Category: News This Week

  • Tobacco Firms Object to New Tobacco Rules

    Tobacco Firms Object to New Tobacco Rules

    Image: Bilal Ulker

    Tobacco companies have objected to reforms to Bangladesh’s tobacco law proposed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reports BDNews24.

    In a letter addressed to the law and finance ministries, BAT and Japan Tobacco outlined their reservations and stressed the possibility of loss of government revenue due to the proposed revisions.

    However, according to the National Board of Revenue, tobacco revenues rose by 17.97 percent in fiscal 2005–2006 and 37.52 percent in fiscal 2006–2007 after the Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) Act passed in 2005.

    Following a 2013 amendment, tobacco revenues rose by 25.51 percent in the following fiscal years.

    A.B.M. Zubair, executive director of the anti-smoking group PROGGA, urged officials to ignore the tobacco companies’ objections. “The health ministry’s initiative to strengthen the existing tobacco control law aims at protecting the nonsmokers from secondhand smoke and shielding the youth from tobacco’s harmful effects,” he was quoted as saying.

    “Therefore, the draft amendment must be passed immediately, undeterred by the ill tactics of the tobacco companies.”

  • France to Ban Nicotine Pouches 

    France to Ban Nicotine Pouches 

    Credit: Alexander

    The French government plans to ban nicotine pouches, citing concerns about underage use.

    In an interview with Le Parisien published on Oct. 30, Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said that pouches “are dangerous products because they contain high doses of nicotine.”

    “The marketing of these products is directly targeted at young people, and I hope that we can protect our young people,” Darrieussecq was quoted as saying. She added that the ban will be announced in the coming weeks.

    Nicotine companies have been marketing “modern oral” products as safer alternatives to smoking cigarettes. But according to Darrieussecq, they can be just as dangerous, “especially when they are used not by former smokers but by young people,” she said.

    She argued that the pouches risk inducing nicotine addiction and serve as an entry into smoking.

    Tobacco harm reduction advocates criticized the move.

    “By banning nicotine pouches, Minister Darrieussecq is closing off an effective, far less harmful path for millions who struggle to quit smoking,” said Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance.

    “Pouches have proven to help smokers transition away from cigarettes in other countries and are considerably safer. Rather than offering options, France risks pushing people toward smoking or the black market.”

    Others questioned whether a ban would be effective. In Germany, where tobacco-free nicotine pouches are officially banned, they remain accessible and popular among young people, according to experts from the Tobacco Outpatient Clinic at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

  • FDA Warns Companies For Selling ‘Smart’ Vapes

    FDA Warns Companies For Selling ‘Smart’ Vapes

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to nine online retailers and one manufacturer for selling or distributing unauthorized disposable e-cigarettes designed to resemble smart technology, including smartphones and gaming devices.

    The products mentioned in the warning letters are promoted as having various designs and functions that might attract young people, according to an agency press release. These include features like playing games, connecting to smartphones, receiving text or call notifications, playing music, and customizing products with personalized wallpaper.

    “These products may resemble smart devices, but there’s nothing smart about them,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “They’re illegal to sell and a flagrant attempt to target kids.”

    The agency states that the designs of the unauthorized products cited in the warning letters are likely to appeal to youth because they help conceal the nature of the products as tobacco products from parents, teachers or other adults. Example images of unauthorized products cited in the warning letters compared to electronic devices on the consumer market, such as smartphones and gaming devices.

    “The firms receiving these warning letters sold and/or distributed e-cigarettes in the United States that lack authorization from FDA to legally market a new product, which is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,” the release states.

    In addition to the violations mentioned in the warning letters, the retailers and manufacturer were warned to address any violations that are the same as, or similar to, those stated in the warning letter and promptly take any necessary actions to comply with the law. Failure to promptly correct the violations can result in additional FDA actions such as an injunction, seizure and/or civil money penalty.

    “FDA is steadfast in our commitment to enforce the law,” said John Verbeten, director of the CTP’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement. “We will continue to take appropriate measures, working hand in hand with our federal enforcement partners, to address unauthorized tobacco products, especially those most appealing to youth.”

  • Philip Morris to Close German Factories

    Philip Morris to Close German Factories

    Image: Evgenia Parajanian

    Philip Morris International is closing two tobacco factories in Germany due to weak demand across Europe, reports Bloomberg.

    The multinational said on Oct. 29 that demand for cigarettes had fallen significantly in recent years and that the trend is likely to continue. Demand for rolling tobacco, made at the company’s Dresden plant, is also in decline.

    PMI employs 372 workers at its factories in Berlin and Dresden, which will close in the first half of next year. Philip Morris said it would begin consultations with employees and work councils, and seek “socially acceptable solutions” for its workforce.

    According to Jan Otten, PMI’s managing director of operations in Germany, the company is constantly reviewing its business processes to ensure operational efficiency. “We are aware that difficult but necessary decisions have to be made in order to adapt to current market developments,” he was quoted as saying in a press note.

    PMI has been working to transition its customers to alternative products such as vapes, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches. It has set a target of reaching two-thirds of sales from cigarette alternatives by 2030.

    The announcement comes as Germany’s manufacturing sector is experiencing a prolonged period of weakness, bogged down by high energy costs, weak demand at home and abroad and increased foreign competition.

    The downturn has fueled concern about Germany’s attractiveness as an industrial location.

  • California County Bans Filtered Cigarettes

    California County Bans Filtered Cigarettes

    Photo: lienkie

    The Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County, California, on Oct. 29 decided to ban the sale of filtered cigarettes and cigars, making it the world’s first jurisdiction to do so, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

    The sales ban will apply to all unincorporated areas of the county and requires that two of the four incorporated cities in the county pass similar ordinances before coming into effect.

    Cigarette filters are the world’s leading source of trash and the leading source of plastic pollution. Globally, approximately 4.5 trillion used filters are discarded into the environment every year. Filters are nonbiodegradable and cannot be feasibly collected or recycled.

    “There are no downstream solutions to the plague of cigarette filters,” said Laurent Huber, executive director of ASH. “The only practical choice is to eliminate them from the market.”

    “In addition to adding microplastics to the environment, hazardous chemicals from tobacco smoke that are trapped in the filters leach into water and soil,” said Georg E. Matt, co-director of the Center for Tobacco and the Environment at San Diego State University. “Cigarette filters have no health benefits to smokers; they just make it easier to get people addicted and keep them addicted.”

    Around the world, several jurisdictions are also considering filter bans. Environmental ministries in Belgium and the Netherlands have recommended banning filters, and over the past several years, bills have been introduced in several U.S. states. Current negotiations at the United Nations on a treaty to end plastic pollution include text banning filters worldwide.

    The tobacco industry added filters to cigarettes in the 1950s in response to growing health concerns about smoking, but critics contend that they don’t reduce the health risks. More than 98 percent of cigarettes are filtered.

  • FDA to Review 2ONE Marketing Application

    FDA to Review 2ONE Marketing Application

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review 2ONE Labs’ premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) for 2ONE brand nicotine pouches.

    According to 2ONE Labs CEO Vincent Schuman, this means that the company’s application will now enter the next critical phase of the FDA review process. “Our company will continue to fully fund this application through to its successful completion, and our wholesale, retail and sponsorship partners should view this ‘acceptance’ as a sign of our ability to navigate this complex PMTA process and our unwavering commitment to support the long-term availability of the 2ONE brand in the U.S. market,” Schuman said in a German-language statement.

    “We have developed 2ONE nicotine pouches for adult consumers—21 and older—who find it difficult to switch from combustible or traditional oral tobacco products. The availability of the 2ONE brand in the market over the past five years and the interest and growth our brand has achieved through strong retail partnerships, such as with Circle K, have shown that it is possible even for innovative companies to identify and introduce unique brands that truly offer adults the perfect transition product.”

    Earlier this month, 2ONE Labs filed a trademark infringement lawsuit and a preliminary injunction against Imperial Brands subsidiaries’ Zone nicotine pouch trademark. The suit alleges that Imperial’s Zone products willfully infringe the 2ONE nicotine pouch brand.

  • OECD Urges Tax Reform in Latin America

    OECD Urges Tax Reform in Latin America

    Photo: Samuel

    Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) could reduce tobacco consumption and its societal cost by reforming the design and administration of tobacco taxes, according to a new OECD report.

    The authors of the study argue that the social and economic costs of tobacco use across LAC countries outweigh the revenue from tobacco taxes. Smoking-attributable medical costs can reach up to an average of 1.5 percent of GDP per year.

    “Taxes play a vital role in limiting the social and economic costs of smoking,” said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann in a statement. “Governments should be sure to maintain, and where necessary strengthen, the stringency of tobacco taxation.”

    The most common policy gaps, according to the report, are lack of mechanisms to ensure a minimum amount of tobacco excise tax is paid and that taxes are not applied consistently across different tobacco products, including new tobacco and nicotine products. Tax rates on cigarettes remain below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of at least 75 percent of the retail price.

    The OECD report recommends that LAC countries increase tobacco excise tax rates, seek to account for the strategic responses of the tobacco industry when designing tobacco tax policy, strengthen tobacco tax administration, introduce accompanying measures to tackle illicit tobacco trade, ensure that tobacco excise and income tax policies are coherent and strengthen domestic and regional tobacco tax cooperation.

  • Maldives Intercepts Illegal Cigarette Shipment

    Maldives Intercepts Illegal Cigarette Shipment

    Photo: Sergey

    The Maldives Customs Service intercepted more than 8,000 cartons of cigarettes illegally shipped into the country on a fuel tanker operated by Hawks, one of the nation’s leading fuel importers and distributors, reports The Edition.

    Under a court order, authorities subsequently searched the Hawks Boatyard on suspicion that more cigarette cartons may be stored there. “So far in this operation, approximately 1,695 million cigarette sticks of Manchester brand have been found during the search of Hawks Boatyard, in the accommodation block and workshop,” the customs service wrote in a statement.

    The agency said that the cigarettes were brought in on MT Hawks Javaahiru and taken to Thilafushi on a local boat owned by the company, which was unloaded after regular business hours.

    A senior Hawks official told Mihaaru News that company management was not involved in the smuggling operation. “We are also hearing that this was done by some employees in connection with some foreigners,” he was quoted as saying. “Our management only learned of this when police also came with a court order to search the premises,” the official said.

    The official said Hawks was cooperating with authorities and would conduct an internal investigation.

  • Zimbabwe Urged to Mitigate Farmers’ Losses

    Zimbabwe Urged to Mitigate Farmers’ Losses

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    The Tobacco Farmers Union Trust (TFUT) is calling for the localization of tobacco beneficiation to help mitigate losses caused by adverse weather conditions and soaring production costs in Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector.

    The appeal follows a 20 percent drop in production, with farmers yielding 231 million kg of tobacco during the 2023–2024 farming season, largely attributed to a drought induced by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

    Tobacco beneficiation refers to the process of adding value to raw tobacco, enhancing its quality, usability and application beyond its conventional uses. Through its Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, the Zimbabwean government aims to elevate the economic value of tobacco, ultimately benefiting both farmers and the broader economy by creating higher value products and generating jobs within the supply chain.

    “Tobacco margins continue to dwindle due to low yields associated with low rainfall patterns and skyrocketing input costs. High earnings often reported in the public domain are mainly benefiting some merchants, contractors and related value chain actors,” said Edward Dune, deputy president of the TFUT, in an interview with NewsDay Business. According to Dune, the localization of tobacco product beneficiation is a key objective of a forthcoming tobacco transformation plan.

  • Consumer Groups Demand Seat at COP11

    Consumer Groups Demand Seat at COP11

    Photo: v-a-butenkov

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is calling on the World Health Organization to open the upcoming Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties (COP11) to consumer advocacy groups, in line with human rights principles and evidence-based policymaking.

    “The WHO FCTC process must adopt a human rights approach that considers the implications across the entire life cycle of tobacco products, from growing to consumption,” said Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of the CAPHRA. “This requires meaningful engagement of all stakeholders, including consumers, to strengthen policy formulation and implementation.”

    The CAPHRA points to a WHO Western Pacific Regional Office’s report highlighting that “a key element to creating a successful tobacco control social movement is the meaningful engagement and involvement of civil society.” The report notes civil society’s crucial role in “initiating, leading and sustaining tobacco control efforts to improve public health.”

    “Consumer groups are not constrained by bureaucracy and can hold both industry and government accountable,” Loucas added. “Our exclusion from COP11 flies in the face of the WHO’s stated principles on civil society engagement.”

    The CAPHRA is urging the FCTC Secretariat to formally invite consumer advocacy groups as observers to COP11, to create dedicated sessions for civil society input during COP11 proceedings and to establish an ongoing mechanism for consumer group consultation between COPs.

    The organization emphasizes that evidence clearly shows tobacco harm reduction strategies like vaping have helped millions quit smoking. Consumer voices are critical to ensure policies reflect real-world impacts.

    “The WHO cannot claim to take a human rights approach while silencing the very people their policies affect,” said Loucas. “It’s time to practice what they preach on civil society engagement and let consumers into COP11.”