duMaurier SNUS - Edmonton, Alberta - Imperial Tobacco Canada...

September 12, 2007 - duMaurier SNUS - Imperial Tobacco Canada (a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of British American Tobacco(BAT)) today announced that it will fulfill its commitment to test market a reduced harm product, as compared to cigarettes, later this month with the introduction of Swedish-style snus in Edmonton retail outlets. On May 7, the Company promised to initiate market tests in one or more Canadian regions for a Swedish-style snus product - see related Newsbrief: May 8, 2007. "Many adult smokers continue to use tobacco and we believe the responsible thing to do is to seek out and offer products that may substantially reduce the health risks," said Benjamin Kemball, President and CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada. Imperial Tobacco Canada's Edmonton test market is designed to assess consumer acceptance of snus. It will also monitor its use to compare it with the Swedish experience that it serves as a gateway from smoking. The company will offer its findings to Health Canada. Decisions on future test markets or expansion will be made later. Although Kemball wouldn't specify exactly why Edmonton was chosen for the test market, Les Hagen of the lobby group Action on Smoking and Health notedthat Alberta currently accounts for 40 per cent of the smokeless tobacco market in Canada. Hagen dismissed the company's efforts to portray snus as less harmful than cigarettes as "a hollow public relations gesture." He said snus will be sold under the DuMaurier brand, which will end up promoting sales of duMaurier cigarettes, not discouraging them. Isn't Imperial the same company that was going to close two Ontario plants and shift production to Mexico resulting in the loss of 635 jobs?? Mr. Hagen has also indicated that 8,000 more teenagers joined the tobacco market in 2006. Alberta may be Canada's most smoking-friendly province. (Edmonton Journal, April 2007)