INB 2

Continuing to work after INB2

We have found that very often the relevant information about tobacco taxes in Africa was not readily available. We have therefore created a blog devoted to collecting data and information about Tobacco Taxes in Africa. Thank you for visiting and sharing with us the data and information you have or can find about this key element of an effective tobacco control strategy.

The picture is by Véronique Le Clézio (A landscape of South Africa)

Que faire après INB2?

Nous avons constaté que très souvent l'information de base à propos des taxes sur les produits du tabac en Afrique n'est pas disponible.

C'est pourquoi nous avons ouvert un blog consacré aux  Taxes sur le Tabac en Afrique.

Merci de nous y rendre visite et de partager avec nous les informations dont vous disposez.

L'image est une reproduction d'un tableau de Véronique Le Clézio (Un paysage d'Afrique du Sud)

FCA bulletin 79 for Saturday October 25

The FCA bulletin 79 for Saturday October 25 is available (pdf format) on their site.
Page 1: Full steam ahead
Page 2: The task for COP3
Page 3: Building an illicit tobacco trade protocol within the existing system of criminal justice, by Pr Neil Boister (School of Law, University of Canterbury, NZ)
Page 4: Usage de synonyme  dans le trafic illicite de tabac: Mekako, savon ou cigarettes?  par Patrick Musavuli
Page 5: Combating smuggling by controlling the supply chain, the case of Italy, by Luk Joossens and Martin Raw
See Progress in combating tobacco smuggling in Tobacco Control Journal (pdf) september 2008
Page 6: Free Trade Zones (FTZs): economic boon or haven for fraud, by John Colledge III

Picture from the blog of Patrick Musavuli

Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Awards for Saturday October 25

There was no Dirty Ashtray Award today.

The Orchid  Award goes to the INB Bureau for a protocol for a way forward and to the many delegates who shared the commitment to the process by seeking technical work to be completed and calling for regional meetings before INB3.

FCA bulletin 78 for Friday October 24

The FCA bulletin 78 for Friday October 24 is available (pdf  format) on their site.
Page 1: Where do we go from here?
Page 2: Progress in tobacco control in Nepal ; Singapore to require tax marking directly on cigarettes
Page 3: Spotlight on smuggling: Vietnam
Page 4: The situation in Argentina (in Spanish)
Page 5:  Réglementer la vente de cigarettes sur internet ne suffit pas: il faut l'interdire.
Page 6: Tobacco company campaigns to address illicit trade: hot air, little effet.
The case in Malaysia by Mary Assunta.

Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Awards for Friday October 24

The Dirty Ashtray Award goes to Canada and Japan for consistently trying to prevent mandatory provisions for the control of the supply chain

 

The Orchid  Award goes to the EC and Rwanda for supporting the explicit inclusion of transit and free trade zones in the protocol.

FCA Bulletin 77 for Thursday October 23

The FCA Bulletin 77 is available (pdf format) on the FCA site.

Page 1: Co-ordination with other agencies needed, by Jonathan Liberman

Page 2: Smuggling tobacco leaf: tobacco leaf and machinery used in manufacture must be included in the treaty, by Yussuf Saloojee and  John W Colledge III.

See 'Smuggling tobacco leaf in Malawi".

Page 3: Spotlight on smuggling: Lebanon

See "Smuggling as a key to a combined market: BAT in Lebanon" in Tobacco Control Journal.

Page 4:  Il faut interdire la vente des produits du tabac duty-free. (Version française du texte de Rob Cunningham publié en anglais dans le bulletin 74 de lundi)

Page 5: UK death toll from illicit tobacco higher than from illegal drugs, by Deborah Arnott (see report)

Page 6: What about the global financial crisis, by Joy Townsend

see 'Why combating tobacco smuggling is a priority".

The picture is from Marty Otanez blog Sidewalkradio, devoted to exploited tobacco farmers (here from Malawi)

Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Awards for Thursday October 23

The Dirty Ashtray Award goes to all parties   "which proposed the need for flexibility: a euphemism for weakening the protocol."

 

The Orchid  Award goes to China "for recognizing the need to include tobacco leaf and tobacco manufacturing equipment in order to insure a strong protocol".

What about the global financial crisis? by Joy Townsend

The Party for the Democratic Republic of the Congo has asked, ‘What are the implications for the protocol of the current financial crisis?’

A good question.
From an economist’s point of view there are two main aspects to consider: a likely fall in demand if there is a recession, and a change in both government and popular attitudes to regulation.

La contrebande cause de plusieurs milliards d'Euros de pertes fiscale pour les pays de l'Union Européenne

La lutte contre le trafic international de cigarettes de contrebande et de contrefaçon a fait l’objet, le 21 octobre, d’une conférence opérationnelle internationale organisée sous l’égide de l’Office européen de lutte antifraude (OLAF) et des autorités douanières maltaises.

Cette conférence était destinée à consolider les relations opérationnelles entre les États membres de l’UE et des pays tiers.

FCA Bulletin 76 for Wednesday October 22

The FCA Bulletin 76 is available on pdf format on the FCA site.

Page 1: Key points for today's negotiations, by Jonathan Liberman

Page 2: Canada takes on illicit tobacco and organized crime, by Andrew Kerr

Page 3: Spotlight on smuggling: China

See "Key to the future: BAT and cigarette smuggling in China"

Page 4: NGOs mobilize in resistance to tobacco transnationals

See Network for Accountability for Tobacco Transnationals (NATT)

Page 5: Resources of effective protocol, by Deborah Arnott

Page 6: Thoughts on tracking and tracing, by John W Colledge III. On the public integrity site you can listen to several audio segments by John (mp3 format).

Image: one of the graphic warnings introduced in Australia in 2006

Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Awards for Wednesday October 22

The Dirty Ashtray Award goes to Brazil "for its illogical and obstructionist positions which have slowed down negotiations this week". (FCA bulletin 76 page 6)

The Orchid  Award goes to the Philippines "for recognizing that the tobacco industry should carry the cost of the implementation of the protocol".

Jin Ling la cigarette clandestine qui envahit l'Europe

Ce long article du Soir de Bruxelles expose en détail la mise en place et l'organisation de la contrebande des cigarettes Jin Ling à  partir de la Russie.
La question sera-t-elle posée aux représentants de la Russie?

« En matière de commerce illégal de cigarettes, Jin Ling est le développement le plus inquiétant que nous connaissions, où que ce soit dans le monde », commente le Belge Luk Joosens, expert pour l'OMS en contrebande de tabac. « Ils inondent l'Europe ». (vidéo)

FCA bulletin 75 for Tuesday October 21

They have worked hard to produce this bulletin 75 (pdf format) posted at midnight on the FCA site.

Page 1: Time to move forward by Jonathan Liberman

Page 2: Spotlight on smuggling in Africa, reports about the article published in Tobacco Control Journal by Eric LeGresley whom we cyberinterviewed here.

Page 3: WTO: not a reason to not banning internet sales, by Benn McGrady.
Benn recently submitted a PhD thesis (under examination) at Monash University in Melbourne, titled ‘Trade and Tobacco Control: The World Trade Organization and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’.

Page 4: Addressing counterfeit in an illicit trade protocol, by Benn McGrady

Page 5: Le tabac et le terrorisme, version française de l'article d'Andrew Kerr publié hier en anglais.

Page 6: Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Award? Find the winners below.

Dirty Ashtray and Orchid Awards for Tuesday October 21

The Dirty Ashtray Award goes to Barbados "for arguing there is no link between duty free and illicit trade when this link is well established (see yesterday's bulletin)."

The Orchid Award goes to Africa "for highlighting the need to overcome the disparity in capacity between the rich and poor countries if the protocol is to be implemented effectively".

Tobacco Underground: an international investigation by the Center for Public Integrity

Funded by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg  School of Public Health journalists from the Center from Public Integrity have launched an international investigation about tobacco smuggling.

Waves of smuggled cigarettes produced in Kaliningrad flood Europe

An investigative story (and video) published this day by the Guardian:  "It shows that the Baltic Tobacco Company (BTC), apparently Russian-owned, is manufacturing on a large scale a previously obscure cigarette brand called Jin Ling. The firm based in Kaliningrad is selling them by the container-load to smugglers at 20 US cents a packet. Smuggled Jin Ling, resembling the US Camel brand in appearance, are coming to light across Europe from Lithuania to Venice" ...

"Jin Ling is the most disturbing new development anywhere in the world in the illegal tobacco trade," said Luk Joossens, a World Health Organisation specialist. "They are flooding into Europe."

Image from Cigarettespedia

Members of the African delegations

We have selected (see below) the members of the African delegations from the provisional list (pdf).

Tobacco smuggling and terrorist groups

Andrew Kerr explains on page 4 of the FCA Bulletin how organized crime and terrorist groups use tobacco smuggling in various parts of the world.

See below  an html version for those who prefer this format.

This article was published in a pdf format within the FCA Bulletin 74, page 4.

FCA bulletin 74 for monday October 20

The FCA published the bulletin 74 for the first day of INB2.
It is available on a pdf format on its site.
On pages 1 and 2 FCA Policy Director Jonathan Liberman explains that 'Tough talks start now".
On page 3 Eric LeGresley, puts the "Spotlight on smuggling: dealing with a recalcitrant industry".
Page 4:  Tobacco and Terror by Andrew Kerr
Page 5: Ban on duty free tobacco sales needed by Rob Cunningham.
Page 6: FCA efforts to support tobacco control.

List of participants and observers

The provisional list of participants to INB2 is available on the FCTC site in a pdf format.

Below you can find the list of the NGO representatives  with 60 FCA members.

Bienvenue sur ce blog

Pendant que vous participez à INB2 vous pouvez avoir envie de partager vos réflexions sur les questions que vous inspire cette réunion internationale, nous raconter ce qui se discute ou pas, comment telle ou telle délégation s'est comportée, cette histoire entendue d'un(e) ami(e), vos sentiments sur ce qui se passe, etc.

Il vous suffit d'un email pour me contacter afin que je publie votre contribution ou que vous deveniez un co-auteur de ce blog:  dans ce deuxième cas je vous enverrai immédiatement l'information pour que vous soyez enregistré(e) et que vous puissiez commencer à rédiger et publier directement dans le blog.

Une troisième possibilité pour contribuer consiste à utiliser la fonction commentaire qui existe sous chaque billet publié.

Faites un essai. Partagez avec nous votre expérience de cette conférence.

Quelle que soit l'approche que vous choisirez, bienvenue sur ce blog.

Philippe

Why this blog?

After the positive experience of a collective blog during the COP2 conference in Bangkok we decided to conference blog again during the 4th European Conference Tobacco or Health  during UICC 08 and now INB2.

We thought it would be good  to have participants share their comments on line about what is happening so that the wider, global community can feel/be involved. Just email me or use the comments function under each post.

We thought it would be good  to have participants share their comments on line about what is happening so that the wider, global community can feel/be involved. Just email me or use the comments function under each post.

A message from the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA): Nations meet to give strength to global treaty to combat illicit tobacco trade

On October 20, government representatives will meet to negotiate a protocol which recognizes the serious threat posed to public health by the illicit trade in tobacco products – primarily through the undermining of tax policy – and the cross-border nature of illicit trade, which means that no state can effectively address the problem on its own.

Source: the FCA website

Commerce illicite au Sénégal

Lors d’une tournée effectuée dans les régions du Sud du Sénégal, à savoir Ziguinchor, Kolda et Tambacounda, il nous a été donné de constater l’ampleur de la commercialisation de cigarettes venant de Guinée Conakry qui entrent illégalement dans notre pays.

Différentes marques de cigarettes sont vendues dans les marchés et les boutiques de ces trois villes à des prix défiant toute concurrence sans que les autorités des douanes sénégalaises interviennent pour saisir cette marchandise issue de la fraude.

Source: Le blog de Massamba Diouf

Organisation mondiale des douanes: les douanes de votre pays ont-elles un site internet?

Tous les pays d'Afrique n'ont pas encore chacun un site internet pour leurs services douaniers.
L'OMM les répertorie: Afrique occidentale et centrale (beaucoup d'absents) Afrique orientale et australe, Afrique du Nord. En y regardant de plus près, il est possible que les listes ne soient pas à jour: ainsi les douanes du Cameroun ont un site (non mentionné) même si la page d'accueil fait en ce moment l'objet d'une intrusion par un hacker protestant contre sa faible sécurisation :)

Nigeria and Benin: Tobacco smuggling, the Seme and Cotonou connections

How cigarettes are smuggled from Benin to Nigeria. Read the story told by this Nigerian blogger.
Source: blog of Bob Majiri Oghene

Eric LeGresley about smuggling in Africa

This cyberinterview was posted on the Rendez-vous blog.

British American Tobacco and the "insidious impact of illicit trade" in cigarettes across Africa

This article just published  in Tobacco Control explains BAT's involvement in smuggling activities in Africa in the 1980s.

The map above that is included in the article is a map of 1987:  "Flow and volume of BATUKE cigarettes via the contraband trade in West Africa (1987). Reproduced from the original document in the British American Tobacco Document Archive."

For BAT's point of view and most recent map.

UK: Why combating tobacco smuggling is a priority

Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a year—four times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put together—but the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com.

Algérie: Quand les intempéries bloquent -temporairement- la distribution de cigarettes, y compris de contrebande.

Un article du Qotidien d'Oran, via Algérie-Monde.com

Les adolescents du Québec et de l'Ontario fument de plus en plus de cigarettes de contrebande

C'est ce que montre une nouvelle étude.

Les cigarettes de contrebande American Legend proviennent d'Afrique subsaharienne via l'Algérie

Elles seraient produites en Afrique sub-saharienne et transiteraient par l'Algérie selon un enquête réalisée pour BAT à Lyon.

Voir aussi l'article dans France-Soir  ou cet article en anglais.

Quelques informations sur la Côte d’Ivoire

Extraits d'un entretien avec Pascal Bogui en janvier 2007.

INB2 - working documents

The second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on a Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will be held in Geneva, 20-25 October 2008.

The working documents are posted here.

RDC: Mekako: savon ou cigarettes?

Outre les cinq millions de décès annuels consécutifs à la consommation et à l’exposition de la fumée du tabac, le trafic illicite de tabac est responsable des pertes annuelles considérables de plusieurs milliards de dollars au trésor public, notamment par la contrebande et la contrefaçon.

Source: Le blog de Patrick Musavuli

Sur les chemins de la contrebande au Maroc

Un article de décembre 2007 paru sur  Afrik.com sur le trafic entre l'Algérie et le Maroc.

About the situation in Tanzania

This article of August 2008 is focused on Zanzibar.

Search on the site tobacco.org

About the Tobacco Products Act passed in 2003.

A 1997 report by Ross Hammond: it is more centered on tobacco farming but gives some information about the industry moves 10 years ago.

La contrebande de cigarettes en Algérie

Les services des douanes ont passé des accords de coopération avec Philip Morris et BAT.

Via AllAfrica.com

Via AllAfrica.com

La situation au Niger, "plaque tournante de la contrebande"

Un entretien d'Inoussa Saouna publié dans le journal Le Monde en Novembre 2005:

"Le Niger ne cultive pas de tabac, il l'importe. C'est une plaque tournante de la contrebande. Les cigarettes sont fabriquées soit au Bénin, soit au Burkina Faso. On estime que 65 à 70 % des cigarettes qu'on trouve au Niger sont issues de la contrebande. Notre pays a plus de 1 200 kilomètres de frontières avec le Nigeria, ce qui facilite l'invasion des cigarettes illégales, qui transitent vers la Libye, l'Algérie puis l'Europe."