Author: Marissa Dean

Brazil: Most of Crop Already Planted

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Brazil’s tobacco crop for the 2023/2024 season is mostly planted already, according to Kohltrade.
Transplanting began earlier this year than in previous years and is being finalized in most of the southern Brazil properties. Farmers are hoping to avoid excessive summer heat and to grow more quality leaf.
Traditionally, the majority of planting took place in August. Recently, however, farmers have been planting early to harvest earlier to avoid issues created by lack of rain and excessive heat, which have been constant in recent seasons.
The Department of Mutuality of the Brazilian Tobacco Growers Association stated that recurring droughts have forced farmers to start their work earlier in the season. Planting early has risks as well, though, with the potential for some of the plants to die after a winter frost.
August 31, 2023
Innokin Partners with Bahrain Duty Free

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Innokin is partnering with Bahrain Duty Free (BDF), a retailer in the Middle East.
BDF will help introduce Innokin’s Innobar vaping products to Bahrain Duty Free’s premium stores, catering to the increasing demand for e-cigarettes in the region, according to a press release.
The new partnership began with a pilot project launched in April 2023. Within two weeks, the entirety of the trial stock had sold out.
“Building on this remarkable success, the collaboration has now expanded to provide customers with greater access to Innokin’s award-winning vaping solutions,” Innokin wrote in its announcement. “Innokin’s Innobar devices, in particular, have garnered significant interest for their exceptional performance and flavors, which are tailored to suit the preferences of the Bahrain market.”
Currently, the Innobar 3500, 6000 and V7000 models are available at BDF locations. A key element of the partnership has been the knowledge-sharing and training provided by Innokin’s experts to the management of BDF.
“We are thrilled about our partnership with Bahrain Duty Free. This collaboration signifies not only our dedication to the growing Middle East market but also our commitment to fostering responsible practices in the industry,” said George Xia, co-founder of Innokin. “With our decade-plus experience and the shared values of both organizations, we are confident that this partnership will set new standards of excellence for vaping.”
August 31, 2023
Philippine Growers Urged to Plant More

Photo: Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co.
Philippine Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano urged tobacco-producing provinces in Northern Luzon to increase production for export, according to the Philippines News Agency. The request followed a meeting with the governing board of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).
Savellano said that the NTA and farmers should boost tobacco production without sacrificing production of other crops, like rice, corn and other high-value crops.
If the Philippines increases tobacco for export, the country can engage in barter-to-barter with Indonesia, which produces low-cost rice and fertilizer.
In 2022, the Philippines exported 53 percent of tobacco produced while 47 percent was supplied to local tobacco manufacturers.
“Aside from our aim to increase our tobacco production for export, we are also looking at the other alternative products from tobacco and its commercialization, like the tobacco dust,” Savellano said.
August 30, 2023
Cambodia: Police Shut Down Illegal Tobacco Factory

Image: Derek Brumby
Tboung Khmum police shut down an illegal tobacco factory producing counterfeit Esse brand cigarettes, in collaboration with Cambodia’s provincial military police and mobile customs officers, reports the Khmer Times. The factory was located in the Memot District, near the border with Vietnam.
The factory was allegedly owned by a Cambodian tycoon, according to Tboung Khmum Provincial Economic Police Officer Major Long Sambath. Police were investigating and monitoring the factory for a month before the raid, said Sambath.
The alleged owner was not present during the raid and has not been located, though his identity is known.
“This factory has operated without any authorization from relevant provincial authorities. We discovered recently that it was producing unlicensed, counterfeit Esse cigarettes,” Sambath said.
“The authorities have already cracked down on the factory, and we will take legal action to locate and prosecute the owner of the factory,” he said.
Several tons of counterfeit cigarettes were seized along with other tobacco-related materials, including new cigarette manufacturing equipment.
August 30, 2023
Coalition Campaigns Against Menthol Ban

Image: National Coalition of Justice Practitioners
The National Coalition of Justice Practitioners, a group of Black and Hispanic law enforcement executives and experts, hosted the “When Good People Write Bad Policy” National Press Club panel event to educate people about the racial and criminal implications of a menthol ban, according to a PR Newswire release. The panel met before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s anticipated menthol ban announcement.
“There are many groups who still do not understand the unintended consequences of this proposed ban,” said Benjamin Chavis, president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and panel moderator. “For leaders in Washington to consider this ban without consulting Black and Brown officers is disastrous. Let’s sit down with the proponents and first conduct a Racial Impact Study. Targeting in the past doesn’t justify targeting now. We are against racial targeting and profiling. All of it.”
Panelists Jiles Ship, Neill Franklin, Elliot Boyce, Corey Pegues, Sonia Pruitt, David Daniels III, John I. Dixon and Ron Hampton asked that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris pull back on this menthol ban until further studies, like a Racial Impact Study, are done and more experts are heard.
The Aug. 10 panel event urged lawmakers to study the effects of a menthol ban by launching a Racial Impact Study that gathers input from law enforcement, health experts and Black and Latino communities.
The law enforcement experts listed these unintended consequences: Anything you ban becomes illegal, and it is a policing issue; enforcement of the menthol ban will be in more urban and Latino communities and used as a tool in racial profiling, stop-and-frisks and arrests; and the police do not need another reason for a stop-and-frisk that leads to life-threatening casualties in the Black community.
Former Law Enforcement Action Partnership Executive Director Franklin stated, “Illicit markets breed violence. This menthol ban will flood the streets, especially Black and Latino communities, with unregulated products, and if you think the products are unhealthy now, wait until the unregulated products are pushed into our communities. You don’t want to see substances like fentanyl added to a street cigarette.”
Overall, adult and youth smoking rates in the U.S. are at record lows, according to the coalition. Since over 80 percent of African Americans and 48 percent of Latinos who choose to smoke prefer menthol cigarettes, a proposed FDA ban is racially discriminatory since cigarettes preferred by white smokers will not be banned, they argue. There is no scientific basis to regulate menthol and nonmenthol cigarettes differently. Health concerns are more effectively managed through education, treatment and counseling, not by police, they state.
August 30, 2023
‘FDA Botched Review’

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to conduct a proper analysis before rejecting premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) submitted by Fontem U.S. for certain vaping products, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found on Aug. 29.
The court upheld the regulatory agency’s denial of Fontem’s application to market flavored vaping products but rejected the FDA’s denial of Fontem’s application for unflavored products.
“While the FDA identified multiple ‘deficiencies’ [in Fontem’s application], it failed to analyze the trade-offs necessary to make a public health finding,” the judges wrote in their ruling. “Nor did the agency explain how the specific deficiencies relate to its overall conclusion that Fontem failed to demonstrate its unflavored products were appropriate for the protection of public health. The agency’s denial therefore failed to comport with the requirements of the Tobacco Control Act.”
The FDA’s failure to correctly apply the public health inquiry to Fontem’s unflavored products led it to make another serious error, according to the court. In its initial deficiency letter, the FDA requested certain information from Fontem, thereby indicating such information would be sufficient for the agency to approve Fontem’s products.
But in its denial order, the agency changed its tune, reproaching Fontem for failing to provide information that the agency had never explicitly sought.
“Shifting the regulatory goal posts without explanation is arbitrary and capricious,” the judges wrote. “By indicating in its deficiency letter that Fontem could resolve issues with its applications by providing specific information, the FDA represented such information would be sufficient to secure approval.”
August 30, 2023
Cuban Tobacco Protected from Rain

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Cuban tobacco growers have taken measures to protect their harvested tobacco from heavy rainfalls in the wake of a tropical storm in the Caribbean, according to Prensa Latina.
Leaf totaling 18,000 tons has been distributed in warehouses and selected from different territories, and around 1,000 tons remain in farmers’ natural curing houses with proven protection conditions, according to Yoel Hernandez, territorial delegate of agriculture.
Osvaldo Santana, a Tabacuba representative, stated that farmers have the necessary blankets to prevent water from damaging the tobacco leaves.
Due to the impact of rainfall, food for consumption is collected, seedbed irrigation is suspended, and work is done on soil drainage to help minimize damages. Seeds of root vegetables and other vegetables are also preserved to help guarantee future crops, according to Hernandez.
August 28, 2023
Ukraine Lists JT as a War Supporter

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Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention has put Japan Tobacco International on its list of companies supporting the Russia-Ukraine war, reports The Japan Times.
JTI holds about a third of the Russian market. The company has suspended new investment and marketing activities in Russia based on Western sanctions on Moscow following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The corruption prevention agency, however, criticized JTI for continuing business in Russia, resulting in the company paying large amounts of taxes to the country, helping the economy.
The company is aware of the agency’s action, according to a Japan Tobacco official, who also stated that the company is doing business in Ukraine as well. “We are providing aid and support to (Ukrainian) people in need and continuing to make contributions to the Ukrainian economy,” the official said.
August 28, 2023
Rio Grande do Sul Takes Stance Ahead of COP

Photo: Divulgação
The Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly’s Subcommittee on the Defense of the Tobacco Supply Chain held meetings in several tobacco-growing municipalities to develop a common stance ahead of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) set for November in Panama.
“Contrary to other developed countries, as is the case of the United States, Brazil gave in to political correctness upon signing the Framework Convention, a fact that, in my opinion, was a mistake,” said State Deputy Marcus Vinicius in a statement. “From there to here, several restrictions were imposed on the sector, and we are going to take this document to all major representatives of the federal government who are part of this initiative so that no one can excuse themselves from failing to defend the sector, making it possible for us to promote a respectful debate but equally more responsible about the entire supply chain.”
“The COP is the worst dictatorship that exists, where our business is debated, and we are not allowed to take part,” said Iro Schunke, president of the Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco). “Brazil, which should be the protagonist of the cause that comprises the production and export of tobacco, is walking in the opposite direction, adhering more quickly than other countries, where tobacco is neither grown nor exported, to the recommendations issues by the Conference of the Parties.”
A presentation of the final report based on the meetings is set for Aug. 29 at 4 p.m. during the 46th Expointer at the Assis Brazil Exhibition Park.
August 28, 2023
ENDS Bans Spread in the Americas

Image: Epic Photos
Following the recent ban on the use and marketing of electronic cigarettes in Venezuela, 21 countries in the Americas regulate electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes and vapes, according to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).
“The resolution that regulates new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products in Venezuela is an important step forward for the country and for the region,” said Anselm Hennis, PAHO director of noncommunicable diseases mental health.
“We hope that this measure motivates other countries to take action on these products, which are addictive, harmful and aggressively advertised toward the youngest,” he added.
The most recent countries to join the initiative are Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, and the PAHO said these countries prohibit ENDS sales altogether, and 13 other countries have partially or totally adopted one or more regulatory measures.
Fourteen countries in the Americas, including the Caribbean, lack any regulation of vaping products, according to the PAHO report.
August 28, 2023