Category: News This Week

PMI Describes Difficulties of Ukraine Production

Image: Filipp
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

Image: Luluraschi
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
Switzerland Implements National Age Restrictions

Photo: Lucia
Switzerland has enacted a new federal law requiring all cantons to restrict the sale of tobacco products to adults, reports SWI.
The new tobacco products act ends the cantonal patchwork of rules on cigarettes and tobacco-related products.
Before Oct. 1, when the new law took effect, the cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden had no age restrictions on tobacco sales. In other cantons, potential buyers had to be 16 or 18 years old.
The new federal law also restricts advertising. Tobacco advertisements are no longer permitted on public property, and on private property only if they cannot be seen from public property. Events aimed at minors are no longer permitted to have tobacco sponsors. Free promotional gifts related to tobacco consumption are also no longer permitted.
Public smoking restrictions now apply to all tobacco products.
It remains unclear however how the federal law will be implemented as enforcement remains the responsibility of individual cantons.
October 2, 2024
Illegal Factory Raided in Bulgaria

Photo: Interior Ministry
Bulgarian authorities uncovered a large illegal cigarette factory near Sofia, reports the Bulgarian News Agency.
The facility, which produced fake versions of well-known cigarette brands, was capable of producing some 2,400-2,800 cigarettes per minute. The police also found some 20 tons of processed tobacco, designated to be packaged and branded as cigarettes.
Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated and a witness has been questioned. The operation was conducted under the Customs Agency’s direct supervision.
October 2, 2024
Lithuania Takes Aim at Cigarette Balloons

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Lithuania may permit its border guards to shoot down balloons carrying contraband from Belarus or Russia when they cross the border, reports The Baltic Times.
“In my opinion, border guards should have the right to shoot them down in the air,” Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters on Sept. 30.
The minister’s comments came after a balloon, suspected to have come from Belarus and carrying smuggled cigarettes, fell within Vilnius Airport’s airfield on Sept. 28.
Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (SBGS), said that border guards have neither the necessary weapons nor the legal authority to shoot down objects that illegally cross the Lithuanian border by air.
He explained that border guards use assault rifles, which do not have the technical capability to shoot down higher-flying objects.
The SBGS has recorded around 250 incidents involving such balloons in the past month.
Poland too has recorded increased attempts to smuggle cigarettes into its territory by air.
October 2, 2024
Battery Law Forces IQOS from Kiwi Store Shelves

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Philip Morris International pulled its IQOS tobacco heating device from New Zealand store shelves after a new law took effect requiring vaping devices to have removable batteries, reports RNZ. Tobacco heating products (THPs) are classified as e-cigarettes in New Zealand.
RNZ says it has seen PMI emails sent to suppliers saying IOQS is “unavailable for purchase due to a regulatory change on 1 October 2024 affecting vaping devices.” In a statement, the multinational said it always complies with all necessary regulations, including on electronic devices.
IQOS consumables, known as Heatsticks, remain available for sale in New Zealand.
The news follows controversy about Associate Health Minister Casey Costello’s July announcement of a 50 percent cut to THP excise taxes—a move that critics say benefits only PMI, which is the sole supplier of the products in New Zealand.
Costello argues the tax cut will encourage smokers to switch to THPs, which are believed to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Costello’s plan is to have more than 7,000 people switch to THPs, which she sees as a tool to achieve New Zealand’s smoking reduction targets.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has backed Costello, telling RNZ the excise tax cut plan was a 12 month trial to “see how it goes” with HTPs lowering smoking rates.
Health advocates have accused the ruling coalition of caving to pressure from tobacco lobbyists. In late 2023, the government scrapped the country’s controversial generational tobacco ban, which would have prohibited tobacco products for people born after 2009.
In a briefing published Jan. 31 by the Public Health Communications Center, three University of Otago public health academics highlight links between government members of parliament and the tobacco industry.
October 2, 2024
FDA clears RespiRx IND

Image: Qnovia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Qnovia’s RespiRx nicotine inhaler (QN-01).
According to Qnovia, the RespiRx is the first truly inhalable nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to assist smokers attempting to quit smoking.
The company will initiate a Phase 1, randomized, crossover, open-label trial to determine the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability following self-administration of nicotine-containing products in up to 24 healthy adult subjects who currently smoke combustible cigarettes.
“The FDA clearance of our IND application for QN-01 marks a significant achievement for Qnovia as we transition to a clinical-stage therapeutics company,” said Qnovia CEO Brian Quigley in a statement.
“Our U.S. clinical development plan is derisked by the positive first-in-human data we generated last year in support of advancing QN-01 in the United Kingdom where we demonstrated pulmonary delivery and a superior pharmacokinetic profile for the RespiRx when compared to existing nicotine replacement therapies,”
“The next step for our U.S. program is to initiate a randomized Phase 1 trial that evaluates QN-01 compared to the Nicotrol Inhaler and combustible cigarettes in a head-to-head comparison. We remain on track to dose our first patient in the fourth quarter of 2024 and in parallel will be advancing to a pivotal clinical trial in the U.K. to support an MAA submission [Marketing Authorization Application] to the MHRA [ Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] in 2026.”
Qnovia’s proprietary drug/device combination already demonstrated dose-dependent pharmacokinetics, pulmonary delivery and was well tolerated in a first-in-human study conducted to support advancing QN-01 in the U.K., according to the company.
“There have been no treatment options for smoking cessation approved in the U.S. in over 20 years. As a result, attempting to quit ‘cold turkey’ remains the most popular method of quitting smoking,” said Mitch Zeller, Qnovia’s policy and regulatory strategy advisor.
“There is an extraordinary public health need for truly innovative products to help health-concerned smokers stop using cigarettes. Any effort to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use must include new and better tools in the treatment toolkit,” Zeller added.
October 1, 2024
Campaigners Slam Irish Tax Hike

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Campaigners slammed the Irish government’s decision to increase the excise duty on a pack of 20 cigarettes by €1 ($1.11) starting Oct. 2.
The increase, which is double the usual increase of €0.50, will push the cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category above €18, according to The Journal.
Simon Clark, director of the Freedom Organization for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (Forest), described the decision as “brutal” and said law-abiding smokers were being “discriminated” against.
“Smoking is a legitimate habit,” said Clark. “This brutal hike in the cost of cigarettes will drive more smokers to the black market and fuel illicit trade.
“Law-abiding consumers, many of whom are on low incomes, will be unfairly discriminated against, and some may be forced further into poverty.
“It’s hard to imagine a more punitive or counterproductive measure because the only people who will benefit are criminal gangs and illicit traders.”
In addition to the cigarette tax hike, Ireland plans to introduce a tax on e-cigarettes from the middle of next year. The excise will place a fee on e-liquid at a rate of €0.50 for every milliliter.
The average disposable e-cigarette has 2 mL of e-liquid and costs €8. The introduction of the new tax will increase the cost to €9.23.
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said it was not possible to introduce the fee this year due to operational and administrative challenges.
Lobby group Respect Vapers has accused politicians of attempting to “raise funds on vapes rather than helping people use vapes to quit smoking.”
The group pointed to a recent report by Healthy Ireland that said 25 percent of smokers who quit had used vapes and other studies that show the number of smokers in Ireland has reduced drastically in recent years.
October 1, 2024
Indonesia Keeps Tax Rates

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Indonesia’s finance ministry confirmed that the country’s tobacco excise rate will remain unchanged for 2025, reports Tempo.
“Pending the finalization of the 2025 State Budget, the government has decided to maintain the current policy,” said Askolani, director general of customs and excise at the finance ministry, during a press conference on Sept. 23.
According to Askolani, the government will continue to explore alternative policy options, including potential price adjustments at the industry level, to discourage smoking. Furthermore, the government will evaluate the price discrepancies between the three main cigarette categories—hand-rolled kreteks, machine-made kreteks and “white cigarettes”—which have contributed to downtrading.
As of Aug. 31, 2024, Indonesia has collected IDR138.4 trillion ($9.1 billion) in excise revenue, representing a year-on-year growth of 5 percent. This increase was fueled in part by increased production of hand-rolled kreteks and machine-made kreteks.
October 1, 2024