EUROPEAN NEWS BULLETIN - EU9829 27 JULY 1998 (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

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!#  GLOBALink Tobacco - Weekly European News Bulletin
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EUROPEAN NEWS BULLETIN - EU9829 27 JULY 1998

CONTENTS:

EUROPE - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

- FRANCE: Sales of cigars in April 1998.
- GERMANY: Joint advertisement of Reemtsma, Yamaha.
- IRELAND: ASH says tobacco sector move a sham.
- SWITZERLAND: The 1997 tobacco market.
- UK: Campaign argues teenagers' smoking can be linked to later heart
attacks and strokes.
- UK: Gallaher rolls out Drum to fight Imperial Drum.

EASTERN EUROPE - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

- RUSSIA: Tobacco factory Dukat to be liquidated.

INTERNATIONAL - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

- USA: Clinton directs HHS to organise and release tobacco industry documents.
- USA: Health warning: smoking can seriously shrink your manhood.
- USA: Senate endorses smoking ban for US airlines, foreign carriers.


EUROPE - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

FRANCE: Sales of cigars in April 1998.

In April 1998 in France, sales of cigars and cigarillos rose by 1.9% for
136.275mn units. For the first four months of 1998, 510.73mn units were
sold, up 5.5%. Henri Wintermans CafZ CrYme 20 cigar is the leading product
for sales volume with 19.804mn units sold in the first four months of 1998,
up 2.1%, followed by Ninas LZger Palmier in 20 with 19.034mn, down 2.4%,
Henri Wintermans Blue Light 20 with 17.657mn, up 12.5%, and Havanitos Jaune
in 20 with 16.247mn, down 6.7%. Picaduros Bahia in 20 ranks 20th 5.977mn
units up 48.2% over one year and Havanitos Mini 20 represented 9.647mn
units, up 57.9%, and ranks 15th. SEITA is the market leader with a 37.5%
market share over the first four months of 1998, down 1.8%, followed by
Henri Wintermans with a 14.1% market share, up 1.2%, Agio with a 12.8%
market share, up 0.5%, J.CortYs with an 8.9%, up 0.7%, and Swedish Tobacco
with 8.4%, down 0.3%. 
Source: Revue des Tabacs (YZW) Jun 1998 p.30 Language:FRENCH No. 06656534
Source: Information Access Company 24/7/98


GERMANY: Joint advertisement of Reemtsma, Yamaha.

German cigarette producer Reemtsma and Japanese motorbike producer Yamaha
have started a joint advertising campaign for their products which go under
the brand name of R1. The first part of the campaign has involved the use of
print and outdoor poster advertising. Summer promotion activities are
planned in six German cities. The products are to be positioned as
"sensationally light, extremely powerful, super-modern and future-oriented".
Reemtsma manufactures a lower tar cigarette brand named R1 (market share in
1997: 1.3%) and  Yamaha has launched a new light-weight motorbike (177 kg)
also called R1. 
Source: Horizont (XGZ) 18 Jun 1998 p.17 Language: GERMAN No.06656798
Source: Information Access Company 24/7/98

Comment: Reemtsma's association of its cigarette brand with a product that
already conjures up images of being 'extremely powerful' and 'super-modern'
is disturbing in its potential to appeal to underage smokers.  Should the
association prove successful research already shows that children tend to
remain loyal into adulthood to the cigarette brand that they became
addicted to.


IRELAND: ASH says tobacco sector move a sham.

ASH Ireland has criticised a tobacco industry sponsored programme which
offers ventilation advice to Irish hoteliers and restaurant owners.
Advertisements for the 'Courtesy of Choice' programme claim to "help
hoteliers and restaurateurs to accommodate smokers and non-smokers in
harmony". The programme is run by the International Hotel and Restaurant
Association based in Paris and is sponsored by the Philip Morris tobacco
company. ASH Ireland points out that the programme is yet another attempt by
the tobacco industry to ensure that no further legislation on smoking is
introduced and to keep to a voluntary code which, not only has no force of
law but which does not protect the health of non-smokers. Dr Fenton Howell,
a member of the ASH board said that the evidence that tobacco smoke - that
is passive smoking - causes harm was "incontrovertible". He said: "We accept
that we should have standards for things but environmental tobacco smoke is
the single greatest source of indoor air pollution. No one would ever dream
of thinking up a voluntary code for asbestos and smoking is even more
dangerous." Mr Fenton added: "Anything from the tobacco industry like this
is a sham. They are putting the onus on non-smokers. It is a bit like a
person buying a chicken and being told it is contaminated and it is up to
them to cook it properly."

Source: Irish Times 24/7/98


SWITZERLAND: The 1997 tobacco market.

The Swiss tobacco industry employs approximately 12,000 people. Switzerland
exported 23.319bn cigarettes in 1997, and it sold 14,873bn cigarettes
locally. In terms of cigarette brands, Marlboro is the market leader with a
24.3% market share, followed by Burrus' Parisienne with 10.1%. Philip Morris
is the principal manufacturer on the Swiss market with a 46.31% market share
followed by F.J. Burrus with 26.03%, BAT with 18.64%, and Reynolds with
9.02%. 
Source: Revue des Tabacs (YZW) Jun 1998 p.23 Language: FRENCH No.
06656532 Source: Information Access Company 24/7/98


UK: Campaign argues teenagers' smoking can be linked to later heart attacks
and strokes.

The Health Education Authority (HEA) has launched a hard hitting advertising
and Internet campaign which warns teenagers that smoking causes damage to
the heart and lungs from the first cigarette. The campaign called "Every
cigarette is doing you damage" features photographs of diseased organs taken
from dead smokers which are juxtaposed to black and white images of young
'cool' smokers. The photographs show a lung riddled with cancer, a diseased
heart, a brain after a haemorrhage and a large tumour inside a smoker's
mouth. It is a campaign that is designed to challenge the "It couldn't
happen to me" attitude prevalent among young smokers who think that smoking
is cool and that its fatal effects are years away. The campaign follows
research in the US which shows that young smokers damage their bodies from
the moment they take up smoking. The US research involved over 1,400 people
aged 15 to 34. The HEA launched its campaign just as the latest figures show
there are more smokers aged 16 -24 in the UK than in any other age group. 

The campaign is also an interactive Internet site:

	http://www.lifesaver.co.uk 

Source: Irish Times 24/7/98; Scotsman 24/7/98; The Mirror 24/7/98; The Times
24/7/98; The Guardian 24/7/98; Health Education Authority July 1998 


UK: Gallaher rolls out Drum to fight Imperial Drum.

The tobacco company Gallaher has decided to re-launch its Drum hand rolling
tobacco brand in the UK. The decision is seen as an attack on illegal
imports of Imperial Tobacco's Drum tobacco into the UK. Although Gallaher
owns the Drum trademark in the UK, illegal imports of Imperial's Drum, which
is produced in Europe, have made it the UK's number three selling hand
rolling tobacco brand, according to estimates from the Tobacco Manufacturers
Association. It is also of significance that Gallaher has decided to launch
the brand into the lower price segment of the hand rolling tobacco market.
Marketing experts believe that the lower price tobacco segment is
experiencing some growth as smokers are looking at hand rolling tobacco as
an alternative to the more expensive cigarettes. The duty increase on
cigarettes which will be implemented at the end of 1998 is expected to
heighten this trend.

Source: Marketing Week 16/7/98; CTN 23/7/98



EASTERN EUROPE - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

RUSSIA: Tobacco factory Dukat to be liquidated.

The Government of Moscow has decided to liquidate the Moscow tobacco factory
Dukat. The decision follows from the fact that the factory had stopped
production. 
Source: Moskovskaya pravda (ESK) 09 Jul 1998 p.9 Language:
RUSSIAN No. 06656543 Source: Information Access Company 24/7/98


INTERNATIONAL - SPECIFIC COUNTRIES

USA: Clinton directs HHS to organise and release tobacco industry documents.

President Bill Clinton has announced an effort to organise and release
millions of internal tobacco company documents. President Clinton has
directed Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala to index and
disseminate tens of millions of tobacco industry documents received in state
lawsuits against the industry. President Clinton hopes that the effort will
make scientific analysis possible and help "lift the veil of secrecy on the
tobacco industry...(and the) epidemic of teen smoking." The President added
that the plan would also aid the design of tobacco control strategies, help
basic research on tobacco-related illnesses and raise awareness of tobacco
industry strategies.

Source: SCARCNet Daily Bulletin 20/7/98


USA: Health warning: smoking can seriously shrink your manhood.

Unpublished research from a study done by Boston University, US (reported in
The Observer) has shown that smoking effects the small blood vessels of the
penis in much the same way as it damages those of the heart. This restricts
blood flow and in turn effects the ability of the erectile tissue to
stretch. In its coverage of the research the article in The Observer notes
that, 'smoking men might be better off asking themselves that if smoking is
affecting the size of their penises, what is it doing to their hearts'. Full
results of the study are expected to be released next month (August).

Source: The Observer 26/7/98; Daily Star 27/7/98; The Independent 27/7/98


USA: Senate endorses smoking ban for US airlines, foreign carriers.

The US Senate has endorsed a statutory no smoking standard not only for US
airlines but also for foreign carriers operating flights into the US. Under
the terms of the provision, the US Transportation Department is now required
to order foreign airlines to implement non smoking bans on their airlines or
to reach a negotiated settlement. The provision, inserted into the
Transportation Bill by Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, shows a clear
commitment by the US Government to convince foreign carriers and their
governments to embrace tobacco control rules at forthcoming international
aviation meetings scheduled for this autumn. The Bill was passed by a
90-to-1 vote and gives the Transport Secretary four months to impose the ban.

Source: Wall Street Journal (Europe) 27/7/98; International Herald Tribune
25/7/98; The Guardian 25/7/98
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