Category: News This Week

  • Kate Wang Resigns from RLX Committees

    Kate Wang Resigns from RLX Committees

    Ying (Kate) Wang (Photo: RLX Technology)

    Ying (Kate) Wang has resigned as a member and the chairperson of the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of RLX Technology’s board of directors to help the company comply with the relevant New York Stock Exchange’s listing requirements on board committees’ independence.

    Wang is the co-founder, chairperson of the board of directors and CEO of RLX Technology’s.

    Going forward, the compensation committee and nominating committee will be composed entirely of independent directors, namely Zhenjing Zhu and Youmin Xi, RLX Technology announced in a press note. Concurrent with Wang’s resignation from the compensation committee and the nominating committee, Xi was appointed as the chairperson of the nominating committee and the chairperson of the compensation committee.

  • FDA Denies Market Access to Myblu

    FDA Denies Market Access to Myblu

    Photo: Alex Kalmbach

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to Fontem US for several Myblu electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products after determining their applications lacked sufficient evidence to show that permitting the marketing of these products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

    According to a notice published on the FDA’s website, the currently marketed products receiving MDOs include Myblu Device Kit, Myblu Intense Tobacco Chill 2.5% and Myblu Intense Tobacco Chill 4.0%.

    In reviewing premarket applications for tobacco products, the FDA evaluates the risks and benefits of those products to the population as a whole, including users and nonusers of the tobacco product, and considers, among other things, the likelihood that those who do not currently use tobacco products will start using those tobacco products.

    Based on the information submitted by Fontem US for these Myblu products and the available evidence, the applications lacked sufficient evidence regarding design features, manufacturing, and stability, according to the FDA. Additionally, the applications did not demonstrate that the potential benefit to smokers who switch completely or significantly reduce their cigarette use would outweigh the risk to youth, the agency said.

    Tobacco products subject to an MDO may not be offered for sale, distributed or marketed in the U.S.

  • Philippines: Illegal Cigarettes Cost Country Billions of Pesos

    Philippines: Illegal Cigarettes Cost Country Billions of Pesos

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The Philippine government is losing about PHP26 billion in taxes annually due to illicit cigarettes, according to The Manila Bulletin.

    About 13 percent of cigarettes sold in the Philippines are illegal, stated PBA Party-List Representative Jericho Jonas B. Nograles, citing a Euromonitor International report.

    “Euromonitor estimates [that] in some areas in Mindanao, six of 10 cigarettes sold in retail are illegal,” Nograles said.

    Outside Mindanao, illegal tobacco trade is prominent in Bataan (31.6 percent), Palawan (24.8 percent), Nueva Ecija (22.2 percent) and Zambales (11.5 percent).

    In 2021, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected nearly PHP180 billion in excise taxes from the tobacco industry. The BIR also estimated that the government lost PHP3.8 billion in revenue from 2018 to 2021 due to illicit trade.

    Meanwhile, the Customs’ apprehensions on illicit tobacco products reported foregone excise taxes of PHP2.9 billion from 2019 to 2022.

  • EU Rules Thwart Danish Plan to Restrict Smoking

    EU Rules Thwart Danish Plan to Restrict Smoking

    Photo: Zerbor

    The Danish government’s plan to ban those born after 2010 from buying nicotine products has been blocked by the European Union’s rules, reports EURACTIV.

    The Danish government’s health reform package was introduced in March of this year but immediately faced feasibility questions.

    EU rules make it impossible for member states to ban or restrict tobacco marketing. “The ministry of health, therefore, considers that a ban on the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to people born in 2010 or later would require an amendment to the European Tobacco Products Directive,” wrote Health Minister Magnus Heunicke in a parliamentary answer earlier this week.

  • Myanmar to Implement Standardized Packaging

    Myanmar to Implement Standardized Packaging

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Myanmar is set to implement the Standardized Packaging Notification that was issued by the country’s Ministry of Health Oct. 12, 2021, according to Eco-Business.

    The notification will go into effect April 10, 2022, followed by a 90-day phase out period for old tobacco packaging; old packaging must be phased out by July 12, 2022.

    New packaging must be a standardized dull dark brown color, be flat, smooth and devoid of any attractive colors, designs or decorative elements. Pictorial health warnings are required to cover 75 percent of the packaging’s front and back surfaces. Tobacco product packages include boxes, cases, cartons, etc.

    “With standardized packaging, Myanmar will be implementing a highly effective public health policy that will help denormalize tobacco use,” said Ulysses Dorotheo, executive director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. “We look forward to the full and strict implementation of this regulation and call on the government to swiftly identify and penalize any tobacco company that does not comply by the April 10 deadline.”

    “Standardized packaging is a cost-effective and strategic way to discourage tobacco use; it prevents the tobacco industry from using packaging to attract consumers in a creative but deceptive way. Pictorial health warnings more effectively convey to the public the dangers of tobacco use,” said Dorotheo.

  • Study: Vape Bans Lead to More Smoking

    Study: Vape Bans Lead to More Smoking

    Photo: motortion

    A new study in Value in Health shows that local vape bans are leading to higher rates of combustible cigarette smoking, according to Filter.

    The study used state-level cigarette sales data, showing that Massachusetts had 7.5 percent higher than expected per capita cigarette sales following a full ban on nicotine vapor products. Rhode Island and Washington, which both enacted nontobacco-flavored nicotine vape bans, showed an average estimate of 4.6 percent higher than expected per capita cigarette sales.

    Researchers suggested that an additional 3.4 million cigarette packs were sold through convenience stores in those states during the three-month study period.

    The study was funded by Juul Labs.

  • Canada Proposes Federal Vape Tax

    Canada Proposes Federal Vape Tax

    Photo: Roman R

    The Canadian government has proposed the country’s first federal vape tax, which would take effect Oct. 1 if passed, according to Vaping360.

    The tax applies only to nicotine-containing products, including pod-style and cartridge-style refills, disposable vapes and bottled e-liquids as well as nicotine base for DIY liquids. It does not apply to hardware that is sold without e-liquids. The tax also includes an option for Canadian provinces to add on their own, equally large, taxes.

    Vaping products would see a tax of CAD1 ($0.97) per 2 mL for the first 10 mL of e-liquid in any sealed container and $1 per 10 mL for additional liquid in the same container. Sealed pods would be taxed separately at a minimum of $1 per pod.

    Retailers would have until Jan. 1, 2023, to sell any untaxed stock they still have on Oct. 1 when the law would go into effect.

    The tax is awaiting a vote by Parliament’s House of Commons, which is expected to take place either at the end of April or beginning of May.

  • BAT to Upgrade Kanfanar Factory

    BAT to Upgrade Kanfanar Factory

    Photo: burnel11

    British American Tobacco is investing more than €80 million ($87 million) to upgrade its cigarette factory in Kanfanar, Croatia, to make new categories of tobacco products, reports SeeNews, citing Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic.

    BAT acquired the cigarette factory on the Istria peninsula in 2015 when it took over Tvornica Duhana Rovinj for more than €500 million. Under the deal, BAT was obliged to maintain production at the factory in Kanfanar for at least five years.

    In September 2020, Plenkovic said the government was in talks with BAT on the company’s plans to relocate production from the factory to another country, following media reports that BAT might leave due to worsened business conditions in Croatia.

    In May 2021, BAT said it would start producing heated tobacco products in Kanfanar.

  • Smoore Revenue Jumps Nearly 40 percent

    Smoore Revenue Jumps Nearly 40 percent

    Smoore’s Chairman and CEO Chen Zhiping (Photo: Smoore)

    Smoore reported revenues of CNY13.75 billion ($2.16 billion) in 2021, up approximately 37.4 percent over the previous year.

    The company maintained its position as the world’s largest manufacturer of vaping devices. According to Frost and Sullivan, Smoore’s share of the global vaping devices market increased to 22.8 percent in 2021 from 18.9 percent in 2020.

    Smoore attributed its strong performance largely to the success of its flagship FEELM closed-system brand. To date, vaping devices with FEELM atomizers have been exported to 50 countries in Europe, America, East Asia, Africa and Oceania.

    Smoore invested more than CNY670 million in research and development during 2021, representing an increase of approximately 59.7 percent over the previous year. “The driving force of the atomization industry is technological innovation, which brings fundamental breakthroughs in product safety and flavor reproduction,” said Smoore Chairman Chen Zhiping in a statement.

    As of Dec. 31, 2021, Smoore had filed 3,408 patent applications, covering innovations relating to temperature control, heating elements, leakage-prevention and e-liquid storage, among other technologies.

    The company recently set up a risk-assessment laboratory to help customers comply with the EU’s Tobacco Product Directive, along with seven fundamental research centers in China and the United States. It also installed a fully automated production line for vapor product assembly and packaging with a capacity of 7,200 standard vaporizers per hour.

    In 2021, Smoore introduced the world’s first ceramic coil disposable pod solution. In January 2022, it showcased the world’s thinnest ceramic coil vape pod solution, FEELM Air in London.

    The company has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality in its direct and indirect production and operational activities by 2050.

    Frost and Sullivan expects the global market for vaping devices to grow at a compound growth rate of approximately 25.3 percent.

  • Politicians Urged to Debate Vaping in Australia

    Politicians Urged to Debate Vaping in Australia

    Photo: alexlmx

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is urging Australian politicians to debate vaping in the runup the country’s federal election on May 21.

    According to the advocacy group, Australian politicians who recognize the public health potential of vaping will be rewarded with votes, “yet most remain too scared to promote the world’s most effective smoking cessation tool.”

    Nancy Loucas

    “Australia’s political leaders need to pull their heads out of the sand,” said Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of CAPHRA. “Annually, over 20,000 Australian smokers die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, and 2.3 million still smoke. Alarmingly, however, nobody wants to seriously fix successive governments’ failure to reduce tobacco harm.”

    Australia is the only Western democracy that requires a nicotine prescription to vape. Further, its Department of Health’s Draft National Smoking Strategy 2022–2030 proposes additional measures to prevent smokers from switching to safer nicotine products.

    Loucas suspects that tobacco tax revenues are one of the reasons that vaping has been buried in the election debate. Ongoing increases to tobacco excise have made it the fourth-largest individual tax collected by Australia’s federal government at an estimated $15 billion per financial year, according to CAPHRA.

    The group notes that nearly 70 countries have adopted regulatory frameworks on safer nicotine products. All of them have reported a dramatic decline in smoking prevalence since.

    “Australia is light-years behind the U.S., U.K. and New Zealand, with some key Asian countries now looking to lift their failed vaping bans. If campaigning Australian politicians really want to save lives this election, well here is their best opportunity by simply a stroke of the pen,” said Loucas.