Fair Competition Review Applying in Tobacco Monopoly of China: on the Practice of Administrative Self-Regulation

Objectives: This article attempts to discuss the practice of China’s fair competition review mechanism applying in China’s tobacco monopoly administrative system as an administrative self-regulation act. Methods: by reviewing the literature, relevant website and applying the liberal interpretation in legal provisions of China, this paper reveals the important reasons behind the establishment of fair review system by the Chinese government —the existence of administrative monopoly and the problems caused by the deficiency of China's existing external regulation. Results: by combing the legal foundation of fair competition review mechanism, this paper responds to the rationality of China's adoption of self-regulation model. Furthermore, through the discussion of the applying of fair review in tobacco industry’s administration, it responds to the practice of tobacco monopoly’s self-regulation. Conclusion: the article concludes that China's fair review system can be partially applied to China's tobacco monopoly.

Why Does Tobacco Agriculture in Thailand Persist?

The rigorous tobacco controls advocated by both international policy players and national government are foreseen to lowering demand in tobacco consumption, and consequently, the contraction of tobacco agriculture. This paper seeks to reveal why tobacco agriculture, albeit with the declining trend of tobacco farms, continues to persist. Theoretical guiding the investigation is based on the institutional arrangement of contract farming system, the idea that derived from New Institution Economics, and farmers’ striving to attain livelihoods. The study adopts qualitative methods, utilising purposive sampling, with 53 tobacco farmers recruited from four provinces, namely Phrae, Phetchabun, Roi-et and Nongkhai, who took part in four focus group discussions. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with two provincial agricultural promotion officers, three provincial excise officers and four staff members of the local office of the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. The data was analysed using content analysis. This paper found that supportive institutional arrangements, the adaptation of communities and households creating a favourable environment and the emergence of new markets for roll-your-own cigarettes are contributing to the persistence of tobacco agriculture. In light of tobacco control, two policy measures are proposed. First, the regulations for roll-your-own cigarette industries – both smallholders and manufacturers – must be revised and instituted. Second, to encourage tobacco farmers to move away from tobacco growing, institutional support for alternative crops, such as price guarantees, inputs and technical support should be provided in the same manner that the tobacco growers currently receive.

Initiative Cooperation: Exploring a New Intergovernmental Model for Dealing with Risk of Tobacco Monopoly Administrative Law Enforcement

Objective: The risk of administrative law enforcement is slowly being exposed to the public. The law enforcement of tobacco monopoly administration plays an important role in maintaining the stability of tobacco market and promoting the benign development of tobacco industry. However, due to the combination of subjective and objective factors, there are many risks in the process of tobacco monopoly law enforcement, which seriously affect the effectiveness of tobacco monopoly law enforcement. In risk society, risk has the characteristics of fluidity and cross-region, which increases the difficulty of administrative law enforcement among local governments. The purpose of this paper is to explore a new model to deal with the risk of local government enforcement against tobacco monopoly administration. Methods: The research adopted the field survey method, 75 local officials were interviewed, including 68 effective interviews and 7 invalid interviews, then analyzed the manifestations of passive cooperation through multiple cases. Results: We found that when risk of tobacco monopoly administrative law enforcement occur frequently, local intergovernmental still choose not to cooperate or cooperate passively at the request of the central government. By analyzing the forms of passive cooperation, we established an analytical framework of initiative cooperation and worked out three elements of initiative cooperation: trust, consensus and tacit understanding. Conclusion: Initiative cooperation is the highest form of cooperation and the best choice for local intergovernmental to deal with risk of tobacco monopoly administrative law enforcement.

Coordination Between Tobacco Resource Development and Regional Economy

Objectives: This paper studies the relationship between the development of tobacco resources and the coordination of regional economy under the background of tobacco monopoly. Methods: This paper takes the institutional change theory as the theoretical fulcrum and the cost-benefit analysis as the main line, the correlation between regional economy and the development of tobacco industry is compared. This paper expounds the evolution history and institutional characteristics of China's tobacco monopoly system, and analyzes the changes of production, supply and marketing relationship, institutional characteristics and benefit distribution of the tobacco industry in each period. After the theoretical and empirical analysis of the costs and benefits of China's tobacco monopoly system, this paper studies the role of tobacco resource development in promoting regional economy by comparing the costs and benefits of radical and gradual reform. Results: On the premise of retaining tobacco monopoly, we should take the separation of government and enterprises and the reform of tobacco fiscal and tax system as the breakthrough. This can change the tobacco industry from administrative monopoly to economic monopoly and form tobacco trust. The linkage mechanism of "tax, profit and price" should be established to protect the interests of tobacco farmers. A tobacco auction center shall be established and a third-party tobacco rating agency shall be guided. Conclusion: The net income of the new system is higher than that of the old system. The healthy development of tobacco industry can promote regional economy.

The Transformation of an Ecological Policy

This chapter analyzes the scandalization of agricultural experiments with Cuban tobacco seeds in mid-nineteenth century France. It shows how engineers of the French state tobacco monopoly, which was established in the Napoleonic era, tried to become independent from Cuban cigar exports by introducing a substitution program that relied heavily on acclimatization experiments. However, these trials stimulated lively discussions in France and finally caused a scandal that temporarily destabilized the Parisian officials. The chapter integrates perspectives of global and imperial history with a closer view on the emerging public sphere in France and locates the scandalization of acclimatization experiments in the broader context of a changing imperial world.

From “Stab in the Back” to “Good Riddance”: Recollections of Ayyam al-Atrak

Selim Deringil's The Ottoman Twilight in the Arab Lands: Turkish Memoirs and Testimonies of the Great War is an account of five memoirs written after World War I by leading Ottoman military commanders and intellectuals who spent the war years in the Arab provinces. The memoirs include those of Falih Rifki Atay, Ahmad Cemal Pasha's deputy in the Fourth Army and head of intelligence in Damascus and Jerusalem; Hüseyin Kazım Kadri, a founder of the Young Turk movement and editor of Tanin; Naci Kaşif Kıcıman, the chief intelligence officer in Hijaz during the Great Revolt; Münevver Ayaşlı, the daughter of the Turkish head of the Ottoman tobacco monopoly who became an ardent Islamic feminist in the Republican period; and Ali Fuad Erden, the Fourth Army's chief of staff. Deringil's introduction, which references other works on the final days of Ottoman rule in Syria and Palestine, provides a critical framing of these narratives in the context of (some) Turkish claims that the Great Revolt constituted a “stab in the back” to the Ottoman war effort and a betrayal of the state. The memoirs contain vivid accounts of daily life in Beirut, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Medina during World War I.

China Tobacco will expand along Belt and Road

Subject The international expansion plans of China Tobacco. Significance China is home to more smokers than any other country and has the world’s most liberal regulatory framework to support the state-owned tobacco monopoly, which contributes some 6% of government revenue. However, decreased sales in its home market have forced China Tobacco to look overseas. Impacts Smoking rates will decline in China, but not in line with international norms. China will keep its own tobacco market closed to international companies unless they license their products to the state-owned monopoly. China Tobacco will look for joint venture and partnership opportunities to expand its presence overseas.

Tobacco Taxation in Old-Time Poland

The article deals with taxation of tobacco and tobacco products in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After tobacco was imported into Poland, its use spread extremely quickly; initially it was used as snuff, and from the 18th century onwards, smoking in pipes became prevalent. Importantly, tobacco and tobacco products were then regarded as a medicine to prevent and cure almost all diseases. Duties on tobacco/snuff were first imposed in 1643 in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in the Crown tobacco monopoly was introduced in 1659. From that time, tobacco/snuff duties were imposed regularly in Lithuania; in the Crown duty on these products was imposed once again in 1677, and then in the 1690s tobacco monopoly ended throughout the Polish Republic. The issue was revived only in the times of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, when tobacco monopoly was introduced, initially managed by a private company called Kompania Tabaczna, and then, in the 1690s, by the state-owned Manipulacja Tabaczna. However, over the whole period under consideration, revenues from tobacco/snuff taxation were relatively small.