Author: Taco Tuinstra

Activists Slam Indonesia’s Failure to Raise Taxes

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Indonesia’s decision to keep cigarette excise tax levels at 2024 levels next year has drawn fierce criticism from health advocates, reports The Jakarta Post.
Hasbullah Thabrany, head of the National Committee on Tobacco Control, said the failure to increase taxes represents a major step backward in the effort to reduce tobacco consumption in the country.
He noted that a previous 10 percent increase in cigarette tax had failed to decrease smoking rates among minors and low-income families.
“Yet, despite that situation, the government decided not to raise the excise for next year,” Hasbullah said in a discussion on Thursday, 3 Oct 2024.
On Jan. 1, Indonesia increased the tax on electronic cigarettes by 10 percent. In late 2022, the government announced an increase in taxes on machine-made clove cigarettes and white cigarettes of between 11 and 12 percent, as well as a 5 percent rise for hand-rolled cigarettes.
Indonesia is in the Top-10 of countries with the highest smoking rates, according to the World Health Organization.
October 6, 2024
Laos Adopts Plain Packaging

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Laos will require cigarette manufacturers to sell their products in generic packaging starting Dec. 5, 2024. The new law restricts the use of logos, colors, brand images or promotional information on tobacco product packages. Only brand names and product names are allowed, displayed in a uniform color and style.
“This is significant progress when it comes to saving lives and safeguarding health against the harms of tobacco promotion and use,” said Saia Ma’u Piukala, director of the World Health Organization’s regional office for the western Pacific, in a statement. “This milestone builds on Laos’ complete ban on tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship and world-leading 2021 ban of e-cigarettes and similar products.”
Laos spends an estimated LAK3.6 billion ($162.35 million), or 2.3 percent of its gross domestic product, annually treating smoking-related illnesses, according to the WHO.
“This is a commendable step toward protecting public health from tobacco, but there is further work to be done,” said Timothy Armstrong, WHO representative to Laos. “Each year sees more than 6,700 people in Laos—more than 17 per day—lose their lives due to tobacco use.
“The most impactful action is to increase tobacco taxes and make tobacco products less affordable. Currently, Laos has the lowest tobacco tax rate in the ASEAN region. Increasing tobacco taxes, and removing tax exemptions for tobacco companies, will save lives and generate millions of dollars for development priorities.”
According to the WHO, plain packaging eliminates tobacco packaging as a promotional tool and prevents the use of misleading design techniques that suggest some products are less harmful.
“The benefits of health warnings are numerous,” said WHO Laos tobacco control expert Douangkeo Thochongliachi. “They remind smokers and non-smokers about the harmful effects of tobacco; a regular smoker sees a warning message thousands of times per year. Plain packaging reinforces this by making health warnings even more prominent.”
October 6, 2024
Azerbaijan Hikes Penalties for Cigarette Litter

Azerbaijan is keen to keep its public spaces spotless. (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
Azerbaijan has increased the penalties for littering tobacco waste sixfold, reports News.az.
The fine for dumping tobacco waste into the environment has risen from AZN50 ($29.41) to AZN300. Repeat offenders risk a AZN700 penalty or up to 100 hours of community service.
October 6, 2024
Law Will Help Malaysia Reach Goal: Minister

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Malaysia’s recently enacted tobacco law should help the country achieve its goal of reducing smoking incidence to 15 percent by 2025, according to Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, reports The Star.
The share of smokers among Malaysians aged 15 and above dropped from 21.3 percent to 19 percent in recent years.
“Now, we have four percentage points left to achieve the target baseline,” Dzulkefly said. “I hope we can hit 15 percent by December 2025,” he told reporters during a media briefing on the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852), which came into force Oct 1.
The Act covers regulations on the registration, sale, packaging, labelling and prohibition of smoking in public places.
Previously, the 2023 Global Adult Tobacco Survey Malaysia reported that it is unlikely for the country to reach its 15 percent target as it took 12 years to reduce the rate of tobacco smokers by four percentage points from 2011 to 2023.
Dzulkefly said enforcement of Act 852 could help reduce the tobacco smoking habit among adults.
While the share of Malaysian smoking dropped, the proportion of people vaping grew from 3.2 percent in 2016 to 5.8 percent in 2024.
Dzulkefly said the health ministry will determine its prevalence in the future to better tackle the habit.
“Right now, the national prevalence of vaping is at 5.8 percent, so we will only be able to determine our targets once we have the figures tallied,” he said.
October 6, 2024
Malaysia Requires Retailers to Hide Tobacco

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Retailers in Malaysia will have to store cigarettes out of sight of customers following the enactment of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 on Oct. 1.
It is the first standalone act in Malaysia to control cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, and this includes all types of cigarette products in the market with their advertisement, promotion and sponsorship prohibition.
A coffee shop operator told the Daily Express the profit margin offered by tobacco companies had dropped to MYR0.90 ($0.21) per pack that costs smokers close to MYR20, and some brands only have a profit margin of MYR0.70 per pack.
October 4, 2024
Philippines to Step Up Anti-Smuggling Fight

Photo: PMFTC
The Philippines will step up its fight against tobacco smuggling, reports ABS-CBN, citing a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announcement on Oct. 3.
On Sept. 26, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law, which aims to make food more affordable and provide better income to local farmers. The law classifies smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, cartel formation and financing of these crimes involving agricultural and fishery products as acts of economic sabotage. Violators risk life imprisonment and fines up to five times the value of the goods involved.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. emphasized that the agency will keep a close watch on tobacco smuggling as the national government loses billions of pesos from excise tax violations. This is also meant to protect the livelihood of local tobacco farmers.
The BIR said it will continue coordinating with the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) and other law enforcement agencies for anti-tobacco smuggling efforts.
The illicit trade of tobacco causes serious loss of revenue, business closures, decrease in local demand and environmental degradation in the economy, according to the NTA.
October 4, 2024
More Vapers Without Smoking History in England

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About 1 million vapers in England have no history of regular smoking, reports Bloomberg, citing a new University College London (UCL) study.
From 2016 to 2020, the country’s rate of vaping among adults without a smoking history remained stable and low at 0.5 percent, according to the paper, which was published in The Lancet Public Health this week.
When disposable vapes became popular after 2021, the share of vapers without a smoking history increased rapidly, with the rate reaching one in every 28 as of April this year.
One in seven people aged 18 to 24 who never regularly smoked are now using e-cigarettes, the study found. There has also been a noticeable increase in the proportion using disposable devices.
“These findings are a reminder that action is required to try to minimize vaping among young people,” Jamie Brown, the study’s co-author and professor at the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “Banning disposables, as the U.K. government currently plans, is unlikely to fix the issue as popular brands have already launched reusable products with very similar designs and prices.”
October 3, 2024
PMI Describes Difficulties of Ukraine Production

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The realities of war make it cheaper for Philip Morris International Ukraine to import cigarettes from Poland than to manufacture them domestically, reports Interfax-Ukraine, citing comments made by PMI Ukraine Deputy General Director for Corporate Relations Mykhailo Poliakov during a seminar devoted to business and the ongoing conflict with Russia.
PMI opened a cigarette factory in the Lviv region in May 2024 and recently compared the production costs of its new facility with that of its factory across the border, in Krakow, Poland.
Due to the war, PMI’s Ukrainian operation must contend with higher rates of employee absenteeism. In addition, the Lviv facility is forced to cease operations during air raids. Frequent power failures add to the production cost, as the local grid was not designed to accommodate the large number of enterprises that have relocated to the region after the start of the conflict. Curfews too pose challenges for PMI’s workforce.
The combination of these factors makes it 10 percent cheaper for PMI to produce cigarettes in Poland and bring them to Ukraine.
Since starting operations in Ukraine in 1994, PMI has invested more than $700 in the country. After Russia’s 2022 invasion, the multinational suspended operations at its factory in the Kharkiv region and started importing products from PMI factories outside the country. It also temporarily licensed the production of some PMI brands to another multinational factory in Ukraine.
In 2022, due to the war, PMI reduced shipments to Ukraine by 30.1 percent to 11.07 billion cigarettes and tobacco sticks, but in 2023, it managed to increase shipments of finished products by 8.4 percent, including 14.9 percent in the fourth quarter. In October last year, the company reported the restoration of its share in the Ukrainian market to 24 percent after falling to 14 percent from 28.5 percent in the first months after the Russian invasion.
PMI has invested $30 million in its Lviv factory. Eventually, the factory will have five production lines. The first was launched in May, and four more will be put into operation by the end of 2024, which will bring the factory’s production capacity to 10 billion cigarettes per year.
October 3, 2024
Regulations Decimate Philippine Vape Sector

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Onerous government regulations have forced about one-fifth of Philippine vaping companies out of business, according to Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association President Joey Dulay. Importers, he added, have found it easier to comply than their domestic counterparts.
“But we are pushing them to try and comply,” Dulay was quoted as saying by Business World.
Under the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, manufacturers or importers must register their products and secure licenses to operate.
They are also required to adhere to packaging standards and pay duties and taxes.
Manufacturers, distributors and importers were given an 18-month transition period to comply with the regulations laid down in the vape law.
Dulay noted that many vape brands and manufacturers have yet to secure their Philippine standard quality and/or safety mark and import commodity clearance sticker.
By the end of August, the Bureau of Customs had confiscated PHP6.5 billion ($115.21 million) worth of illegal vape products, mostly from China.
The government is estimated to miss around PHP5 billion yearly from illicit vape products.
October 3, 2024
Ispire Launches New Vape Filling Machine

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Ispire Technology is launching a new vapor device filling machine. Scheduled to be unveiled at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago Oct. 8–9, the I-80 can fill and seal 4,000 0.5 mL vapor devices per hour.
According to Ispire, the machine is 10 times faster than traditional manual methods and twice as fast as current automated systems. It is also cost-effective, saving $1,000 for every 10,000 units produced, the manufacturer wrote in a press release.
Ispire says its self-sealing devices remove the need for separate capping, boosting overall workflow efficiency by 1,000 percent over manual methods and 100 percent over other automated systems.
“The I-80 isn’t just a machine; it’s a game-changing solution to the capacity challenges that have hindered cannabis operators for years,” said Ispire Co-CEO Michael Wang.
“We’re not just improving productivity—we’re leading a paradigm shift in cannabis production efficiency. This innovation aligns with our mission to push the boundaries of technology for the benefit of our customers and the adult consumers they serve.”
October 3, 2024