Blog - Tobacco Reporter

China: Flavored Vape Ban Takes Effect

China’s ban on flavored vapor products takes effect on Oct. 1 along with other new vaping product standards that were decided on earlier this year, reports Vaping360.

In November 2021, Chinese law was amended to bring the vapor industry under control of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), which regulates China’s tobacco products.

Vapers are rushing to buy and hoard flavored vapor products before the ban takes effect on Saturday, according to Vaping360. It is not clear yet if the ban will create a large black market in the country; China is known to punish illicit sellers harshly.

Products meant for export will not have to meet Chinese standards unless the destination country does not have its own specific standards.

China’s new rules also require domestic e-cigarette manufacturers and traders to obtain a license before operating their business, according to The Global Times.

E-cigarettes cannot be sold to customers under 18, and the sale points cannot be near schools or kindergartens. Warning signs must also be placed at the e-cigarette sale points, and self-service sales are banned.

Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of e-cigarettes, vaporizers and e-liquid are required to conduct their business on specific platforms that are subject to STMA supervision.

The rules also forbid the advertising of e-cigarettes in the mass media or in public places.

The iiMedia Research Institute expects China’s e-cigarette market to be worth RMB25.52 billion ($3.57 billion) by the end of 2022 and RMB45.43 billion by the end of 2023.

September 28, 2022

Fire Destroys Dominican Cigar Factories

A large fire broke out on Sept. 26 in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, destroying the Tabacalera William Ventura and Intercigar factories, reports Halfwheel.

Tabacalera William Ventura produces its own line of cigars under the ADV and McKay and ADVentura names as well as producing cigars for Caldwell Cigar Co., Bellatto Premium Cigars, Freud Cigar Co., Room101, J. London Cigars and others. Intercigar produces the Vallejuelo line as well as other brands and has also produced cigars for RBGN Rauchvergnugen.

The two companies shared the same factory building. The cause has not been identified yet, but there were no reported injuries.

Tabacalera William Ventura will move its production to a smaller factory, El Maestro, while the main facility is unavailable.

The Zona Franca La Palma complex is home to several cigar factories.

September 27, 2022

Malaysia Lawmakers Studying Kiwi Policies

Malaysia has sent a parliamentary delegation to New Zealand to see what policies are required to achieve its smoke-free ambitions. According to Nancy Loucas, co-founder of the Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy, the visit reflects that Kiwis are getting the mix right when it comes to tobacco control, legalizing and regulating vaping.

As part of their visit, members of a special Malaysian health, science and innovation select committee intend to meet with New Zealand’s Minister of Health as well as tobacco harm reduction experts to learn exactly what New Zealand is doing to achieve its national ambition of Smoke-Free 2025.

“The visiting Malaysian delegation is a timely reminder to New Zealand MPs [Members of Parliament] to keep focused on the prize—that is, crushing combustible tobacco and not try[ing] to relitigate the 2020 vaping legislation, which is still bedding in and is the envy of plenty,” says Loucas.

Now before Parliament’s health select committee, New Zealand’s Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill limits the number of retailers able to sell smoked tobacco products, aims to make tobacco products less appealing and addictive and prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or after.

Similarly, Malaysia’s “generational endgame” bill proposes to ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to anyone born during and after 2007. However, Malaysia’s health minister has proposed adding vaping products to the generational ban—a move that has been criticized by advocacy group MOVE (Malaysian Organization of Vape Entities).

“As a percentage, Malaysia has more than twice as many smokers than New Zealand. Hopefully, the visiting delegation will take a clear message back to Malaysia that you can’t achieve smoke-free without providing a safer, viable alternative,” says Loucas.

September 27, 2022

United Tobacco Starts Manufacturing in Egypt

The United Tobacco Co. (UTC) has started manufacturing cigarettes in the Egyptian market, ending the decades-old monopoly by the state-owned Eastern Co., reports Ahram Online.

UTC secured a government license to establish a cigarette factory in 2022. The company is jointly owned by PMI and Eastern Co., which acquired a 24 percent stake in the firm.

Eastern Co. Managing Director Hany Aman stressed his company had not been negatively affected by UTC’s presence.

“Our acquisition transaction in the UTC compensates for the absence of PMI proper in the Egyptian market. PMI products are available in the local market under the label ‘Made by UTC,’” he stressed.

Under the deal, UTC is obliged to lease the building and the current production lines previously allotted to the manufacturing of PMI products from Eastern Co. for a period of three years. Meanwhile, Eastern Co. is obliged to manufacture PMI products on the same production lines until June 2022.

PMI affirmed its full commitment to all existing contractual relationships with traders and suppliers in order to ensure the availability of its products in Egypt. The company added that it will continue to provide all of its products at the same prices with no changes to packaging.

Eastern Co.’s revenues grew by 6 percent to EGP67.9 billion in fiscal year 2021–2022. Eastern Co. and PMI have each raised their cigarette prices twice so far in 2022 due to increased production costs and the depreciation of the Egyptian pound against the U.S. dollar.

“Eastern Co. is trying to absorb the rise in production costs that were caused by recent increases in raw materials costs and also disruptions in supply chains amid the ongoing conflict in Europe,” Aman explained to Ahram Online.

In the first half of 2022, PMI shipped 9.9 billion cigarettes and 0.3 billion heated-tobacco units in Egypt, claiming 22.5 percent share of the local market.

Eastern Co. has license-manufactured PMI’s bestselling Marlboro brand in Egypt since the 1980s.

September 27, 2022

H.B. Fuller Appoints Celeste Mastin as President and CEO

Celeste Mastin will succeed Jim Owens as H.B. Fuller’s president and CEO, effective Dec. 4, 2022. Mastin will also join the company’s board of directors.

Mastin currently serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of H.B. Fuller. Prior to joining H.B. Fuller, Mastin served as CEO of PetroChoice Lubrication Solutions, one of the largest distributors of petroleum lubrication solutions in the United States.

Prior to that, she held CEO roles at Distribution International and MMI Products, and she served in senior leadership roles at Ferro Corp. and Bostik Adhesives, now owned by Arkema. Mastin began her career at Shell Chemical Co. She currently serves on the board of directors of Granite Construction.

“It has been a privilege to serve as CEO of H.B. Fuller, and I am very proud of all that we have accomplished as a team over the last 12 years,” said Owens in a statement. “With a proven value-creation strategy, an experienced leadership team in place and positive momentum, this is the opportune time to transition the company’s leadership.

“Celeste is an outstanding leader and ideal fit with H.B. Fuller’s entrepreneurial, customer-focused, global culture. She brings strategic insights, continuity of leadership and a strong record of delivering exceptional results. I am confident the company will excel and reach new levels of financial and operational performance under her leadership.”

“I would like to thank Jim and the board for the opportunity to lead this fantastic company and the many exceptional team members who work for H.B. Fuller,” said Mastin. “H.B. Fuller has a rich history of innovating to create unique products to meet our customers’ most challenging needs and has become the world’s leading pure-play adhesives company.

“We have a winning strategy, tremendous talent and leadership, and the entrepreneurial culture that will continue this legacy. I believe strongly in our strategy and vision, and I will remain focused on expanding on these strengths to accelerate organic growth and enhance the company’s margin profile to achieve our strategic goals and reach our full potential.”

September 27, 2022

CTP Director: Nicotine Salts Show Potential

During an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, the director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Brian King, said the FDA is well on its way in setting a foundation for substantial reductions in combustible tobacco smoking with the product standards such as a menthol ban and flavor bans for e-cigarettes and cigars.

When asked about several surveys that have shown many adults think e-cigarettes are as dangerous as traditional cigarettes, King said he was fully aware of the misperceptions surrounding vaping products those misperceptions aren’t consistent with the known science.

“We do know that e-cigarettes — as a general class — have markedly less risk than a combustible cigarette product,” King said. “That said, I think it’s very critical that we inform any communication campaigns using science and evidence. It has to be very carefully thought out to ensure that we’re maximizing impact and avoiding unintended consequences.”

King also said he believes “there’s a lot of really important science and innovations” that have occurred in the vaping industry in recent years, adding that the most notable is nicotine salts in e-liquids.

“We know that when you smoke a tobacco product, it’s a very efficient way to deliver nicotine across the blood-brain barrier. So it’s been very difficult to rival that efficiency in another product,” said King. “But in the case of nicotine salts you have the potential to more efficiently deliver nicotine which could hold some public health promise in terms of giving smokers enough nicotine that they would transition completely.

“But you also have to consider the opposite side of the coin, which is the inherent risks of initiation among youth. So I do worry about that … there’s a lot happening and I think that it could be promise or peril. But I think it’s important that the science drives that.”

September 27, 2022

BAT Invests in Sanity Group

BAT, via one of its wholly owned group companies, has acquired a noncontrolling minority stake in Sanity Group, one of Germany’s leading cannabis companies.

This investment is complementary to other recent investments made by BAT companies, most notably the strategic R&D collaboration established with Canada’s Organigram Holdings announced in March last year.

Sanity Group, which is based in Berlin, produces CBD consumer brands and medical cannabis brands. It also has a proven track record in the research, development and marketing of cannabis products.

“Investing in Sanity Group is another example of BAT’s ongoing work to explore numerous areas beyond nicotine, positioning BAT for future portfolio growth across a range of categories and geographies,” said Kingsley Wheaton, chief growth officer at BAT, in a statement.

“We continue to transform our business through better understanding of our current and future consumers as part of our ‘A Better Tomorrow’ purpose.”

Sanity secured $37.6 million in the BAT-led Series B funding round, according to Sanity founder and CEO Finn Age Hansel. About half of the funding will go toward strengthening Sanity’s medical business. The rest of the funding will go toward preparing for the possible legalization of recreational marijuana in Germany.

Germany has not legalized recreational cannabis yet, but action is expected sooner rather than later. Germany’s coalition government is “working actively on it and really want[s] to come to a good draft of the law by the end of this year,” Hansel said. “This is really a priority topic for the government.”

“This funding is an important milestone for us and a strong signal toward the future of cannabis in Germany and Europe,” said Max Narr, chief investment officer at Sanity Group. “Against the backdrop of a challenging global economy, we are proud to have achieved a funding round of this magnitude.”

September 26, 2022

Comment Period on Dutch Flavor Ban Closing Soon

The Dutch government’s public consultation period for a potential ban of flavored vaping products will close Sept. 28, reports Vaping360.

The new rule would ban all e-liquid flavors except tobacco and is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2023. However, products already on the market by Dec. 31 can be sold until July 1, 2023.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and the Ministry of Health have proposed a list of just 16 ingredients that would be allowed in legal tobacco-flavored e-liquids.

Dutch vaping industry advocates claim the ingredient restrictions will essentially put all e-liquid manufacturers in the Netherlands out of business.

The comment period is open to the public, and Dutch e-cigarette advocates are asking consumers from the Netherlands and elsewhere to share their thoughts on the Dutch government’s e-cigarette consultation webpage.

Previous efforts to ban flavored vapes in the Netherlands have failed.

September 26, 2022

Maine Backs Out of Juul Settlement

Maine is backing out of a multi-state settlement with Juul Labs over the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing practices after objecting to certain conditions from the company.

Maine was set to receive an estimated $11.6 million over the next six years to 10 years as part of a nearly $440 million settlement between the manufacturer and 33 states and territories. The investigation found that Juul had marketed its products to youth.

However, as part of the agreement, Juul wanted states to waive the rights of school districts to pursue their own lawsuits, according to the Maine attorney general’s office. Maine is unwilling to agree to that.

“We are disappointed in the outcome of these negotiations, but ultimately, we were unwilling to waive the rights of other entities who are also trying to hold Juul accountable for its deception,” Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement to The Maine Monitor.

September 26, 2022

FDA Seeks TPSAC Nominations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products is requesting nominations for two individuals to serve as voting members on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). According the FDA website, individuals may self-nominate or be nominated by any interested person or organization.

Nominations received on or before Nov. 25, 2022, will be given first consideration. Nominations received after Nov. 25, 2022, will be considered as later vacancies occur.

TPSAC advises the CTP in its responsibilities related to the regulation of tobacco products. The committee reviews and evaluates safety, dependence and health issues concerning tobacco products and provides appropriate advice, information and recommendations to the FDA commissioner.

The notice has been published in the Federal Register.

September 26, 2022