Ceylon Tobacco parent focusses on illegal trade on World No Tobacco Day 2015
View(s):Ceylon Tobacco Co (CTC) parent British American Tobacco (BAT) has used World Tobacco Day 2015 to focus on the illegal tobacco trade while, according to anti-tobacco campaigners, choosing to remain silent about the ‘killer’ impact of tobacco.Issuing a media release to mark World No Tobacco Day 2015, CTC said its parent is reiterating the need for greater understanding of the illegal tobacco trade, the criminals behind it and the need for greater cooperation and collaboration to fight it. “This call to action launched as part of a new campaign, developed by the company, to raise awareness of the facts around the illegal tobacco trade to coincide with the WHO’s World No Tobacco Day, for which this year’s focus is on the prevalence of illegal tobacco,” it said.
Felicio Ferraz, Managing Director and CEO of BAT’s local representative – the Ceylon Tobacco Company, said, “The nature and scale of the illegal tobacco trade and, the approaches required to tackle it, vary from country to country. Here in Sri Lanka, the illegal tobacco industry is dominated by highly organised smugglers and it is estimated to be an industry worth Rs. 1.5 billion, which is estimated to be 1.5 per cent of the market”.
The release said that if all of the different people and organisations involved in the illegal tobacco trade around the world were combined into one conglomerate, they would become the third largest international tobacco company by revenue. “This includes the person selling cigarettes for pocket money prices in local neighbourhoods and the transport specialist who ships illegal tobacco products from country to country, through to the wealthy ‘kingpin’ who is in overall control.”
After a long court battle with Government, CTC recently began carrying warnings on its cigarette packs which warn users about the dangers to their health and that tobacco overuse can kill. President Maithripala Sirisena said recently that the powerful tobacco lobby blocked his efforts to bring in stringent warnings on cigarette packs when he was Health Minister.