Development, Urbanization, Migration, and Quality of Life - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 96

people should quit. Concurrently , it has plans for
its state monopoly on tobacco to become the largest
exporter of tobacco products in the region. China
will manufacture Marlboro cigarettes and export
Chinese tobacco to other cigarette-making compa-
nies in the region. India banned outdoor advertis-
ing for tobacco products in 2003, but tobacco firms
are spending heavily on in-store promotional dis-
plays, which are still legal. There are some non-
smoking restaurants in Japan such as Starbucks,
but many people, including police, ignore the
no-smoking rule.
Japan T Tobacco Company is the third largest
in the world. It manufactures Camel, Winston,
Mild Seven, and Salem cigarettes. This company
has invested in American and British firms
for exclusive rights to market future-developed
lung cancer vaccines! It claims that it is
diversifying.
There is a Global T Treaty on T Tobacco Control
that all Asian nations have signed with the excep-
tion of Indonesia. Its state tobacco firms generate
huge revenues from sales and taxes. The govern-
ment claims that it can't afford to sign the treaty ,
as tobacco taxes contribute 10 percent of its capital
and the industry employs 7 million people. Never-
theless, it has promised to cap its cigarette produc-
tion by 2010. Y ou will be interested to know that,
as of 2009, the United States has not ratified the
treaty .
Most Indonesians smoke kreteks that are a
complex blend of tobacco and cloves, among other
ingredients. These are much cheaper than “white”
cigarettes but have much higher amounts of tar.
So-called “clove cigarettes,” which, like all cigarettes,
are linked to lung cancer and other respiratory dis-
eases, were outlawed in the United States in 2009.
Now , variations (with cloves) are being sold under
the guise of “cigars.”
Studies by the WB suggest that countries
should raise cigarette taxes, which are among the
lowest in the world. This would cut down on the
number of smokers but would continue to raise
revenue. They encourage governments to get farm-
ers to grow oil seeds or some other in-demand crop
instead of tobacco.
Although China National T Tobacco Company ,
employing more than 5,000,000 people, is the
world' s largest tobacco product producer, global

sales are dominated by just five companies.
International markets are dominated by Philip Morris
International (represented by Reynolds T Tobacco in
the U.S.), British-American T Tobacco (selling such
brands as Kent, Pall Mall, and Kool, Gold Leaf
in Pakistan, Craven A in Vietnam, and Ardath in
Indonesia), Altria (which makes Marlboro, the most
popular brand in the world), Imperial T Tobacco
(a British company that owns an array of labels
including Davidoff, the most popular brand in
Taiwan), and Japan T Tobacco.
Convincing U.S. officials to claim that foreign
restrictions on tobacco product advertising were,
in effect, trade barriers, tobacco companies were
exempted from national controls in Taiwan,
Japan, and South Korea. U.S. market shares
jumped accordingly . Advertising bans elsewhere
are circumvented through sponsorship of sporting
and other crowd-attracting events. In Malaysia,
tobacco companies held free rock concerts and
distributed free cigarettes to attendees. Promotion
is furthered through such popular items as Marl-
boro hats, T T-shirts, lighters, and other parapher-
nalia. Such strategies are aimed at both selling
cigarettes to existing smokers and expanding the
smoking pool.
Particular target groups are individuals with
rising incomes, women seeking greater autonomy ,
teens, and even children and the poor. Billboards
appeal to status, power, and independent thinking.
Cigarettes are often sold individually . This makes
Marlboro (high-status), Salem, and other brands
affordable and ensures that the buyer will not see
any warning label. This strategy also allows children
to buy cigarettes, and there are increasing numbers
of child smokers in the five- to nine-year-old age
group.
Cigarette smuggling is rampant, with one-
third of all internationally traded tobacco landing
in the black market. For instance, two out of
every three packets sold in Vietnam have been
illegally brought from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
or China. Selling for “introductory” prices makes
these more accessible and feeds the new smoker
pool. Because there is money to be made, corrup-
tion is endemic in regard to the tobacco industry .
For example, millions of cartons confiscated
by the Vietnamese authorities are subsequently
exported.