Yahoo – AFP,
24 Oct 2014
Washington (AFP) - The second largest tobacco producer in the United States, Reynolds American said Thursday it will ban smoking in all indoor office spaces, bowing to smoke-free social norms.
Pall Mall cigarettes, manufactured by Reynolds Amercian, are displayed at a tobacco shop on July 11, 2014 in San Francisco, California (AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan) |
Washington (AFP) - The second largest tobacco producer in the United States, Reynolds American said Thursday it will ban smoking in all indoor office spaces, bowing to smoke-free social norms.
The
manufacturer of Pall Mall and Camel cigarettes said starting from January 1,
2015 smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes in conference rooms and elevators
will be prohibited.
Designated
smoking rooms will be opened by 2016 at the company's headquarters in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and at its two other offices in Tennessee and
New Mexico.
Until then,
employees can still light up in hallways and in closed offices.
The company
said the new regulations respect the rights of smokers and non-smokers alike,
and make more sense in an increasingly smoke-free world.
"We
recognize that indoors restrictions are the norm today, so most people expect a
smoke free business environment," Reynolds American spokesman David
Howard.
"We
respect the rights and personal choices of employees who choose to smoke or use
other tobacco products and those who don't."
E-cigarettes
and chewing tobacco are still permitted.
Smoking is
already banned in the company's production factories, cafeterias and fitness
centers, and the move to extend the no-smoking zone was in line with the public
standards, according to Howard.
"We
are simply better aligning our tobacco use policies with the realities of what
we're seeing in the general public today," he said.
Around 20
percent of Reynolds American employees smoke, the spokesman noted, compared to
20 percent of American adults who have not kicked the habit.
Smoking is
banned in most public spaces in North Carolina, including bars and restaurants,
but Reynolds America's offices are exempt from the law, Reynolds said.
The company
announced in July it will acquire tobacco behemoth Lorillard, the number three
US firm and manufacturer of the Blu e-cigarette.
The merger,
will make Reynolds American the country's largest tobacco firm, with about 50
percent of the market.
It is
looking to conquer the growing e-cigarette and cigar market as smoking
cigarettes declines.
Reynolds
American currently holds 25 percent of the US tobacco market, while Lorillard
holds 15 percent, and Altria, producer of the iconic Marlboro cigarettes,
controls about 50 percent.
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