MANILA – The proposal of Swiss firm SICPA Product Security SA to provide security stamps on cigarettes is not a done deal, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday, assuring lawmakers that there was nothing final yet. “It must be clarified that the SICPA (proposal) is merely an unsolicited proposal under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) Law. It’s not a done deal yet,” Teves said. He said that even if the Bureau of Internal Re ... Jump to full article >>

With its technology for eliminating key toxins in tobacco, the outfit has huge potential, especially if it wins a court fight against R.J. Reynolds Investors will be watching intently as a big tobacco industry patent-infringement case goes to trial in mid-May: a David-and-Goliath court battle pitting the second-largest U.S. cigarette maker, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, a unit of Reynolds American (RAI), against the tiny and little-known Star Scientif ... Jump to full article >>