Advertising with “Light” Cigarettes

the฀number฀of฀cigarettes฀smoked฀did฀not฀increase฀ [75] .฀According฀to฀one฀survey฀in฀the฀ USA,฀only฀1฀smoker฀in฀10฀knows฀that฀light฀cigarettes฀contain฀just฀as฀many฀toxic฀sub- stances฀as฀“regular”฀cigarettes฀ [74] .฀Despite฀this,฀these฀cigarettes฀can฀be฀marketed฀more฀ easily฀ to฀ “health-conscious”฀ smokers฀ and฀ are฀ more฀ readily฀ accepted฀ by฀ women฀ [74] .฀ Nevertheless,฀surveys฀have฀revealed฀that฀where฀smokers฀are฀aware฀of฀the฀true฀informa- tion฀regarding฀light฀and฀ultralight฀cigarettes,฀the฀decision฀to฀quit฀smoking฀is฀taken฀more฀ rapidly฀ [74] . The฀market฀share฀of฀these฀low-condensate฀and฀low-nicotine฀cigarettes฀will฀not฀increase฀ markedly,฀and฀yet฀action฀must฀be฀taken฀to฀counter฀the฀misleading฀advertising.฀According฀ to฀the฀European฀Commission฀report฀ [76] ,฀more฀than฀50฀of฀female฀smokers฀in฀seven฀EU฀ countries฀ Sweden,฀ Austria,฀ Italy,฀ Denmark,฀ Ireland,฀ Finland฀ and฀ France฀ smoke฀ light฀ cigarettes,฀and฀in฀Sweden,฀the฀percentage฀igure฀is฀actually฀75฀ [76] .

13.6 Tobacco Smuggling

Tobacco฀ smuggling฀ is฀ “worthwhile”฀ because฀ the฀ taxes฀ on฀ tobacco฀ products฀ are฀ high฀ Fig.฀ 13.8 ,฀ even฀ though฀ considerable฀ differences฀ exist฀ between฀ the฀ various฀ European฀ countries฀range:฀57–82.฀Quasi-legal฀trade฀takes฀the฀form฀of฀sales฀in฀duty-free฀shops฀ where฀cigarettes฀are฀available฀tax-free.฀In฀total,฀45,000฀million฀cigarettes฀corresponding฀ to฀0.8฀of฀all฀cigarettes฀worldwide฀were฀sold฀through฀these฀channels฀in฀1997฀ [77] .฀The฀ European฀region฀led฀the฀way฀with฀69,฀followed฀by฀the฀Asia-Paciic฀region฀with฀18.฀The฀ World฀Health฀Organization฀is฀extremely฀interested฀in฀suppressing฀or฀abolishing฀this฀form฀ of฀sales฀Protocol฀of฀the฀International฀Convention฀on฀the฀Simpliication฀and฀Harmonization฀ of฀Customs฀Procedures,฀1999. Illegal฀forms฀of฀“tobacco฀trade”฀are฀bootlegging฀and฀large-scale฀organised฀smuggling.฀ Bootleggers฀limit฀themselves฀to฀buying฀cigarettes฀in฀countries฀with฀lower฀tobacco฀taxes฀ and฀driving฀them฀by฀car฀to฀countries฀with฀higher฀tobacco฀tax฀levels฀without฀declaring฀these฀ cigarettes฀when฀crossing฀national฀borders฀ [78] .฀Large-scale฀organised฀smuggling฀is฀typical฀ 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 USA Brazil Billion of cigarettes Fig. 13.8 ฀฀฀Exports฀of฀ cigarettes฀smug- gling฀from฀USA฀ and฀from฀Brazil฀to฀ Belgium.฀Source:฀ US฀Department฀of฀ Agriculture฀ [80] of฀the฀situation฀in฀certain฀countries,฀e.g.฀the฀UK,฀where฀it฀accounts฀for฀80฀of฀total฀ciga- rette฀smuggling฀ [79] .฀This฀smuggling฀beneits฀from฀transit฀trade฀because฀tax฀is฀not฀paid฀in฀ the฀transit฀country฀on฀the฀assumption฀that฀the฀goods฀are฀being฀transported฀onwards.฀Within฀ the฀EU,฀Belgium฀port฀of฀Antwerp฀is฀the฀most฀important฀receiving฀centre฀for฀cigarettes฀ from฀ the฀ USA฀ and฀ Brazil฀ where฀ Philip฀ Morris฀ and฀ BAT฀ have฀ built฀ cigarette฀ factories฀ Fig.฀ 13.8 ฀ [80] .฀Excluding฀those฀intended฀for฀duty-free฀shops,฀these฀cigarettes฀are฀destined฀ for฀the฀Third฀World.฀Here฀intermediate฀traders฀can฀buy฀cigarettes:฀the฀estimated฀total฀value฀ of฀100,000฀million฀tax-free฀cigarettes฀in฀transit฀is฀US฀14,000฀million.฀It฀is฀these฀transit฀ cigarettes฀ that฀ end฀ up฀ being฀ sold฀ illegally฀ in฀ Europe.฀ Generally,฀ the฀ cigarettes฀ are฀ irst฀ transferred฀from฀Antwerp฀to฀Switzerland,฀at฀which฀point฀they฀are฀outside฀EU฀law.฀From฀ there,฀they฀are฀moved฀to฀the฀Czech฀Republic,฀Hungary฀or฀one฀of฀the฀former฀Soviet฀Republics฀ [81–83] . Over฀the฀5-year฀period฀from฀1990฀to฀1995,฀cigarette฀smuggling฀increased฀by฀73฀ [84] ,฀ a฀situation฀that฀was฀contributed฀to฀by฀the฀break-up฀of฀the฀former฀Soviet฀Union.฀According฀ to฀reasonably฀reliable฀estimates,฀303,000฀million฀cigarettes฀were฀smuggled฀in฀this฀way฀in฀ 1997฀ [85,฀86] .฀BAT฀estimates฀that฀of฀5.4฀trillion฀cigarettes฀sold฀worldwide,฀6฀324,000฀ million฀are฀duty฀not฀paid฀DNP฀sales฀ [87] .฀In฀addition,฀in฀developing฀countries฀in฀particu- lar,฀counterfeit฀cigarettes฀are฀being฀manufactured฀and฀sold,฀e.g.฀more฀than฀50,000฀million฀ in฀China฀each฀year฀ [88] . It฀has฀now฀been฀established฀that฀the฀multinational฀tobacco฀companies฀sell฀their฀ciga- rettes฀to฀dealers,฀and฀there฀“their฀responsibility฀ends.”฀The฀dealers฀for฀their฀part฀allegedly฀ know฀nothing฀about฀the฀country฀of฀destination฀of฀the฀cigarettes฀sold฀in฀this฀way.฀Since฀a฀ gap฀ exists฀ between฀ import฀ and฀ export,฀ the฀ tobacco฀ companies฀ and฀ the฀ dealers฀ really฀ should฀know฀something฀of฀the฀whereabouts฀of฀the฀goods.฀Switzerland฀may฀be฀thought฀of฀ as฀a฀hub฀of฀the฀trade:฀Philip฀Morris฀and฀RJ฀Reynolds฀have฀their฀European฀headquarters฀ there.฀And฀in฀the฀USA,฀for฀example,฀an฀executive฀of฀Brown฀and฀Williamson฀was฀respon- sible฀for฀traficking฀in฀contraband฀cigarettes:฀the฀cigarettes฀were฀transported฀from฀a฀ware- house฀in฀Alabama฀to฀a฀private฀warehouse฀in฀Louisiana,฀were฀marked฀for฀off-shore฀vessels฀ and฀thus,฀were฀tax-free฀and฀then฀sold฀to฀a฀Vietnamese฀organisation฀that฀smuggled฀them฀ into฀Canada฀ [89] . The฀ scale฀ of฀ cigarette฀ smuggling฀ constitutes฀ an฀ enormous฀ threat฀ to฀ general฀ public฀ health฀because฀1฀cigarette฀consumption฀is฀increased฀and฀2฀governments฀are฀deprived฀ of฀thousands฀of฀millions฀of฀US฀or฀in฀tax฀revenue.฀The฀only฀possible฀counter-strategy฀ depends฀on฀internationally฀agreed฀systems฀for฀regulation฀and฀tracking,฀and฀the฀tobacco฀ companies฀should฀be฀required฀to฀operate฀through฀the฀prescribed฀trade฀channels.฀The฀pen- alties฀for฀tobacco฀smuggling฀should฀be฀dramatically฀increased฀by฀law฀and฀tobacco฀prod- ucts฀should฀carry฀a฀visible฀symbol฀to฀indicate฀that฀tax฀has฀been฀paid:฀“An฀effective฀response฀ to฀smuggling฀would฀be฀to฀keep฀taxes฀high฀and฀crack฀down฀on฀smuggling.฀Prominent฀tax฀ stamps,฀serial฀numbers,฀special฀package฀markings,฀health฀warning฀labels฀in฀local฀lan- guages฀and฀better฀tracking฀systems฀are฀effective฀against฀smuggling”฀ [90] .฀Intermediate฀ traders฀often฀dealers฀should฀have฀no฀role฀to฀play,฀and฀there฀should฀be฀a฀total฀ban฀on฀ transit฀trade฀in฀tobacco฀products.฀In฀this฀regard,฀the฀World฀Health฀Organization฀must฀be฀ even฀more฀proactive฀than฀its฀previous฀endeavours฀to฀break฀the฀resistance฀shown฀by฀numer- ous฀governments฀and฀by฀the฀tobacco฀companies฀themselves฀International฀Framework฀for฀ Tobacco฀Control฀ [91] .