit, you're using a new atomizer.
    The recent economic downturn is another reason Fifty-One has become so popular, since it saves smokers money. A Five pack of nicotine cartridges is estimated by smokers to be equivalent to 10 packs of cigarettes. This makes a pack of "cigarette" cost $1.50. A significant saving since a pack of cigarettes today runs between $3.5 to $8.

Should Virginia cigarettesraise taxes on cigarettes?
In the current state budget shortfall, the answer becomes even easier than usual. Yes.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to double the tax on online cigarettesfrom 30 cents per pack to 60 cents to avoid deeper cuts in health care. Just four years ago the General Assembly passed a historic proposal to raise the tax from the nation’s lowest level at 2.5 cents.
The tax hike would help offset a revenue shortfall of $2.9 billion in Virginia. Kaine says the increase would generate about $148 million a year for health care. But he acknowledges that still wouldn’t match the estimated $400 million per year in Medicaid expenses caused by smoking in Virginia each year.
But House Republican Whip M. Kirkland Cox of Colonial Heights has said the idea of doubling the tobacco tax just five years after it increased from 2.5 cents per pack is a bad idea.
First, Cox said the tax would not raise nearly $150 million, but more like $100 million because people would quit smoking or buy cigarettes in bordering states. Also, Cox said the tax hike would result in lost jobs in the back yard of tobacco giant Philip Morris, whose south Richmond manufacturing complex is the world’s largest cigarette plant.
“Our No. 1 priority is sustaining jobs. It’s a bad idea,” Cox told The Associated Press.
While we hesitate to suggest raising taxes, we are less so when it comes to cigarettes. They are literally a health threat to consumers and taxpayers.
Also, we would not suggest raising taxes without state government cutting the budget. Kaine is doing that. So far, the governor has trimmed the state budget four times.
And more cuts are on the way. The latest round of cuts includes about 13,000 of the 36,000 non-teaching public school support staff positions. State employees who avoid layoffs lose pay raises at least through June 2010. Raises due recently but deferred in October until next summer are now gone for good.
Also, Virginia ranks 47th nationally in cigarette taxes, which means the tax burden on smokers is still far less than on others in the nation.
With such a bleak budget - and Republicans say Kaine is underestimating the budget shortfall - it’s time for a tax hike on cigarettes.

Congress must help people who could be lured into an addiction they don't need – and may not want. In coming days, the House will vote on regulating tobacco as a drug, with Senate action soon after – but all under threat of a White House veto. Will lawmakers stand up and assist smokers – and would-be smokers – to make the right choice?

The political climate is certainly ripe for federal action on nicotine.

John McCain pledged last week that one of his top goals if elected president would be to help people quit smoking (as he did himself in 1980). During his campaign, Barack Obama has set an example with an effort to quit. Also, last week, billionaires Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg announced they would spend $500 million to end tobacco use around the world.

Such moves against smoking aren't only aimed at preventing harm to smokers and their families. They also help people realize they can – and must – resist an addiction that seems to give them no choice but to act as victims to a temptation for a temporary pleasure. Those who have quit smoking know real pleasure lies in mastery over such temptation.

Government has a role in restricting companies that peddle this weed, especially when the industry purposely enhances the level of nicotine delivered in each cigarette, as recently revealed in a study by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Past government steps against tobacco, such as warnings on cigarette packs and bans on sales to minors and on smoking in public places, have helped greatly reduce the level of smoking in the United States. But now Congress has an opportunity to further that progress by giving regulatory powers over tobacco to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

It won't be easy. The tobacco industry spends millions each election season to influence Capitol Hill and the White House. The public has a stake in overriding that influence by asking their lawmaker to vote for the pending measure.

The House bill would not ban tobacco. After all, the leaf can be easily grown and a ban might prove as unwieldy as Prohibition. Rather it would give the FDA authority over the sale, advertising, and distribution of tobacco products, with a focus on industry practices that lure young people into smoking. It would, for example, ban fruit-flavored cigarettes. In fact, FDA control over tobacco additives and misleading advertising would provide the real teeth in preventing addiction.

However, the bill doesn't call for a ban on menthol cigarettes, which sell well among blacks. The FDA would need to counter this lapse – included in the bill for several political reasons – if it is given authority over tobacco.

To make sure that FDA regulation doesn't create an impression that smoking is government approved, the bill also prohibits the industry from advertising that it has the agency's support.

This legislation has been years in the making. Congress must resist the industry's moneyed influence over this bill and approve it before adjourning Aug. 10.

More than four decades have passed since the federal government found smoking to be harmful. Now it must act to help users and young people avoid a habit that many wish they didn't have.

 BRUSSELS-- The European Commission proposed Wednesday to gradually increase minimum taxation levels in the European Union (EU) on cigarettes, aiming to discourage smoking and fight smuggling.

    Under the plan, the excise duties levied on cigarettes must account for at least 63 of the price on average in 2004 from 57 percent currently, and they must be at least 90 euros (140 U.S. dollars) per 1000 cigarettes, compared to 64 euros (100 U.S. dollars) at present.

    "Today's proposal supports the EU policy to reduce tobacco consumption and narrow the differences in price levels of tobacco products within the EU," said Laszlo Kovacs, EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union.

    According to the World Bank, price increases in tobacco products are the most effective single intervention in preventing smoking.

    The commission estimated that the increase of tax would contribute to a 10 percent decrease in tobacco consumption in most member states within the next five years.

    Despite EU requirement for minimum tax on cigarettes, considerable differences remained in taxation levels between the lowest and the highest taxing member states, which could be up to almost 600 percent of the excise burden expressed in euros, according to the commission.

    The great divergence in taxation levels encouraged intra-EU tobacco smuggling and cross-border shopping, which undermined the revenue and the health objectives of those countries which imposed high taxes to deter smoking.

    The proposals also updated the definitions of different types of tobacco products so as to remove loopholes which allow certain cigarettes or fine cut tobacco to be presented as cigars, cigarillos or pipe tobacco and therefore benefiting from a lower tax rate. Enditem

WASHINGTON  — Nuclear weapons? No way. But there are plenty of items on Iran's shopping list the United States is more than happy to supply: cigarettes, brassieres, bull semen and more.

U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused it of nuclear ambitions and sponsoring terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran — at least $158 million worth under Bush — than any other product.

Other surprising shipments during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and military apparel. Top states shipping goods to Iran include California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of seven years of U.S. government trade data.

Despite increasingly tough rhetoric toward Iran, which Bush has called part of an "axis of evil," U.S. trade in a range of goods survives on-again, off-again sanctions originally imposed nearly three decades ago. The rules allow sales of agricultural commodities, medicine and a few other categories of goods. The exemptions are designed to help Iranian families even as the United States pressures Iran's leaders.

"I understand that these exports have increased. However, we believe that they are increasing to a segment of the population that we want to reach out to, we want to know and understand that the U.S. government, the U.S. people want to be friends with them, want to work with them to integrate them into the world economy and become partners in the future," Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday when asked by reporters about AP's findings.

The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it's unclear whether anyone pays attention.

Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the U.S. government's own figures showed at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the United States to Iran during Bush's time in office. That included $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004.

The Bush administration looked into those shipments after AP questioned whether the U.S. really approved the export of military rifles to Iran. A review found the rifles and parts actually went to Iraq; the wrong country was entered on the shipping record, Treasury Department spokesman John Rankin said. The government will correct the data, he said.

The remaining military gear is likely $33,000 in military apparel shipped to Iran under the humanitarian exemption to the trade sanctions, Rankin said.

AP's questions also prompted the government to look into U.S. records showing the export of at least $13,000 in "aircraft launching gear and/or deck arrestors," equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers. Iran's navy is not believed to have carriers. It turned out they went to Italy rather than Iran, and the data is now being corrected, Rankin said.

U.S. law enforcement believes Iran is actively trying to acquire U.S. military technology, including aircraft parts that can sell for pennies on the dollar compared with what the Pentagon paid. Last year, federal agents seized four F-14 fighter jets sold to domestic buyers by an officer at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., for $2,000 to $4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. When F-14s were new, they cost roughly $38 million each.

Bush this year signed legislation prohibiting the Pentagon from selling leftover F-14 parts. The law was prompted by AP reporting that buyers for Iran, China and other countries exploited Pentagon surplus sales to obtain sensitive military equipment that included parts for F-14 "Tomcats" and other aircraft and missile components. Two men were indicted in Florida last week on charges they shipped U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran, including Tomcat and attack-helicopter parts.

Iran received at least $620,000 in aircraft parts and $19,600 worth of aircraft during Bush's terms. Iran relies on spare parts from other countries to keep its commercial and military aircraft flying. In some cases, U.S. sanctions allow shipments of aircraft parts for safety upgrades for Iran's commercial passenger jets.

Iran is a hot issue in Washington. The House plans a hearing Wednesday on U.S. policy toward Iran, and the Bush administration announced Tuesday it was freezing the U.S. assets of several people and entities accused of helping Iran develop nuclear weapons.

But the U.S. government seems uncoordinated on efforts to limit trade with Iran.

BELGIUM – Sales in cigarettes were down by 12 percent or 750 million cigs during the first half of 2008.
This is the first significant drop in cigs sales in Belgium.
There has also been a decrease in tobacco sales. Nearly 3,400 tonnes of tobacco were sold during the first six months of 2008. Tobacco sales are down 8.5 percent in comparison with 2007.
This is good news for Belgians' health but bad news for the treasury as they will lose out on VAT and duty worth EUR 35 million.
The Health Ministry identifies several factors that triggered the fall in sales: legislation banning smoking in restaurants and public places and 2007's price rise.
Belgian cigarette sellers are also feeling the competition from Eastern European producers. Cigarettes are far cheaper in Eastern Europe and are routinely smuggled to Belgium.  

LONDON -- Starting July 1, the Netherlands will banish tobacco smoke from restaurants and all other public places. But in a bizarre twist, patrons of certain coffee shops where marijuana is sold over the counter can still light up their cannabis joints.

Possessing the weed is illegal in the Netherlands, but smoking it is tolerated.

Owners say the tobacco ban -- an increasingly widespread trend in Europe -- could be a threat to the specially licensed coffee houses, because patrons traditionally prefer their cannabis joints mixed with tobacco.

"As this is a ban on tobacco smoke, most coffee shops will allow customers to smoke pure weed, but not tobacco, and this will be potentially really difficult to regulate," said Lorna Clay, manager of the Cannabis College in Amsterdam, a nonprofit organization that distributes information about cannabis usage.

"Will the staff have to watch people make their joints to be sure no tobacco has been used?" Clay said some of Amsterdam's 226 coffee shops have invested in new kinds of pipes and vaporizers to encourage pure cannabis use.

But she said other coffee house owners have no intention of stopping customers from smoking mixed joints.

These owners argue that the city's renowned coffee shops are one of the main reasons many tourists visit.

The new law comes on the heels of another change in what's thought to be a major Dutch tourist draw -- legalized prostitution.

The sex trade is regulated and is mostly confined to red-light districts.

City officials announced last year that they would tighten rules in an effort to stop money laundering and trafficking in women.

Officials began shutting the famous brothels that display lingerie-clad women in shopfront windows, and there are 400 window brothels now, down from 478 in '07.

NEW YORK - Big tobacco companies should be able to raise prices and keep profits growing despite weakening sales, a Citi Investment Research analyst said Tuesday.

Adam Spielman said Philip Morris International Inc. could post 12 percent annual profit growth over the next few years, and Altria Group Inc. could grow at a 9 to 10 percent clip. That's as good as a lot of other big consumer product makers, he said, but the stocks are trading at a discount because of concerns about litigation and declining sales.

But the companies can keep increasing their profits as long as prices rise faster than sales fall, he wrote. Spielman said a pack of Marlboros costs $11 in the U.K., and prices are still going up to keep pace with wages.

"This implies U.S. prices have plenty of room to increase," he wrote. Costs are also coming down, he added.

Spielman expects the sector to outperform, and he started coverage of PMI and Altria with "Buy" ratings. He placed a "Hold" rating on shares of Reynolds American Inc., and said PMI and British American Tobacco PLC are his top picks.

He said fewer lawsuits are being filed against tobacco companies, so their legal risk has declined. 

New York State imposed an additional $1.25 per pack excise tax on cigarettes a couple of weeks ago. Now, a pack of smokes costs between $6 and $10, depending on where you buy them. To make the tax a bit more palatable, some government officials maintain that the reason for the increase is to discourage teen smoking by making the habit so expensive that young people would be disinclined to purchase cigarettes. That feel-good explanation is a tad disingenuous, given the state of the economy and the budget deficit. It's kind of like saying, "It's all about the kids." Don't kid yourself, its all about the money and how to channel more tax money into state coffers.

Hand in hand with the excise tax increase, is a report from Congressman and Department of Homeland Security committee member Peter King, linking the sales of tobacco products at Indian reservations to national security issues and global terrorism. At the heart of this issue is the concept of forbearance, whereupon the local, state and federal governments, in effect, look the other way when it comes to the sales tax and excise tax exemptions enjoyed by Native American merchants.
Indians do not have to pay sales and excise taxes on products sold on reservations by Native Americans to Native Americans. Since before we can remember, these exemptions also have been applied to sales made on reservations to non-Native Americans, which is a violation of the law. In the name of forbearance, lawmakers and law enforcers alike have simply ignored the infractions. As a consequence, there is heap big money exchanging hands at the Indian tobacco shops, where cigarettes are often sold for less than half the price for the same product sold at the neighborhood convenience store or gas station.
And, there is the rub.
Certain unscrupulous entrepreneurs take advantage of the cheap, tax-free cigarettes, buying them in bulk (sometimes by the tractor-trailer load) at the reservations, slapping counterfeit tax stamps on them, and peddling them to otherwise legitimate retailers at wholesale prices. The illegal markup is about $14 or $15 per carton, so go figure: a trailer load of cigarettes could contain thousands of cartons, or tens of thousands of dollars.
Congressman King fears that a great deal of that ill-begotten money is channeled to terrorist cells both local and abroad, in essence funding a national security threat. King wants it stopped.
This alleged threat to our security may or may not be legitimate; the crackdown on reservation tobacco sales may or may not be disingenuous; but, like the excise tax increase, it has been made palatable because it sounds good, and it calls upon our sense of patriotism. Could it be that there is another agenda to be filled?
Just about everyone from state legislators to the county executive to the county sheriff has jumped on the bandwagon as they look upon a gold mine of uncollected tax revenue. That is because the majority of reservation tobacco sales is to non-Native Americans, but, by virtue of forbearance, has been tax-free. Now, everyone in state and local government wants to forget forbearance and tighten up the enforcement of our tax laws. They want to dodge the budget deficit bullet.
All of this noise and rhetoric is about the noxious weed and a few, unscrupulous bootleggers. The Indians, who copped a break in the name of forbearance, will be the ones who are forced to bear the burden of increased tax liability. At least this time around, our tax-giddy leaders have targeted illegal sales of a highly addictive, non-essential commodity. (Perhaps, in the name of reconciliation, the government will offer to smoke the proverbial peace pipe with the Native Americans. But, then again, there is no tax on that kind of weed, so don't hold your breath ... or inhale!)
As much as we hate taxes and as much as we hate to say it, the time has come for the government to crack down on illegal cigarette sales and collect the taxes.
We will applaud the effort. We ask only one thing: Just don't increase our taxes again in order to do it.
And Why Not?

NEW YORK - Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris USA has cancelled its Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes, highlighting challenges it faces in trying to grow its tobacco business despite a decline in U.S. cigarette sales, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Altria gets nearly all its revenue from Philip Morris USA after spinning off its Philip Morris International operations, the Journal reported.

Philip Morris's sales volume fell 4.6 percent last year, worse than the 4 percent decline in the overall U.S. cigarette market, the Journal reported. Underlying sales volume fell 3.6 percent, the Journal added.

The company expects overall cigarette sales to fall at an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 3 percent in coming years, the Journal reported.

Philip Morris has turned to developing tobacco products that are not as risky to their user's health, the Journal said. Ultra Smooth cigarettes include an activated carbon filter that delivers nicotine but with potentially less exposure to the carcinogens of conventional cigarettes, the Journal reported.

A Philip Morris spokesman was unavailable for comment.

RIYADH: The GCC is planning to introduce up to 100 per cent tax on luxury goods likely to include cigarettes.

Abdulaziz Al Uwaisheg, the GCC's head of studies and integration, said the council had commissioned a team to list items that could be liable to the new tax from 2012, including private planes, luxury cars, yachts and "harmful items" - a likely reference to cigarettes.

Uwaisheg, a Saudi based in Riyadh, said the GCC team looking into the proposed taxes would next meet in October.

The GCC has already set 2012 as the deadline for implementing a new value added tax.

 

The average price of a pack of cigarettes is pushing $7.00, and independent smoke shop owners are seeing less customers because of it. Smokers buying cigarettes will have to pay up to $2.00 more per pack. At Tobacconist in Armory Square, a pack that cost $5.00 yesterday, will cost you over $6.50 today. The owner says that's going to hurt business.
A few blocks away, smokers were hesitant to buy cigarettes at the Downtown Smoke Shop in Syracuse today. The higher price left business slower than normal.
Smoke shop owners are afraid of losing customers to Indian Reservations, where there are no taxes on cigarettes. We spoke to the Onondaga Nation Smoke Shop. They say they've received more phone calls from customers wanting to know their price for cigarettes. The store sells pack $2.00 to $3.00 cheaper than in the city. For small smoke shops, that's hard to compete with.
State officials say the increase should give the state $265 million dollars a year in additional revenue, on top of the more than one billion it already brings in.

I CAN’T help but wonder what Winston Churchill would have made of the smoking ban in the UK.
  After all, he was once noted as saying that he treated smoking cigars and drinking alcohol as an absolute sacred right to be taken before, after and if need be, during all meals and in the intervals between them.
  But in the 21st century killing yourself slowly with fags has gone out of fashion. The business is just about alive and kicking in the UK and yesterday Imperial Tobacco announced one of the biggest rights issues in the City. Asking for just under ?5bn to repay some of the debt owed for a recent purchase, the owner of Embassy and French heavyweight Gauloises is offering shareholders a 43% discount on Monday’s close.
  As smoking in the UK wanes, continental Europeans appear to insist on the obligatory Gitanes, scooter and espresso as part of their lives. Likewise in the emerging economies there seems little support for the anti-smoking lobby. The future then may be rather bright, if not short lived.
  Meanwhile the FTSE 100 fell back as one analyst predicted a ten to twenty percent fall in the short term in mining stock. The miners have been fuelling the rally since March and now look expensive. On cue, the sector fell with BHP Billiton leading the way with a fall of 4.4%. Some other news from the trading rooms suggested that shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland were selling their holdings to raise cash for the impending rights issue.
  A sweet move really as there are lingering worries about the ability of the bank to shore up its balance sheet and concerns over the real value of the sale of its insurance subsidiary. Happily not everyone has suffered in the last year. For Icap the time has been something of a purple patch with profits up nearly a third.
  “Who is Icap?” I hear you mutter. Well, the company is the world’s largest interdealer broker and transacts over $1 trillion every day. This would probably pass most private investors by as the firm only deals with counterparties such as banks and others operating in the wholesale market. The company believes the worst is over and still anticipates growth.      

Imperial Tobacco stunned investors today as it launched a ?4.9 billion rights issue to help pay for last year's bumper acquisition of Altadis, the Spanish cigs maker.
    The deal is one of the largest in UK corporate history and comes as a growing list of British companies take the begging bowl to existing shareholders for much-needed cash.   Proceeds will help pay off some of the debt associated with the acquisition, which completed in January.
    At the same time, the world's fourth largest cigs group reported a 45 per cent slide in first half profits, down from ?421 million to ?233 million for the six months to the end of March as it faced up to difficulties integrating the acquisition. Shares slid 62p to ?25.56, a fall of almost 2.4 per cent, in early trading.
    The issue is fully underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Hoare Govett.   Royal Bank of Scotland, the banking group, is asking investors for up to ?12 billion, while HBOS, which owns Halifax, has launched a cash call for ?4 billion.
    Johnston Press, the regional newspaper group, last week said it would try to raise ?212 million by offering new shares to existing owners.   Imperial, which makes Lambert & Butler and Gauloises brands, is offering one share for every existing share at ?14.75 each.
    This is a deep discount of 43 per cent to last night's closing price of ?26.18 but is similar to the basement prices on offer elsewhere.

Although hookah bars may be growing in popularity among young adults in the area, hookahs are one more way the tobacco industry is trying to addict a new generation.
  Hookahs (water pipes) use tobacco. When puffing, you inhale tobacco smoke, including the addictive drug nicotine. Hookah smoke might be cooler in temperature than Marlboro cigarettes smoke, but it is just as dangerous.
  Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death in the United States, killing an estimated 438,000 people in the United States and 5 million worldwide yearly. There is strong evidence that hookah smoking carries similar health risks as Marlboro cigarettes. Hookahs have been linked to many adverse health effects, including lung, oral and bladder cancer, and heart disease.
  Proponents of hookah use wrongly portray it as safer, more natural and less addictive than smoking cigarettes. Research suggests the opposite. Hookah use may cause more exposure to carcinogens, as smokers use hookahs over a longer time period than it takes to smoke a cigarette. Hookah users also inhale more deeply.
  Purveyors of hookah caf?s market these harmful products to 18- to 24-year-olds. The tobacco industry's goal historically has been to get adolescents and young adults addicted. Young people are most likely to experiment with smoking; once addicted, many become lifetime consumers.
  Evidence suggests a relationship between hookah use and cigarette smoking. A recent report from the American Lung Association notes that Michigan teens were more than eight times as likely to smoke cigarettes if they had ever smoked tobacco from a hookah.
  Tobacco use in any form increases your risk of becoming addicted to tobacco, and one in three tobacco users will die early from a tobacco-related, preventable cause. Young adults should recognize tobacco companies' efforts to twist the truth about hookah tobacco smoke as one more attempt to addict young people to nicotine. Local groups should restrict promotion of hookah caf?s to youths, thus making it easier for all adolescents and young adults to reject tobacco, in any form.

It may sound like an oxymoron...a fire safe cigarette. But they are real and they are law in two states in our area. That means every pack sold is labeled FSC or fire safe cigarettes. The Marlboro cigarettes are made to go out on their own and the new law has plenty of people fired up.
At cigarette stores across Kentucky, three letters are igniting quite the controversy. "I don't really care for them. They don't taste the same anymore," says Danny Scott. His cigarettes taste different because they are FSC. It's not a brand, but rather a brand new rule in Kentucky that all cigarettes sold be fire safe.
So they go out on their own. If you see the initials FSC on a pack of cigarettes it means each one has special paper to slow the burning process. Simply put, if you're not puffing, it's going out. "If you are just sitting here talking like you and me are and you've got one lit, don't take fifteen seconds and it's out," says Scott.
Actually, we tested that theory and it took an unattended cigarette five minutes and 41 seconds to go out. But it's not the inconvenience most people complain about."It doesn't give me a headache just gives me a copper taste in my mouth. It's nasty," says smoker Jewell Robertson. It may be nasty, but Deputy Fire Marshall Greg Cherry says the new law basically boils down to safety. "We realize they are going to be an inconvenience to some people but the overall big picture is  that they end up saving property and possibly lives," Cherry says.
For Danny Scott, there is another option, "We'll buy them in Missouri or Arkansas, that way they're not fire safe," he adds. But he may not have that option for long because Missouri is close to adding the three letters to their Marlboro cigarettes too.
Kentucky and Illinois have laws on the books that require cigarettes sold to be fire safe. Legislation is pending in both Missouri and Tennessee.  

As cigarettes makers grapple with the increased excise on non-filter cigarettes, they fear a section of the consumers may migrate to cheaper alternatives.
  "With the new excise, no manufacturer can produce a cigarette at the Rs 5-price point. So, consumers of non-filter cigarettes will be forced to migrate to cheaper tobacco products such as beedis, gutka and khaini, which are far more toxic," says Nita Kapoor, executive vice-president, marketing and corporate affairs, Godfrey Phillips India, which makes brands such as Four Square, Red & White and Jaisalmer.
    Industry observers do not see an increase in the conversion rate of non-filter consumers to the filter version as most of them are price-sensitive. Also, most of these consumers were erstwhile beedi and chewing tobacco consumers, who migrated upwards to these cigarettes.
    "Such consumers do not have the purchasing power to absorb such a steep price increase. As a result, this entire segment would be forced to come down to cheaper forms of tobacco and consequently, expand the market for beedis and gutka and other revenue-inefficient forms of tobacco," said another industry expert.
    The industry also fears the likelihood of cheap cigarettes being smuggled from across the border to fill the price gap, as there would be no legitimate domestic cigarette pack of 10 available at a price below Rs 13.50.
    On the other hand, GTC Industries, which makes brands such as Panama, Golden's Goldflake and Chancellor, has welcomed the move, citing it is an indicator towards the need for taxation to be based on toxicity and not the length of a cigarette.
  "GTC welcomes taxation policies based on toxicity; we envisage a trend towards de-incentivisation of more toxic cigarettes by the government and a definite move towards encouraging less toxicity in cigarettes and other tobacco products. The larger implication for the tobacco industry is product reform towards making products less harmful," says Sanjay Dalmia, Chairman GTC Industries Limited.
    While the industry realises the impact of revised duty on the production of filter and non-filter cigarettes, the larger issue is the introduction of 59mm filter category and appropriate taxation structure.
    "We urge the FM to consider introducing Filter Category of 59mm cigarettes also as 69, 74 and 84mm category already exists and there is no reason why the smokers of 59mm cigarettes should be devoid of filterisation in this category," explains Dalmia.  

The Office of Fair Trading says there are four different methods which tobacco manufacturers and retailers have used to fix the price of cigarettes.

In the case of a retailer selling two competing brands of cigarette, for example, Brand X (produced by manufacturer A) and Brand Y (produced by a different manufacturer B), the provision was that:

The retailer should sell Brand X at the same price as Brand Y (parity requirement)

This does not fix the actual price at which either brand is sold but, for example, (1) it prevents the retailer from selling Brand X at a more competitive price than Brand Y; and (2) if the retailer wishes to change the retail price of Brand Y it must also change the retail price of Brand X by the same amount.

The retailer should sell Brand X at 3p above Brand Y (differential requirement)

This does not fix the actual price at which either brand is sold but, for example, (1) it prevents the retailer from selling Brand X at a more competitive price than Brand Y; and (2) if the retailer wishes to change the retail price of Brand Y it must also change the retail price of Brand X such that Brand X is 3p more expensive than Brand Y.

The retailer should price Brand X at ?3.59 (fixed price requirement)

In this example the price at which Brand X is sold is expressly fixed to a specific amount.

The retailer should price Brand Y no cheaper than ?3.59 (minimum price requirement)

In this example a minimum retail price is imposed on Brand Y.

Some of the firms accused - Gallaher, Imperial Tobacco, Asda, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield and Tesco - are also accused of sharing information about proposed future price changes.

The OFT says that none of the accused have yet been found guilty of any breach of the law. Tesco and Imperial Toabcco have already denied acting against the interests of consumers.

DELHI, — A tobacco board spokeswoman says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley won't attend a cigarettes board meeting in Delhi, Ont., on Thursday night. Linda Lietaer says due to a national security issue, the minister couldn't attend, but plans to provide a statement to be read at the meeting.
Reports say Finley has received threats related to Conservative efforts to keep foreign strippers out of Canada.
The meeting's objective was to review the board's campaign to secure an exit strategy for cigarettes farmers. Both the federal and provincial governments have said they won't provide funding to help the farmers switch to other crops.
Earlier this month, some tobacco farmers barged into Finley's riding office in Simcoe, Ont., tearing up signs and cards and intimidating staff.