NewCo announced it raised $41,500 in 2025 through customer donations and a give-back initiative tied to African-origin tobacco shipments, with the company contributing $300 for every container shipped. The funds, directed to Good For Better e.V., have supported clean water projects benefiting more than 6,500 people across Africa. The program will continue through 2026, with NewCo encouraging customers to source African-origin tobacco to trigger automatic contributions or make direct donations to the NGO. According to the company, the initiative has reduced reliance on wood to boil unsafe water, lowered illness rates, cut plastic bottle use, and generated monthly savings for participating families.
Category: Around the Industry
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FRE Sponsors Four Races for Taylor Reimer Racing
FRE Nicotine Pouches partnered with Taylor Reimer Racing as the Official Nicotine Sponsor for four marquee events in the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season. FRE will serve as the primary sponsor for Taylor Reimer at Talladega Superspeedway (April 25), Berlin Raceway (June 20), Elko Speedway (June 27), and Phoenix Raceway (October 17), with branding featured on the car, driver suit, and helmet. The company said the collaboration aligns its performance-focused nicotine pouch brand with one of stock car racing’s rising drivers, extending beyond race weekends into integrated content and appearances.
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Bill Regulating Vape Shops Moves Forward in W.Va
A bill sponsored by Del. David McCormick ( R-Monongalia) advanced from West Virginia’s House Health and Human Resources Committee and now moves to Judiciary. House Bill 5437, the Vape Safety Act, would require vape and smoke shops — defined as retailers devoting at least 33% of floor space to tobacco or vapor products — to obtain a license from the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, pass background checks, and pay $1,200 in annual fees, with penalties of up to $10,000 and one year in jail for unlicensed operators. The bill also bars certain felony offenders from ownership and prohibits shops from being used as residences.
“The purpose of House Bill 5437 is to regulate an industry or a business segment that is virtually unregulated and virtually untaxed,” said McCormick. “These vape shops are all over the state. There are many bad actors. Many are not here legally. They live in the shops. They’re selling to underage kids. They’re marketing to underage kids.”
The legislation would create a public Vapor Product Directory requiring manufacturers to certify products have marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or a pending premarket tobacco product application. Products removed from the directory would need to be cleared within 21 days or be treated as contraband. Additional provisions tighten labeling, ingredient disclosure, and youth-marketing restrictions, with McCormick saying the bill is aimed at curbing underage sales and strengthening oversight of the sector.
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Truth Initiative Partnering to End ‘Targeted Tobacco Harm’
“Truth Initiative and the NAACP today [Feb. 24] announced a partnership to confront the disproportionate toll of tobacco and nicotine addiction on Black communities and other historically marginalized groups, while supporting individuals in quitting for good,” Truth Initiative announced in a press release. “For decades, the tobacco industry has strategically exploited Black communities through predatory marketing and the appropriation of Black culture,” Dr. Kendric Dartis, vice president of outreach and engagement at Truth Initiative, was quoted in the release.
Building on Truth Initiative’s Breath of Freedom coalition, the partnership will host community discussions and workshops through the Culture + Cessation Collective, expand access to the free EX Program developed with Mayo Clinic, and advocate for stronger protections against menthol and flavored tobacco products.
Truth Initiative said 11.7% of Black American adults are current smokers, compared to 11.5% of American adults overall, and Blacks rank third in smoking rates ethnically behind Indians/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic white people.
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JTI Backs Unitary Tax for Vape Products in Philippines
Japan Tobacco International backed a proposal to unify excise taxes on vapor products in the Philippines, telling lawmakers that a single rate would curb tax avoidance and strengthen revenue collection. Speaking at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, JTI Director for Fiscal and Regulatory Affairs Mario Zinampan said differing tax rates for salt nicotine and freebase products create opportunities for misclassification and regulatory arbitrage, effectively enabling another form of illicit trade. He said harmonizing rates would help ensure a level playing field and prevent product misdeclaration.
JTI also argued that a unified vape tax should be aligned with the rate imposed on heated tobacco products, noting that both are recognized alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Zinampan cited the legislative intent behind Republic Act No. 11467, which set the excise tax framework for combustible and non-combustible nicotine products, and said aligning vapor and heated tobacco taxes would promote coherence in the system. The remarks supported Romero ‘Miro’ Quimbo, chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, who renewed his call for a unitary vape tax, citing rising youth nicotine use at the hearing.
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Smoore, Distributors Want Antitrust Claims Dismissed
Vape manufacturers and distributors moved to dismiss consumer antitrust claims in consolidated multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In motions filed Feb. 20, Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd. and Smoore International Holdings, along with distributor defendants 3Win Corp., Jupiter Research LLC, Canna Brand Solutions, and Greenlane Holdings Inc., argued that plaintiffs lack standing and have not plausibly alleged a price-fixing conspiracy. The case involves closed cannabis oil vaporization systems, with plaintiffs alleging agreements to set a price floor and restrict competing products.
Defendants contend they sell empty vape hardware, not cannabis-filled products, which they describe as a separate market, and argue consumers are too remote from the hardware market to bring antitrust claims. They further assert the complaint lacks specific pricing, market share, and foreclosure allegations, and maintain that revived claims under the Cartwright Act seek relief tied to products that remain illegal under federal law. The court has not yet ruled.
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CAPHRA Says FCTC’s Campaign Ignores THR Facts
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates criticized the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control for what it calls an uncompromising stance on tobacco harm reduction, noting the treaty has fallen short of its 30% global tobacco use reduction target by 2025, with adult smoking prevalence still around 20% two decades after adoption.
“By automatically dismissing every piece of evidence as ‘tobacco industry interference,’ the FCTC isolates itself from science,” CAPHRA said. “This political reflex perpetuates smoking-related harm, favoring illicit markets rather than public health.”
Citing international examples, the group points to Japan’s uptake of heated tobacco products, New Zealand’s vaping-led smokefree strategy, Sweden’s oral nicotine model, and high rates of former smokers among UK vapers as evidence that regulated alternatives can accelerate smoking declines. The organization is urging FCTC parties to engage more openly with emerging THR data ahead of upcoming Conferences of the Parties, warning that prohibitionist approaches risk blocking potential health gains.
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Supreme Court Voids IEEPA Tariffs; New 10% Global Tariff Planned
In a major trade ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, voiding duties enacted solely under that statute. For the premium cigar sector, the decision nullifies IEEPA-based “reciprocal” tariffs previously applied to imports from Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, though it does not affect federal excise taxes, state tobacco taxes or tariffs imposed under other legal authorities. Industry stakeholders are awaiting implementation guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection as the situation develops. Following the ruling, President Trump announced plans to implement a new 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and to pursue additional trade actions under Section 301.
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K&H Announces Agenda for Industry Law Symposium
Keller and Heckman LLP announced the agenda for its 10th Annual E-Vapor, Nicotine, and Tobacco Law Symposium, scheduled for May 4–5, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, ahead of the CHAMPS Trade Show. The two-day seminar will feature the firm’s attorneys alongside industry and scientific guest speakers, offering in-depth insights into legal, regulatory and scientific developments affecting tobacco, nicotine and CBD/hemp product manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers. Organizers also reminded prospective attendees that the super early-bird registration rate expires February 20.
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Tobacco Associates Hosting 79th Annual Meeting March 6
Tobacco Associates will hold its 79th Annual Meeting on March 6, at the Wilson County Agricultural Center, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by lunch. This year’s theme, “Beyond the Bale: Building Value through Partnership,” will emphasize the importance of collaboration in strengthening export promotion efforts and expanding global opportunities for U.S. flue-cured tobacco.
The program will feature remarks from Scott Sink, president of the Virginia Farm Bureau; Kristi Boswell, agriculture regulatory counsel at Alston & Bird, who will provide updates on H-2A AEWR litigation; Dr. Jeffrey Dorfman, Hugh C. Kiger Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, discussing planting considerations and economic outlooks; Scott Gupton, Country manager at Alliance One International, presenting the global flue-cured outlook; and Kimberly Foley, executive director of TA, delivering the association’s annual export promotion report. Staff members representing members of Congress and candidates are also expected to speak.
TA’s programs are designed to stimulate export demand for all U.S.-produced flue-cured tobacco. Attendees are asked to confirm participation by March 3.