European News Bulletin - 27 September 1999 (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

EUROPEAN BULLETIN EU9936 – 27 September 1999

Headlines

EUROPE:

FRANCE: French train company to pay anti-smoking groups

NETHERLANDS: Dutchman sues tobacco multinationals 

RUSSIA: Philip Morris to produce Russian Marlboro 


SWEDEN: Declining smoking rates meet WHO targets


INTERNATIONAL

TAIWAN: Move to ban ‘positive’ brand names

THAILAND: Clamp down on illegal sales to minors





Full Text

FRANCE: French train company to pay anti-smoking groups


A French court has ordered the national train company, SNCF, to pay
damages (of almost $1,600) to two anti-smoking groups (the League Against
Public Tobacco Smoking and the National Committee Against Smoking), ruling
that a Lyon train station had not sufficiently told travellers to put out
their cigarettes. Signs at the entrance of Lyon’s Part-Dieu train station
said: "You have entered a non-smoking area, thank you for extinguishing
your cigarettes." However, the court upheld a 1997 decision that the signs
were "too discreet".


The court also said the presence of ashtrays in the train station, without
no smoking signs posted nearby, led smokers to believe they had the right
to light up. Since 1992, many public places in France have been designated
non-smoking except in special smoking areas. But tobacco use is still
widely accepted, and the law is often ignored.

Source: Washington Post/AP 24/9/99



NETHERLANDS: Dutchman sues tobacco multinationals

In the first Dutch challenge to Big Tobacco, a man suffering from chronic
emphysema after smoking for 41 years is suing R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris
and two other tobacco companies, claiming additives in cigarettes ruined
his health.

Wim ter Schegget, 55, has just stopped smoking after suffering from
smoking-related illness for years. He started at the age of 14 and his
habit later led to chronic emphysema, for which he is about to undergo
surgery. Ter Schegget says that by the time he realised how dangerous
smoking was, he was puffing a pack a day and couldn't stop.

In a letter this week to four tobacco manufacturers – the other two are
London-based British American Tobacco and Douwe Egberts, the leading Dutch
cigarette maker – Ter Schegget's attorney, Martin de Witte, informed the
companies of his intent to sue for damages. He said the Dutch government
also was being included in the suit for "failing to sufficiently inform
the public of the damaging effects".

The document alleges that the manufacturers knowingly withheld information
about addiction-enhancing substances and harmful chemicals used to treat
tobacco leaves. De Witte said cases in the United States and Britain have
proved the companies knew of the health implications, opening the way for
prosecution in the Netherlands.

Leading the battle against cigarette makers in the United States, the
Justice Department on Wednesday sued the tobacco industry in an attempt to
recover billions of government dollars spent on smoking-related health
care, accusing the companies of operating a "co-ordinated campaign of
fraud and deceit".

Although the Dutch case could result in financial compensation, De Witte
said that is not the suit’s aim. He said his client, who argues he was
misled by marketing campaigns, is pushing for sweeping changes in the
Dutch tobacco industry.

"The manufacturer is going to have to prove that the product isn’t faulty
and that it has been presented to the public in the proper fashion," De
Witte said. As an example, he pointed to Camel cigarettes, which he said
are promoted as "fun, energising and surprising".

Smokers’ advocates and the companies under attack have rejected the case’s
chance of success before it even reaches the courts. "The situation in the
Netherlands is luckily different from in the United States," said
spokesman Ton Wutz of the Amsterdam-based group Smokers Rights. "As a
smoker, I think it’s ridiculous simply because people are responsible for
their own choices."

Wutz is one of more than 5 million Dutch smokers who make up a third of
the population in this country of just under 16 million. In the
Netherlands, smoking is widely accepted at work, in restaurants and most
public buildings.

Source: Associated Press, 24/9/99


RUSSIA: Philip Morris to produce Russian Marlboro

Philip Morris, the world’s biggest cigarette maker, will start producing a
Russian version of its best-selling Marlboro brand this winter, the
Russian daily newspaper, Izvestiya reported. According to a company
spokesman, the new $335 million cigarette plant, the biggest in Russia, is
ready for production.

Foreign cigarette companies were hit by the 70 percent decline in value of
the rouble since the Government abandoned its defence of the currency in
August 1998. However, Philip Morris still controls 16 percent of the
Russian tobacco market.

Source: Izvestiya via Bloomberg News 21/999


SWEDEN: Declining smoking rates meet WHO targets

Fewer than one in five Swedish adults now smoke tobacco daily, making
Sweden the first and only country in the world to meet the World Health
Organization’s target of reducing smoking to 20 per cent, according to a
report published by the statistical research institute Veca. Only 19.7
percent of Swedes between the ages of 16 and 84 were smokers in 1998,
compared to more than one in three in 1980. However, the use of snuff has
increased from 400 grams per person annually to 750 grams.


Source: Associated Press, 17/999




INTERNATIONAL

TAIWAN: Move to ban ‘positive’ brand names

The National Health Administration has announcement its intention to
prohibit cigarette brand names that suggest positive values. The law, if
implemented, would affect Taiwan’s leading brands – Longevity, President
and Paradise. The move is part of a longer term plan to control smoking
following a recent survey which found that 47 per cent of males and 5
percent of females smoke on a daily basis. An official from the Taiwan
Tobacco and Wine Board commented that foreign brands such as Lucky Strike
and Virginia Slims, should be subjected to the same regulations as
domestic brands.

Source: Tobacco Reporter, Summer 1999 (bonus issue).

Comment: The tobacco representative makes a fair point about the appeal of
foreign brands although this would be better controlled by banning the
advertising of all tobacco products. In the meantime, the Government’s
recognition of the absurdity of cigarette brand names which give positive
health messages is a step in the right direction.



THAILAND: Clamp down on illegal sales to minors

A 1992 law prohibits the sale of tobacco to children but has been widely
ignored. As part of a campaign to enforce the law, police in Bangkok have
been sending in young undercover officers in shops located near schools.
Penalties for violating the law include a one-month prison sentence and/or
a B2,000 (US$54) fine.

Source: Tobacco Reporter, Summer 1999 (bonus issue)



Amanda Sandford Research Manager ASH 102 Clifton Street LONDON EC2A 4HW
tel: 0171 739 5902 fax: 0171 613 0531