Archive

BY MONICA DOBIE
SMOKING RATES in Canada have hit an all time low, according to new figures released by Statistics Canada, the federal government’s statistical agency.

Approximately 24 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15, or roughly six million people, smoked in the year 2000, it claims.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation is to target women’s exposure to passive smoking because of male smokers as part of its long-standing campaign against tobacco consumption. In a new monograph, it has called for bans on smoking in public places and advertising, pointing out that while worldwide 48 per cent of men smoke, the figure is just 12 per cent for women.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union money is to be spent on helping developing countries implement anti-smoking policies, the EU Council of Ministers (health), has concluded. It agreed that the spending should be part of the EU’s commitments under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is currently being discussed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Council of Ministers has approved a European public health programme for the years 2001-2006, which is likely to lead to further efforts by Brussels to dissuade people from smoking. Ministers agreed that Euro 280 million should be spent on the plan, which will include the creation of a comprehensive data bank on habits affecting health, such as smoking.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AFTER Mexican plantation workers walked off tobacco fields in Ontario, Canada, to protest about the deplorable working conditions, the Canadian section of the United Farm Workers of America has called for the establishment national labour standards to protect them.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
TWO Canadian cigarette pack sleeve businesses, Bootiez and Cigarette Cover, have sold more than 2.5 million card covers to local shops across the country. Both companies have been doing a thriving business selling cigarette pack covers to smokers who prefer to look at frolicking kittens and bikini clad women instead of the diseased hearts and lungs that have been ordered to appear by Ottawa.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
A REVIEW of additional protective duties erected against spirits imported into India is not to be held by the government in New Delhi, the Press Trust of India has reported.

Instead, the central government has defended the imposition of extra customs duty on imported liquor, saying it was necessary to protect the domestic production industry and has added that it was considering imposing a 24 per cent flat rate on imported spirits kept in warehouses for more than 30 days.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed a change in the organisation of the EU wine market aimed at encouraging young people into wine growing. Brussels said that some Member States had been pursuing active policies of generational replacement and these had proved their worth, “particularly in the wine sector where there is a great need to attract younger growers.”…

BY MONICA DOBIE
COCA-COLA Bottling Ltd is being investigated by Canadian tax collectors, which may result in the soft-drinks giant handing over more than $100 million (CND) worth of back taxes, the Toronto Globe and Mail has reported.

It has revealed that Canadian tax investigators are examining how Coca-Cola prices the concentrate it uses to produce the drinks and whether the company charged too much to its bottling operations to keep both its Canadian profits and taxes low.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
ORGANISERS of the 2002 winter Olympics may consider introducing a new sporting event…successfully acquiring an alcoholic beverage in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Visitors will compete to find their way around the bizarre set of rules to buy alcohol, as ordered by the politically dominant local Mormon population, who do not have much use for the stuff.…