[Intl-tobacco] Ceylon Tobacco Says it Will Cease Advertising (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Thursday March 23, 2:10 am Eastern Time

Ceylon Tobacco says stops all advertising

COLOMBO, March 23 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's monopoly cigarette maker Ceylon
Tobacco Co Ltd (CTC) said on Thursday it had stopped advertising its
products in the media with immediate effect under a new industry code of
conduct it was introducing.

The company said in a statement that in addition to television, radio,
cinema, newspaper and magazine advertising, it would also discontinue
advertising on billboards.

Sports sponsorships under its brand trademarks will also cease
immediately.

The company would however continue to advertise its products at stores
where its cigarettes are sold.

"By regulating the conduct of its marketing activities, the company will
demonstrate to the public at large its sincerity of purposein acting as a
responsible company in an industry seen as controversial, the statement
said.

CTC's decision to stop most of its advertising follow government moves to
set up a National Authority on Tobacco andAlcohol (NATA) to minimise the
damaging effects of cigarettes and liquor on people's health.

NATA will have the power to prosecute anybody who promotes or advertises
cigarettes or alcohol under a new bill that thegovernment plans to bring
to parliament soon in consultation with CTC.

CTC, which is 84.1 percent owned by British American Tobacco Plc (quote
from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BATS.L) earlier said netprofit in calendar 1999
was up 74 percent at 1.498 billion rupees ($20.36 million) on turnover of
4.052 billion.

The statement did not say how much CTC spent on advertising every year.
Sri Lankans smoke some six billion cigarettes every year.

(US$ = 73.56 rupees)