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  • Slovenia Bans Flavors and Smoking Rooms

    Slovenia Bans Flavors and Smoking Rooms

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    The government of Slovenia has banned most flavorings in electronic nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating products, reports Euractiv. The only flavors still permitted are tobacco and mint.

    “There is mounting research showing that among adolescents who otherwise do not smoke, the use of electronic cigarettes raises the likelihood of them starting to smoke regular cigarettes by up to four times,” Health Minister spokesperson Valentina Prevolnik Rupel was quoted as saying.

    The government has also prohibited smoking rooms in public places such as bars and airports, as ventilation, filtration and other technologies have proven ineffective against exposure to tobacco smoke, according to Rupel.

    To discourage black market sales of flavored products, the government intends to introduce new rules prohibiting individuals from selling or importing tobacco products in bulk.

    Every year, 3,100 people die from smoking in Slovenia, according to Health Ministry data.

  • Organigram Looking for New CFO

    Organigram Looking for New CFO

    Image: fizkes

    Derrick West will transition away from his role as chief financial officer at Organigram Holdings to focus on recovery following surgery later this month.

    Paolo De Luca, current chief strategy officer, has been appointed interim CFO while the company completes a search for a new permanent CFO. De Luca previously served as the company’s CFO between 2017 and 2020.

    “Derrick has left a legacy of stabilizing our financial processes along with the implementation of our ERP and has supported the company through a period of high growth including the acquisitions of our Winnipeg and Lac-Supérieur facilities,” said Organigram CEO Beena Goldenberg in a statement. “We are grateful for his contributions during his time on the board beginning in 2017 and since becoming CFO in 2020 and we wish him well.”

    Organigram Holdings is the parent company of Organigram, a licensed producer of cannabis, cannabis-derived products and cannabis infused edibles in Canada.

    Recently British American Tobacco increased its equity position in Organigram from 19 percent to 45 percent.

  • RLX Technology Reports Challenging Quarter

    RLX Technology Reports Challenging Quarter

    Photo: RLX Technology

    RLX Technology reported net revenues of RMB428.1 million ($58.7 million) in the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB1.04 billion in the same period of 2022. Gross margin was 24.7 percent in the third quarter of 2023, compared with 50 percent in the comparable 2022 quarter. GAAP net income was RMB172.7 million, down from RMB505.2 million in the prior-year period.

    “The end of the third quarter of 2023 marked one year since the new regulatory framework for the e-vapor industry came into effect,” said Ying (Kate) Wang, co-founder, chairperson and CEO of RLX Technology, in a statement.

    “As a legitimate industry participant, we have remained dedicated to developing our product portfolio to provide adult smokers with compliant, superior-quality products. While we have made some progress with our recovery, we are still facing external challenges, especially the impact of illegal products. We recognize that many users are still unaware of these new regulations, such as flavor restrictions, which has slowed their adoption of the new national standard products.

    “To address these near-term obstacles, we will forge ahead with our core strategy: providing a wide variety of quality, compliant products across an extensive range of price points to meet users’ various needs. Meanwhile, we are making efforts to enhance users’ understanding of the new regulations and collaborating with regulators to combat illegal products and create a healthy and orderly market. As a trusted e-vapor brand for adult smokers, we believe that more users will gradually switch to our products as increased awareness of the new regulations and the dangers of substandard, illegal products rises.”

    “In the third quarter of 2023, we continued to face significant headwinds due to competition from illegal products,” added RLX Technology Chief Financial Officer Chao Lu. “Against this challenging backdrop, we resolutely executed our strategy and focused on improving profitability, which continues to be our top priority.

    “Our strategic cost optimization initiatives have begun to demonstrate positive outcomes, including a consistent reduction in our non-GAAP operating loss and signs of recovery in our non-GAAP net profit margin. Notably, we achieved a second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow this quarter, underscoring our business’ resilience in the post-regulatory era. Looking forward, we will remain committed to enhancing our financial performance and delivering sustainable value to our shareholders.”

     

  • Sudhanshu Patwardhan

    Sudhanshu Patwardhan

    Sudhanshu Patwardhan is a medical doctor, nicotine expert and health tech entrepreneur from India, based in the U.K. He works on projects around the world to reduce harm from tobacco, especially among the most disadvantaged tobacco user populations.

  • Consumer Groups Critical to THR: Paper

    Consumer Groups Critical to THR: Paper

    Image: mtsaride

    Consumer advocacy organizations play a critical role in ensuring safer nicotine products are available as alternatives for those who use high-risk tobacco products, according to a new briefing paper by the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR).

    The absence of consumer perspectives from 10th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control–which was scheduled to be held in November but has been postponed due to social unrest in the host nation, Panama—will hamper collective efforts to bring an end to the smoking epidemic, according to the GSTHR.

    Consumer advocacy groups are also overstretched and under-resourced, according to the report. During the 12 months prior to the study, the total funding for all of the groups surveyed was only $309,810. None of this money came from tobacco or pharmaceutical companies, despite oft-repeated allegations from opponents of tobacco harm reduction. By contrast, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids received $160 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2019 to oppose flavors in nicotine vapes.

    Despite the lack of funding, tobacco harm reduction consumer advocacy organizations have achieved a lot. “From the very early days of simply sharing information on products with peers who hoped to quit smoking, through to the emergence of more organized advocacy efforts, consumers have been central to the development of tobacco harm reduction,” said Jessica Harding, director of external engagement at Knowledge Action Change, in a statement.

    “Consumer advocacy groups play a vital role in maintaining access to safer nicotine products throughout the world and, despite the many obstacles they face, their achievements are impressive.”

    “People who use safer nicotine products and people who smoke are significantly affected by policy responses to tobacco and nicotine, broadly described as ‘tobacco control,’” said Gerry Stimson on behalf of the GSTHR project.

    “They are also the people who would most benefit from tobacco harm reduction. As in other comparable areas of public health, there must be a recognition of the contribution consumer advocacy groups can make to inform decisionmaking at meetings such as COP10. Their experiences are testament to the potential of harm reduction, and they should be heard.”

    Tobacco Reporter’s Stefanie Rossel recently explored the role of consumer advocacy groups in her article “Persistence Pays.”

  • Webinar on Low-Nicotine Tobacco

    Webinar on Low-Nicotine Tobacco

    Image: Michael Barkmann

    CORESTA is holding an agro-phyto webinar on “Low Nicotine Tobacco—Current Insight and Perspectives for the Agricultural Production of Raw Materials.”

    The webinar will be held on Dec. 5, 2023, from 2 p.m. CET to 3:30 p.m. CET. The registration deadline is Dec. 4, 2023. 

    “This webinar seeks to highlight our current understanding of low nicotine production capabilities as well as the successes and failures of applied research in the areas of genetics and agronomy,” according to CORESTA.

  • More Waste From Toys Than Vapes: Study

    More Waste From Toys Than Vapes: Study

    Image: Przemek Klos

    New research from the United Nations suggests that toys are a much larger contributor to electronic waste than vaping products, according to New Scientist.

    The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum recently collaborated with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research to quantify how much electronic waste the world disposes of without realizing it has the potential to be recycled.

    According to the analysis, 9 billion kg of so-called “invisible” e-waste, worth nearly $10 billion, is thrown away yearly. Around one-third of this waste comes from children’s toys containing some 3.2 billion kg of hidden electronics.

    Toys contribute 77 times more to the world’s invisible e-waste than vapes, which account for 42 million kg annually. The U.N. estimates that 844 million vapes are thrown away every year.

    “Electronic waste is our fastest-growing waste stream,” says Oliver Franklin-Wallis, the author of Wasteland, a book on waste disposal. “It’s also by far our most valuable waste stream when it comes to household waste.”

    However, very few people realize that many common items they dispose of contain e-waste. Magdalena Charytanowicz, at the WEEE Forum, highlighted that this was the purpose of the research.

    “We’re trying to make people understand that the items they may not suspect are electronics actually do contain a lot of precious materials, like copper and lithium,” Charytanowicz said.

  • Eastern Raises Prices

    Eastern Raises Prices

    Image: mehaniq41

    Egypt Eastern Co. has raised prices of its tobacco products to absorb part of the increase in production cost following the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, said Hany Aman, the company’s chairman, according to Ahram Online.

    The company is coordinating with oversight authorities to control the market and is canceling contracts with vendors that do not adhere to official prices, according to Aman. Eastern Co. has also increased production to increase supply of all tobacco types in order to ensure market stability and contain prices.

    Local cigarette brand Cleopatra has increased in price from EGP24 ($0.77) to EGP27 for a 20-cigarette pack. Brands Boston, Belmont and Mondial have increased from EGP24 to EGP27 per pack, and Moreover, Viceroy and Pall Mall have increased from EGP35 to EGP42. Hookah tobacco prices have also increased to EGP50 for 250-gram packs and EGP85 for 500-gram packs of the Muʽassel Saloum brand.

    Egypt’s Parliament approved an amendment to the VAT law on Oct. 30, imposing a tax of EGP0.50 on tobacco products sold in the local market.

  • U.K. Mulls Vape Tax

    U.K. Mulls Vape Tax

    Image: Margo_Alexa

    U.K. ministers are considering a new vapor tax as part of the move to create a “smoke-free generation” that would also include a gradual total ban on smoking, according to The Guardian.

    Documents that were published along with Rishi Sunak’s first king’s speech show that an eight-week consultation on smoking and vaping is planned and will “explore a new duty” on vapor products.

    There is an “important balance” that needs to be met to make sure cigarettes are taxed higher than vapes, The Guardian noted, citing Downing Street.

    Ministers plan to introduce the new tobacco and vapes bill next month. It will include tighter restrictions on vaping and phase out the sale of cigarettes, making it so that children currently aged 14 or younger will never legally be able to purchase the products.

  • FDA Sends More Warnings                                              

    FDA Sends More Warnings                                              

    Image: Mucahiddin

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to seven online retailers for selling unauthorized e-cigarette products. The warning letters cite the sale of popular and youth-appealing disposable e-cigarette products marketed under the brand names Elf Bar, EB Design, Bang, Cali Bars and Lava.

    These warning letters were informed by the FDA’s ongoing monitoring of multiple surveillance systems to identify products that are popular among youth or have youth appeal, according to the agency. Findings released last week from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that more than half of current youth e-cigarette users reported using the disposable e-cigarette brand Elf Bar; earlier this year, the manufacturer of Elf Bar began marketing the product under the name EB Design. In addition, the brands Bang, Cali Bars and Lava were identified as popular or youth appealing by the agency following review of retail sales data and emerging internal data from a survey among youth.

    “FDA’s robust surveillance of the e-cigarette landscape helps us to identify youth-appealing products and to act quickly to protect public health,” said Brian King, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “The goal is to identify, prevent and reduce these risks to our nation’s youth before they escalate further.”

    The retailers receiving warning letters sold or distributed e-cigarette products in the United States that lack authorization from the FDA in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Warning letter recipients are given 15 working days to respond with the steps they’ll take to correct the violation and to prevent future violations. Failure to promptly correct the violations can result in additional FDA actions, such as an injunction, seizure and/or civil money penalties.

    To date, the FDA has authorized 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products and devices. The distribution or sale of unlawfully marketed products is subject to compliance and enforcement action. For retailers looking for information on which e-cigarettes are legal to sell, the FDA created a printable, one-page flyer of these authorized products. This information is also available on the FDA’s website.