BusinessVibes Showcases the Tobacco Industry

Covering the main players and regions in the industry, the portal serves as a starting point for companies wishing to expand their international business. BusinessVibes is a perfect fit for those willing to search for new business partners and opportunities to make new deals.

Tobacco and Allied Products - the new industry introduced to the website includes 118 leading companies. Those which have already joined us, represent more than 30 countries considered to be crucial players in described Industry. Members of this group on BusinessVibes can benefit also from database of multiple international events gathering experts and leading exhibitors in this industry. All the companies and events listed on the website were hand-selected and verified by the BusinessVibes research team.

Tobacco Industry gathers those companies, which are engaged in growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. Tobacco industry is being developed in many places worldwide as tobacco itself can grow in any environment and on every continent apart from Antarctica.

BusinessVibes provides a platform for international buyers and sellers helping them to make connections and form partnerships. New companies wishing to join the directory are verified and categorized by the BusinessVibes team to ensure that listings are trustworthy and useful to our members.

Industries already covered on BusinessVibes include Textiles, Food Processing, Plastic Products, Farm Supplies, Industrial Equipment, Industrial Chemicals, Electronics and Electricals, Renewable Energy, Hotel Supplies, Metal Mining, and more.

Insurance company's new questionnaire on tobacco use and gun storage irks Oregon state workers

Tobacco users were outraged to find they would pay a $25 monthly surcharge for all of 2012, even if they quit mid-year. That policy has been modified — employees can stop paying when they quit, and the insurer will take them at their word.

"There was no incentive for them to quit mid-year," Public Employees Benefit Board Deputy Administrator Kathy Loretz said. "Now there's an incentive for people who make the good choice and stop smoking."

Directors of the state Public Employees Benefit Board voted unanimously last week to change the policy.

The questions were part of a new state program that uses financial incentives to encourage healthy behavior — and financial penalties if state workers refuse to participate in education programs designed to curb the behavior.

The second set of questions, involving firearms, riled gun owners who were asked questions about the manner in which their firearms are stored. The health assessment questionnaire asked whether respondents speed, wear seatbelts or drink and drive.

The firearms questions are part of insurer Kaiser Permanente's standard health questionnaire used across the nation, Loretz said. "It's a safety question, but some people were offended by it," Loretz said.

State Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli said the questions were a "violation of the right to privacy and the Second Amendment right to bear arms" that "ironically put worker's health and wellness at risk."

"If this information was ever lost or leaked, criminals could find in one convenient database a list of which individuals own guns, and how accessible those guns are," Ferrioli said in a statement. "This question is utterly inappropriate."

The benefits board asked Kaiser to remove the firearm question.

Tobacco company steps up fight

THE tobacco company Philip Morris Limited has opened a second legal fight against the Australian government over the plain packaging laws with the filing of a High Court challenge yesterday.
Philip Morris, which has already initiated a claim under trade law, joins three other tobacco companies in taking High Court action to claim that the government has taken the company's brands and intellectual property despite being unable to demonstrate that the plain pack move would reduce smoking.
''We believe plain packaging violates the Australian constitution because the government is seeking to acquire our property without paying compensation,'' the company's spokesman, Mr Chris Argent, said.

Progam links exercise to kicking cigarettes

Using jumping jacks and leg kicks to help kill cigarette cravings is the basis of an Ontario Lung Association fitness program coming to Sarnia-Lambton.

Quit and Get Fit programs will be held at In Motion: Health Wellness Fitness in Sarnia, and the Mooretown Sports Complex in Mooretown in the new year.

Participants receive free personal training sessions that combine smoking cessation support with fitness and health information.

The association and its partners believe the combination will motivate and support people trying to quit, while kick-starting a healthier new year.

Research shows physical activity can help reduce cravings and manage nicotine withdrawal symptoms, the association said.

Meanwhile, Ontario's health care system spends nearly $2 billion on tobacco-related diseases each year, said Health Minister Deb Matthews, noting tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death.

"Helping more people quit smoking is critical to improving the health of Ontarians and their loved ones. Quit and Get Fit is a unique option to help people, break their addiction to nicotine in a healthy and fun environment."

Marketing through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is being done to appeal to young adults who have higher smoking rates than older Ontarians, said Andrea Stevens Lavigne, the association's vice president of provincial programs.

"We're aiming to reach this audience online where they are already spending a great deal of time," she said.

Programs are available for members and non-members at partnering fitness centres in 12 communities across the province.

Registration is first-come, first-served until Jan. 8 or until spaces are filled. Programs continue until March 10.

USAS campaign to ban sale of some cigarettes on campus

A group of about 10 students paid a visit to the basement of the University bookstore in Ferren Mall early yesterday morning. But unlike most students, they were not there to buy books.
Instead the students, part of United Students Against Sweatshops, found success in their campaign to stop the sale of R.J. Reynolds cigarettes on campus.
“We had a small victory — we had Reynolds [cigarette] products pulled from the campus stores,” said Beth Breslaw, USAS vice president. “This [victory] is only the first leg of the journey.”
After weeks of protesting against the R.J. Reynolds cigarettes, the group met with John Cusick, general manager of the Barnes and Noble bookstores on campus, and received his approval of the campaign resulting in select campus stores taking certain cigarettes off their shelves.
Four campus stores as of yesterday afternoon are removing R.J. Reynolds-brand cigarettes, including Camel and Natural American Spirit cigarettes, from their shelves. These stores include the Livingston Student Center bookstore, the Student Activities Center on the College Avenue campus, the Busch Campus Center and Ferren Mall bookstore.
Student Life runs the Cook/Douglass Barnes and Noble and the Cook Campus Center store and would need to be addressed separately, said Breslaw, a School of Arts and Sciences senior.
University students held signs yesterday displaying pictures of the harsh conditions within a R.J. Reynolds worker camp in North Carolina, with the intention of seeing Cusick to stop the sale of these cigarettes on campus.
According to an open letter R.J. Reynolds issued in October 2011, Reynolds American and R.J. Reynolds state that they support efforts to ensure workers in all parts of the industry have safe working conditions.
R.J. Reynolds has contracts with independent farms across the United States, including ones across North Carolina for tobacco-leaf products, according to the letter.
“Those contracts require the farmers to comply with all laws — including labor laws covering issues such as employment, and working and living conditions of workers,” the letter reads. “We meet with growers regularly and encourage them to follow all applicable laws and regulations.”
Breslaw said the University’s chapter of USAS delivered letters to the general managers of all seven bookstores on campus within the past two months and emailed the letter with their requests to see Cusick.
The letter, written on behalf of USAS, Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking, Sociedad Estudiantil Dominicana, Rutgers United Students Coalition, Women’s Center Coalition, Rutgers University for the Welfare of Animals, Rutgers Undergraduate Geography Society and the Asian American Leadership Cabinet, addressed the group’s struggle to reach him and their mission.
In the meeting, Cusick said he did not receive the emails or the letters but read the letter for the first time yesterday and was taken aback by the photos of the cramped work camps.
“Jesus Christ, in my mind that is happening in Honduras or somewhere like that,” he said while looking at the photos of the living quarters of the workers on the posters.
Of the 700 Barnes and Noble bookstores on college campuses across the nation, only a handful of those stores sell cigarettes, which suggests why the issue was not addressed, Cusick said.
“We originally didn’t want to sell cigarettes when we got here,” he said.
The company that ran the Ferren Mall bookstore before Barnes and Noble sold cigarettes in the store, Cusick said.
Cusick said he would not be able to make a written statement in support of the campaign until he contacts Joel Friedman, vice president of General Merchandising and Store Construction/Design at Barnes & Noble College Booksellers.
Breslaw and others became involved in the cause after visiting work camps and tobacco fields in Dudley, N.C.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, a labor organization part of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization, hosted the USAS trip to North Carolina over the summer to visit work camps and tobacco fields, Breslaw said.

E-Cigarette Manufacturer ECigator Smokes Out the Competition with Top-Quality, Affordable Products

With more than 5,000 identified chemicals reportedly released in tobacco smoke, the trend of smokers switching to electronic cigarettes is quickly sweeping the world. The popular new smokeless cigarettes allow smokers to fulfill their nicotine craving and enjoy the habitual sensation of inhaling and exhaling, while avoiding many of the harmful toxins associated with traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Many studies have also concluded e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking all together.

With the growing demand for the electric cigarette, companies looking to sell quality e-cigarettes and accessories are choosing to purchase their products from ECigator.com, a wholesale e-cigarette manufacturer and supplier offering superior products at wholesale prices. Based in China, the company meets both Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) requirements, giving companies the opportunity to brand themselves on some of the most top-quality electronic cigarette products available on the market.

Smokers making the switch from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes want to be assured the products they are purchasing are made from the best quality materials.

Recognized as the world’s largest retail e-cigarette website, ECigator’s specialized manufacturing processes continue to impress customers and companies alike.

Featuring the popular eGo-T cigarette, ECigator exceeds customer’s expectations by offering a more stable and higher quality product with no leaking and no burning taste. The company also offers the eGo-TC cigarette with a brand new five LED light power show and no liquid leakage guaranteed.

ECigator not only cares about manufacturing and supplying top-quality goods, but also does so at an affordable price.

ECigator.com states, “Just as we are concerned about our customers’ health, so are we when it comes to the price. Yes, we offer e-cigarettes at competitive prices when compared to other electronic companies. No other company can entertain our customers with value-added service and high-quality electronic products.”

In addition to producing a variety of e-cigarettes, including PCC e-cigarettes, disposable e-cigarettes and e-cigars, ECigator also offers a range of accessories all ready for companies to brand as their own.

Judge Blocks Tax Scheme in New Cigarette Law

A provision of the new cigarette-trafficking law unfairly subjects remote sellers of tobacco products to unfair local and state taxes, a federal judge ruled.
Passed to combat illegal trafficking and cigarette sales to minors, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act prohibits the post office from delivering cigarettes sold on the Internet and forces Native American vendors to pay excise taxes to local and state governments.
Robert Gordon, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians who sells tobacco products online through Allofourbutts.com and by mail from upstate New York, claimed that the act cost him nearly all his business. Before the law took effect on June 30, 2010, Gordon said Internet and phone sales accounted for 95 percent of his business.
Gordon's lawsuit in Washington, D.C., claimed constitutional violations and infringement on tribal sovereignty. Under the regulations, Gordon can accept only phone orders and must use a private shipping service to mail cigarettes across six states.
He said the new regulations caused a 90 percent loss of business and made him lay off 16 of 22 workers.
A federal judge had previously denied Gordon's motion for a restraining order and preliminary injunction, but the D.C. Circuit revived Gordon's suit in February.
On remand, Chief U.S. Judge Royce Lamberth upheld the ban on shipping cigarettes through the mail, saying that the ban aligns with "the legitimate government interests of reducing underage tobacco use and cigarette trafficking."
Gordon had argued that the mail ban was intended to "reward the lobbying efforts of the tobacco industry and convenience stores and amounts to simple economic protectionism," according to the Dec. 5 decision.
Lamberth did agree, however, to stay enforcement of the law's taxing mechanism, saying Gordon is likely prove that the provision violates due process because it "appears to impose a new, independent duty on the delivery seller by requiring that they ensure that the applicable state and local taxes are paid," even if the retailer doesn't have a substantial connection with those jurisdictions.
Gordon cannot advance claims that PACT violates his 10th Amendment rights by "commandeering" states to collect taxes from delivery sellers before a product can be shipped, the 28-page opinion states.

N.J. man found with 1,324 cartons of untaxed cigarettes

Maryland State Police say a traffic stop on the Eastern Shore led to the discovery of more than 1,300 cartons of untaxed cigarettes in a New Jersey man's van.

When a trooper stopped a man on Saturday near Berlin for negligent driving, police say he noticed cargo in the back and smelled tobacco. WGMD-FM reports that a search of the van turned up 1,324 cartons of cigarettes without tax stamps worth more than $79,000.

Police say the driver, 49-year-old Charles Davis Jr. of Carteret, N.J., did not have any documentation for transporting the cigarettes. The tax loss to the state is estimated at more than $26,000.

Davis was charged with transporting unstamped cigarettes and released on $25,000 bond.

Roll-your-own cigarette stores, including one in Camillus

A pack of name-brand cigarettes can run as high as $10 in New York state, and a carton about $80. In New York City, a pack can cost up to $14, and a carton $130.
In comparison, a pack of roll-your-own cigarettes can cost less than $4 in the state and a carton less than $30. With tightening budgets and a bad economy, more people are turning to roll-your-own machines in stores to get their cigarettes.

But $4 packs and $30 cartons might be short-lived. The fate of the roll-your-own machines in stores is up to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which is trying to determine whether those roll-your-own machines manufacture cigarettes. If the court determines that they do, a federal tax on each pack of roll-your-own cigarettes will be added, making those cigarettes similar in price to name-brand ones.
Jonathan Behrins, an attorney at the Behrins Law Firm in Staten Island, said he believes the decision will apply to local, state and federal laws. Behrins represents Island Smokes, a roll-your-own shop, in a New York City case. “People in the industry all over the nation are holding their breath to this decision,” Behrins said.
Roll-your-own stores sell the tobacco and empty cigarette tubes to customers, and the rolling machine is available for customer use, said a spokesperson for Tobacco Express, which has a store in Camillus. The customers roll the cigarettes themselves for their own personal use.
“When you go to the supermarket and the coffee section, you buy the beans and put it in the grinding machine, and it turns into coffee,” the spokesperson said. “It is the same thing we do.”

Roxon denies Big Tobacco the prospect of any smokescreen

They argue that cigarettes are a legal product, smoking is a matter of choice, and that when it comes to telling us how we can live our lives, the nanny state can go stick it in its pipe and smoke it.

This is all fine, up to a point. And that point is when smokers get sick and automatically assume that it is the job of the health system - that is, the taxpayers - to step in and cover the cost of their collapsed lungs, clogged arteries and triple bypasses.

It is a logically inconsistent position and, frankly, quite a pathetic one. If smokers and the tobacco industry are going to be hairy-chested about the manner in which they live their life, they should also be held to account for the manner of their death.
I write that not as some clean-living puritan, but one of those poor sad dills who has become addicted to this stupid drug, but who is now happily (and hopefully) in the final stages of a victorious battle against nicotine, setting aside last week's beer-fuelled regression at the office Christmas party.

You hear smokers say all the time that the amount of tax levied on their habit is more than enough to cover the cost to the health system of smoking-related death and disease, and lost productivity through the premature departure of the nicotine-addicted from this mortal coil.

The reality is somewhat different. The cost of smoking to the health system alone is a very hefty $31.5 billion a year. Annually, some 15,000 of us go to meet our maker many years before we otherwise would. Think back to early 2010 when then prime minister Kevin Rudd jacked up the price of a packet of fags by 25 per cent a packet. Even that whopping increase only raised $5 billion, which is just one-sixth the annual illness bill from our vulgar little habit.

The tobacco industry has been having a pretty ordinary time of it of late, as all those personal choice arguments vanish in a puff of acrid smoke as even smokers like this one start to admit there is no logical defence available for smoking or the public costs associated with smoking.

As a final last-gasp action, the tobacco industry has been mounting a spurious civil libertarian argument against plain packaging, featuring a matronly nanny-state lady displayed at tobacconists and corner store cigarette counters. The campaign has failed to ignite the outrage the tobacco industry would have envisaged because even smokers know deep down that what they are doing is quite dumb.

Cigarettes worth more than £10,000 stolen from newsagent

Police are investigating a break-in at the Crofters Newsagent on Greenburn Drive at around 1.30am on Friday, December 9.

Cigarettes worth a low five-figure sum were taken during the break-in.

It is thought that a vehicle may have been used to help transport the cigarettes from the shop.

Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen someone acting suspiciously or saw any vehicles in the area at the time.