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Trinidad and Tobago Takes the Caribbean Lead in Tobacco Control
By Keith R | July 31, 2009 @ 10:08 am |
Topics: Advertising/Promotion, Tobacco Control | No Comments »
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Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister presented a pretty tough tobacco control bill in Parliament the other day, and seems confident it will emerge as a law in just a few months with little watering down. It appears that Trinidad and Tobago will take the lead in CARICOM’s recent pledge to ban smoking in public places and among Caribbean states in implementing their obligations under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The bill would:
- Ban initiating, producing, publishing, engaging or participating in any tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship except
- mail publications addressed to an adult smoker by name;
- publication that has an adult readership of not less than 85%;
- signs in places where children are not permitted by law.
- Ban smoking or even holding a lighted tobacco product in any enclosed public place (i.e., accessible to the general public or place of collective use, regardless of ownership), enclosed workplace or public conveyance, or within 15 meters of any place that caters primarily to children (schools, playgrounds, amusement parks). Specifically listed are
- public transportation terminals;
- workplaces;
- retail establishments including bars, restaurants and shopping malls;
- clubs;
- cinemas;
- concert halls;
- sport facilities;
- pool and bingo halls;
- publicly owned facilities rented out for events.
Any manager, owner or lessee of any place where a violation occurs who authorized or who knew or, using due diligence, out to have known that the act constituted a violation, will be deemed liable for the offense and can be fined $10,000 and six months imprisonment.
- Require all packs to carry health messages specified by authorities;
- Require tobacco products to carry on their packages — or wrappers in the case of cigars — a list of the constituents and additives;
- Ban the use of descriptors such as “light,” “ultra light,” “mild,” “low tar,” or “slim,” or any graphics associated with, or likely to intended to be associated with, such descriptors;
- Ban the sale of tobacco products via the mail, the internet or automatic vending machines;
- Ban the sale of tobacco products in: sports, athletic or recreational facilities; government buildings; educational facilities; facilities where health care services are provided;
- Ban the sale of sweets, snacks, toys or other non-tobacco items or objects in the form of tobacco products or which imitate tobacco products.
- Ban incentive promotions and the free supply of tobacco products;
- Require manufacturers to make their packaging and labeling tamper-proof
- Require manufacturers and importers to submit quarterly reports on not only imports, sales, packaging and labeling, but also regarding constituents and additives;
- Ban the sale of tobacco products (except cigars) in packs of less than 10.
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Walmart Goes Solar in Puerto Rico
By Keith R | July 27, 2009 @ 9:13 am |
Topics: Renewable Sources | No Comments »
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From Wal-Mart:
Walmart and SunEdison Announce Solar Energy Pilot in Puerto Rico Largest Solar Energy Project to Help Puerto Rico Reach its Solar Potential
Walmart Puerto Rico and SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider, today announced plans to deploy rooftop solar systems on five Walmart PR stores with the potential for 23 stores over five years. The project will be the largest renewable energy project ever developed on the island. Given traditional energy rates, the systems will provide Walmart long-term predictably priced solar-generated energy.
Under a solar power services agreement with Walmart, SunEdison will finance, own, build and operate the photovoltaic solar energy systems, which deliver long-term, low-risk returns to project financiers. Construction on the first 895kW rooftop system at Walmart Supercenter Caguas is scheduled to begin before the end of 2009.
Each solar power-generating system installed may vary, but across the Puerto Rico sites, on average a system can provide 25 to 35 percent of the power for the store or club on which it is installed. Throughout the duration of a 15 year contract, the zero-emission systems are projected to produce 90 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity.
Renzo Casillo, president & CEO of Walmart Puerto Rico added that, “we are transforming every aspect of our operation, and that includes energy consumption. Today, our new Walmart stores are 21 percent more energy-efficient than our original 2005 stores. Through the implementation of energy-saving strategies and the installation of energy-efficient equipments, last year we achieved an 8.7 percent reduction in energy consumption compared to the previous year. With this solar energy project we’ll continue to broaden our efforts towards our main objective and commitment of being supplied 100 percent by renewable energy”.
SunEdison COO Carlos Domenech said, “We commend Walmart’s aggressive leadership in renewable energy as a model for all industries. Our collaboration in Puerto Rico will provide a long-term financial return on Walmart’s investment in energy. The project also brings the solar industry to Puerto Rico with well-paying jobs for the island on top of the reduction of greenhouse gases to improve the environment.”
The five locations that are part of the pilot and the size of the installations:
Sam’s Club Rexville: 795kW
Sam’s Club Ponce: 936.44kW
Walmart Super Center Ponce Baramaya: 1239.84kW
Walmart Super Center Manati: 854.44kW
Walmart Super Center Caguas: 895.44kW
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Colombia’s Surprising New Tobacco Control Law
By Keith R | July 24, 2009 @ 11:02 am |
Topics: Advertising/Promotion, Tobacco Control | No Comments »
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Colombia has just passed a law on tobacco that is, well, surpising, given the language of the original bill and how strongly the industry lobby fought against against any amendments to toughen it.
Among other things, the new law:
- bans sales to minors of any tobacco product, and requires vendors to check for proof of age;
- bans placement of vending machines for tobacco products in places and points of sale where minors have free access;
- bans the manufacture or importation of cigarettes in packs of 10 or less;
- bans the manufacture or sale of sweets, snacks, toys and other objects in the form of tobacco products, which might be attractive to minors;
- requires television time to be donated for anti-tobacco public service messages;
- bans the use of phrases such as “smooth,” “light,” “mild” or “low in tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide” in advertising, packaging or labeling of tobacco products;
- requires all cigarette packs to bear rotating health warnings and pictograms set by the Ministry of Social Protection, covering at least 30% of the area on each principal face of the packs;
- bans all advertising of tobacco products on radio, TV, mass distribution written media (newspapers, magazines, etc.), in cinemas, live theatrical productions, live or recorded musical functions, videos, films, DVDs or compact discs. Also banned is advertising on billboards, signs, posters, murals or similar mobile or fixed media. The ad ban extends to cable and satellite TV produced abroad licensed by Colombia’s National Television Commission;
- bans all forms of promotion of tobacco products;
- bans sponsorship of sporting and cultural events by producers, importers or marketers of tobacco products in the name of the corporation or any of its brands, “when such sponsorship implies the promotion, direct or indirect of the consumption of tobacco products and their derivatives.”
- bans smoking in enclosed workplaces and public places such as bars, restaurants, shopping centers, stores, fairs, festivals, parks, stadiums, cafeterias, discotheques, cyber-cafes, hotels, pubs, casinos, waiting areas and community zones, educational institutions, museums, libraries, childcare, sporting and cultural spaces, public and school transport, health entities. Smoking is also banned in areas where there is a high risk of combustion, such as gasoline stations, or storage sites for fuels, explosive materials, etc.
- requires all cigarette manufacturers and importers to annually report to the Ministry of Social Protection on the ingredients added to their tobacco products and levels of tar, nicotine and CO.
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$10 Mn. to Protect Three Critical Peruvian Watersheds / US$10 miliones para proteger tres cuencas peruanas
By Keith R | July 24, 2009 @ 8:24 am |
Topics: Water Issues | No Comments »
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From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
Peru will protect three critical watersheds with IDB financing
- $10 million loan will finance integrated strategies for reducing water waste and conserving ecosystems in the Chira-Piura, Santa and Tacna watersheds
Peru will implement an integrated approach to protecting water resources and related ecosystems in three critical watersheds with a $10 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank today.
The project will support the Peruvian government’s strategy of encouraging the efficient use of water resources and related ecosystems by adopting a participatory approach based on sustainability and equity.
Peru faces serious constraints on water supply along its Pacific drainage basin. This arid region has only 1.8 percent of the country’s total water resources, yet is home to 70 percent of the population and produces 80.4 percent of the country’s GDP.
The Chira-Piura, Santa, and Tacna watersheds face pressures typical of the Pacific drainage basin. These include water scarcity, droughts, floods and landslides in northern areas, water quality degradation due to the discharge of untreated wastewater, and a failure to recover the costs of operating and maintaining water infrastructure.
This project will address these problems by adopting an Integrated Water Resource Management approach for these watershed, implementing planning and management instruments in accordance with Peru’s Water Resources Act and creating bodies to manage water access disputes; promoting a “culture of water” that ensures its rational use and conservation through consistent fees for water use; improving water quality and monitoring and control mechanisms; and creating resilience to the impact of climate change.
The IDB has previously supported Peru’s water management efforts through a series of policy-based loans. The total cost of this project is $19,579,000; the Peruvian government will be providing $9,579,000 in counterpart funds.
The US$10 million IDB loan is for 25 years, with a 5 year grace period and an interest rate based on LIBOR.
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An E-Waste Bill for Bahia
By Keith R | July 23, 2009 @ 9:27 pm |
Topics: Electronic/Electrical Equipment, Waste & Recycling | No Comments »
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I’m on vacation in the Caribbean, with limited internet access (and a damaged laptop) and in any case supposedly ignoring my inbox and not posting. But I peeked at the web version of my inbox using a relative’s laptop and, seeing a note on this, could not resist a quick post.
It shows something I have been talking about for quite a while: how legislators in Latin America, particularly within Brazil, trade information on their bills and borrow ideas from one another.
Just two months after an e-waste bill was introduced in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, a remarkably similar bill was just introduced in the state assembly of its neighbor Bahia. The Pernambuco bill itself seemed to be inspired by a Law on computer-related waste passed last year in the southern state of Paraná.
Like its counterpart in Pernambuco, the Bahian bill would require producers, distributors and vendors of “informatic equipment” to create and maintain programs for their recovery, recycling and destruction at the end of product life. As in the PR law, “informatics” is not defined, but in Latin America the term usually refers to computers, other IT equipment and their peripherals. Unless the bill is amended to define the term, the scope will be left to the discretion of the state regulatory authority.
All these firms would be required to make collection services for EOL equipment available in their establishments in Bahia.
Just like its Pernambuco counterpart, the Bahian bill would derive the sanctions for non-compliance from Brazil’s Consumer Code and place the state’s consumer protection entity* in charge of enforcement.
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* In Bahia, consumer protection is not handled by a standalone institute or agency as it is in many states. Instead Bahia has a Superintendency for Consumer Protection and Defense (PROCON-BA) linked to the State Secretariat of Justice, Citizenship and Human Rights.
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Time for a New Biodiesel Policy in Brazil?
By Keith R | July 17, 2009 @ 9:48 am |
Topics: Biofuels | 1 Comment »
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Luiz Prado says it’s time for Brazil to adopt a “serious” national policy on biodiesel. I think he has a point.
Brazil has had a biodiesel policy — er, make that a biodiesel program — since 2003. It has a number of elements, but the lynchpins are a blending mandate (currently set at B4), and a series of tax breaks to suppliers that are supposed to favor sourcing feedstock from family farms, particularly in the North, Northeast and the Sertão (the semi-arid badlands in the northern half of Brazil), and particularly palm oil (dendê) in the North and castor beans (mamona) in the Northeast.
This program was supposed to guarantee that the benefits of the ramp-up were shared among Brazil’s regions, feedstock crops and social strata, with less favoritism to large agribusiness than the old Pro-Álcool program had. Yet look at the results six years later (click on the graphic above): according to the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), 81.1% of Brazilian biodiesel comes from soy, which is primarily from the South and Center-West and primarily from large agribusiness; 14% from animal fats (one has to wonder how much, if any, of that is sourced from small farmers); 2.97% from cotton oil; and only 1.9% from “other,” which includes oil (African) palm, castor, cashews, coffee oil, sesame, sunflower, cocoa, rapeseed, Babassu palm, Jatropha, and coconut.
Luiz advocates a policy that favors crops that produce more oil appropriate to each region. I would add to that, each crop that makes ecological sense as well. For example, if you go by average oil yield per hectare, there would be an even greater emphasis on African palm. But we know from examples in other nations the environmental damage African palm plantations can do and how tough it can be to ensure socially responsible palm oil production. Soy oil, which currently has the lion’s share of biodiesel feedstock, yields about 2,668 kg/ha, about half that of oil palm, but is suspected of being one of the drivers for deforestation in Brazil, so does it make ecological sense to promote its use in biodiesel? Similarly, Jatropha might make more sense for the Northeast and Sertão than castor oil in terms of oil yield, but that crop has its dark side too.
I also think that it may — I emphasize may — make sense to encourage production in some crops that traditionally have been favored by small farmers (such as castor) but had limited markets and low market prices. Last but not least, I would not reject out-of-hand utilizing waste and by-products of major crops (such as coffee) to produce biodiesel inputs, as long as the economics can be made to work.
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Disappearing Mangroves in Guatemala
By Keith R | July 14, 2009 @ 9:07 am |
Topics: Conservation, Environmental Services | No Comments »
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I read an interesting article from Tierramérica about Guatemala’s disappearing mangroves and a discussion of probable causes and possible impacts. I’ve mentioned here before on The Temas Blog about the importance of mangroves (here, here, here, here and here) in preventing sediment runoff and filtering out contaminants before they enter the sea, stabilizing coastlines, impeding salinization, helping protect reefs, providing a nursery for many aquatic species and a home for many birds and mammals. In short, mangroves provide quite a few valuable ecosystem services.
The article discusses how Guatemala is losing about 73,000 hectares of mangrove every year. The causes? The article suggests several, including construction of tourism complexes, shrimp farming, but most of all agricultural activities — cotton and African palm.
An environmentalist quoted in the article goes further, suggesting most of the blame for deforestation in Guatemala may fall on palm and sugarcane farming aimed at biofuel markets. They point to the fact that in 2003 Guatemala had 31,185 hectares devoted to African palm, whereas just four years later the figure had more than doubled to 65,340 ha. [Temas Observation: Okay, but what is not entirely clear to me from the article is whether these new farms for biofuel inputs are really the cause of mangrove deforestation, rather than deforestation generally. Is the soil and watertable in lands covered by mangroves really good for sugarcane cultivation?]
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US$10 Mn. to Support Sustainable Farming in Paraguay
By Keith R | July 10, 2009 @ 9:47 pm |
Topics: Sustainable Agriculture | No Comments »
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From the International Finance Corporation (IFC):
$10 Million IFC Financing Supports Sustainable Farming Operations in Paraguay IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has provided a $10 million working capital facility to Frontera Agropecuaria del Paraguay (S.A.) to support farming operations in Paraguay.
IFC’s financing will help bring farm land into sustainable production and create opportunities for rural development. Agriculture plays an important role in Paraguayan economy, with more than 42 percent of the population living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture for livelihood. It represents about 25 percent of the GDP, 30 percent of employment, and almost all registered exports.
Frontera Agropecuaria del Paraguay is a member of Desarrollo Agricola del Paraguay Group, the DAP Group, which is an industrial-scale agricultural farming company producing soybeans, corn, and sunflowers in Paraguay.
“IFC’s support will allow the company to finance its working capital needs properly and enhance its competitiveness,” said DAP President Pascual Rubiani. He said the IFC investment will help develop agricultural farming “based on a triple bottom-line model–social inclusion, environmental care, and sustainable economic results.”
Oscar Chemerinski, Director of IFC’s Global Agribusiness Department, said, “IFC financing will play an important countercyclical role during the current financial crisis. IFC will be providing financing to Paraguay’s agriculture farming sector to support local players like the DAP Group that adopts sustainable farming practices. The investment is expected to contribute to rural economic development and increase food supply.”