The sale of cigarettes in packets of less than 20 sticks will be prohibited effective June 1 next year. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that in line with the decision, cigarette companies had been given seven months from now until May 31 next year to dispose off its stocks of cigarettes in packets of less than 20 sticks in the market. “The government will not entertain any appeal on this matter and the Health Ministry will enforce the ban fully on the manufacture and sale of cigarette packets containing less than 20 sticks beginning June 1, 2010,” he said in a statem ... Jump to full article >>

The National Assembly and the National Council are divided in their views over the tobacco control bill 2009. Discussing the tobacco bill, already amended by the Council in July, Assembly members yesterday unanimously agreed to disagree with the amendment made by the upper house. The Council in July lifted the ban on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products by deleting the section C in chapter III. The section states that “no person shall sell tobacco and tobacco products”. The Council also deleted section 12 that allows a person only to import tobacco and tobacco products for personal con ... Jump to full article >>

STUDENTS at Edinburgh University have voted to keep cigarettes on sale on campus. A motion was put before the annual general meeting of Edinburgh University Students Association which would have stopped EUSA shops from selling cigarettes and remove all cigarette machines on campus. The motion, put forward by a fourth year medical student, argued that EUSA should not profit from, promote or help facilitate smoking. It would also have required the students association to promote services which provide support and advice to students who wished to give up smoking. More than 700 students turned out ... Jump to full article >>

The freshly remodeled Gristedes supermarket on 25 University Place has expanded its space, adding new sections for beer, hot food, a salad bar, bakery and organic products, all looking like crowd-pleasers beneath Thanksgiving decorations strung above the aisles. But cigarettes are no longer on sale here — seemingly a sign of the times in this upscale Greenwich Village neighborhood near New York University. “We haven’t had them for some time now,” said an assistant manager who identified himself only as Thomas. He noted that cigarettes are available at other Gristedes stores in New Yor ... Jump to full article >>

Officials today rejected claims that the removal of point of sale advertising and display of tobacco products in shops has led to an increase in tobacco smuggling. The Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) has said that there is no evidence to back up the claims. “We have to stick with the facts and the facts are that there is no basis for any link between recent tobacco control measures and smuggling,“ said OTC Chief Executive Eamonn Rossi. “Smuggling of tobacco is in itself a serious problem and we congratulate the Revenue Commissioners and the gardaí on their recent successes in tackling ... Jump to full article >>

CHANGI Airport has put its weight behind a global airports group opposing a World Health Organisation (WHO) proposal to ban the sale of duty-free tobacco products on airport premises. The Airports Council International (ACI), which groups 1,679 airports worldwide, including Changi, maintains that this move will hurt airport earnings, as well as penalise the travelling public. The issue surfaced at the group’s annual meeting recently, in response to suggestions made by the WHO that such a ban would stem the illegal trade in tobacco products. Member airports agree that they will not stand ... Jump to full article >>

The New York City Council has banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including little cigars.These little cigars look just like cigarettes, but, due to a tax loophole, cost considerably less. They also come in flavors such as raspberry, grape, cosmopolitan and ample-tini and are usually wrapped in vivid, multi-colored packaging designed to appeal to youth. “We’ve seen the detrimental side effects of what smoking can do to a person, and dressing it up with fun flavors doesn’t make a habit like smoking any less dangerous,” declared Council Member Joel Rivera, chairman of the ... Jump to full article >>

The European Society of Cardiology wishes to comment on media reports this week that France is preparing to authorise the sale of cigarettes on the internet, to conform to European rights. Although Budget Minister Eric Woerth denies that this is the intention, the news is disappointing given the drop in heart attack rates following last year’s smoking ban. ESC spokesperson Professeur Ph.Gabriel STEG (Université Paris VII, Centre Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris) said : “While I understand that the alleged motive is that the French government needs to align itself with the ... Jump to full article >>

Food stores in the northern Saudi city of Hail could be banned from selling cigarettes in a bid to prevent children from smoking, it has been reported. The plans, which come about after residents’ complaints of children smoking and the results of a recent study, are being finalised, reported the Saudi Gazette. “Shops in breach of the regulations could be shut down by the Environmental Health Department and given large fines,” Turki Al-Dhab’an, the chairman of the Municipal Council in Hail, told the paper. “The municipal council in Hail has received complaints from Saudis demanding a ... Jump to full article >>

The governmental committee for humanitarian issues and social policy has approved a draft law on amending some Ukrainian laws regarding the strengthening of control over the sale of alcohol and tobacco, the press service of vice premier Ivan Vasiunyk has reported. The new draft law expands a list of places where sales and consumption of alcohol and tobacco are banned. In particular, the law bans from drinking alcohol and smoking at public transport stops, in underground passages and trade and entertainment centers, children’s and sports playgrounds, not taking into account places for smo ... Jump to full article >>

Munger, Tolles & Olson was on the wrong side of a federal ruling this week that gave San Francisco the green light to ban the sale of cigarettes in drug stores and major retail stores that also house pharmacies, according to The Recorder, an Am Law Daily sibling publication. Tobacco companies led by Philip Morris filed suit to block the law, arguing that it would infringe on their First Amendment rights. As we wrote in October, the Munger team–longtime counsel to Philip Morris–argued that the ban on sales is, in effect, a ban on advertising, since it would make little sense for ... Jump to full article >>