Category: News This Week

  • Thailand to Confirm Ban on E-Cigarettes

    Thailand to Confirm Ban on E-Cigarettes

    Image: Arcady

    Thailand’s government has rejected an initiative to legalize and regulate nicotine vaping products, opting, instead, to reconfirm the country’s ban on sales and imports of e-cigarettes, according to Vaping360.

    Thailand’s ban has been in place since 2014.

    The National Tobacco Products Control Committee upheld the ban in a meeting last week, and Public Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit supports the decision. The decision will go to the cabinet for formal approval, and the cabinet is not expected to overrule the decision.

    Thailand’s tobacco committee has stated that the country should uphold the ban to prevent cigarette addiction by children and adolescents.

    Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn has urged the government to end its ban on vapes, which he believes offer a low-risk alternative for smokers. As recently as January, he had planned to set up a working group to study the issue and consider public opinion.

  • Imperial Brands Issues Trading Update

    Imperial Brands Issues Trading Update

    Photo: Casimirokt | Dreamstime.com

    Imperial Brands continues to perform in line with its five-year strategy launched in 2021, the company announced in a trading update.

    “Focused investment in our top five combustible markets, which account for around 70 percent of adjusted operating profit, has driven an increase in aggregate market share for those markets,” the company wrote. “Gains in the U.S., U.K. and Australia more than offset declines in Germany and Spain. These share gains were achieved while maintaining strong pricing discipline, and overall tobacco volumes are in line with expectations.”

    According to Imperial Brands, consumers have responded positively to the pilots of its Pulze heated-tobacco system in Greece and the Czech Republic and an improved consumer marketing proposition for its Blu vapor product in the U.S. “We are making good progress against our strategic objective of building a sustainable, consumer-centric next-generation product (NGP) business, and we will provide an update on our next steps at the interim results,” the company wrote.

    Imperial Brands expects first-half NGP revenues to be slightly ahead of the prior period, driven by growth in Europe.

    “We are on track to deliver full-year results in line with our revised guidance issued on 15 March, with expected full-year net revenue growth of around 0 [percent to] 1 percent on a constant currency basis and adjusted operating profit growth of around 1 percent,” Imperial said.

    The company expects first-half group adjusted operating profit to grow by around 2 percent on a constant currency basis, benefiting primarily from reduced losses in NGP. “As expected, tobacco performance will be weighted to the second half,” the company wrote. “First-half tobacco operating profit will be broadly flat on last year on a constant currency basis, with increased investment behind our strategy offsetting the benefit of reduced U.S. litigation costs compared to last year.”

    In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Imperial Brands is continuing negotiations with a local third party about an orderly transfer of its Russian assets and operations as a going concern.

  • Alibaba to End Sales of Vaping Products

    Alibaba to End Sales of Vaping Products

    Photo: Ascannio

    Alibaba International Station announced that, beginning May 1, it will no longer allow the sale of vaping products, according to a report by Panda Daily. The cross-border trade B2B e-commerce platform’s ban will include cartridges, e-liquids, hardware and all other vaping-related products.

    Alibaba is one of the world’s largest retailers and e-commerce companies.

    In March this year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration of China announced new rules for e-cigarettes, which are scheduled to come into force on May 1.

    After the document was issued, many e-cigarette manufacturers said that they would stop the production of e-cigarettes with fruit flavors in the domestic market. Therefore, under the new regulations, the prices of e-cigarettes have been rising. Many brands raised the price of their e-cigarettes with various fruit and soda flavors, with prices increasing between CNY20 ($3.14) and CNY30.

    According to a report released by iiMedia Research, the retail sales of the global new tobacco market reached CNY360.5 billion in 2021, an overall increase of 25.6 percent, while China’s domestic sales increased by 73 percent. In addition, according to the Blue Book of the Electronic Cigarette Industry in 2021, in terms of export, the total output value of electronic cigarettes exports reached CNY138.3 billion, and there are more than 1,500 e-cigarette manufacturers in China.

  • Illicit Trade Surges in South Africa

    Illicit Trade Surges in South Africa

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    A new study by Ipsos shows that illegal cigarette trade has surged in the past year in South Africa.

    Illicit trade exploded during a five-month ban on tobacco sales that was implemented to prevent the spread of Covid-19 during 2020. While the ban was lifted in August 2020, illicit trade continues to be significantly higher than it was before the measure.

    The Ipsos study showed: four out of five stores in the Western Cape (80 percent) now sell cigarettes below the minimum collectible tax (MCT) rate of ZAR22.79 per pack, as do almost 70 percent of outlets in Gauteng, a significant increase compared to previous research; the number of garage forecourts across the country selling illicit cigarettes has quadrupled in the last year—despite the 2020 sales ban having been lifted; a single pack of 20 cigarettes is now on sale for as little as ZAR7 in many retail outlets nationwide.

    The latest Ipsos study provides compelling evidence that criminals continue to dominate South Africa’s tobacco trade.

    “This is less than a third of the MCT and down even further from ZAR8, which was the lowest price found in the October 2021 study; and products bearing trademarks licensed to or owned by Zimbabwe-based Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation and CarniLinx, a member of South Africa’s Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association, continue to win this illegal price war,” BAT South Africa (BATSA) wrote in a statement.

    “The latest Ipsos study provides compelling evidence that criminals continue to dominate South Africa’s tobacco trade,” said BATSA General Manager Johnny Moloto. “These criminals are hiding in plain sight, robbing the fiscus of vital revenue when it is needed most. They are destroying legitimate businesses and jobs while national unemployment rates hit record highs.”

    Tobacco Reporter covered South Africa’s struggle with illicit trade in-depth in its March 2022 issue (see “Damage Done“). 

  • Vape Group to Raise Awareness With ‘VApril’

    Vape Group to Raise Awareness With ‘VApril’

    John Dunne (Photo: UKVIA)

    VApril 2022, the annual awareness campaign from the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) that educates smokers on vaping, opened with a vaping masterclass session with experts from the vaping industry, stop-smoking services and healthcare.

    For the first time, this year, the UKVIA is running a promotional campaign on social media, including an animated five-step guide to transitioning successfully from smoking to vaping; a video featuring the life-changing experience of a former smoker turned vaper; and a video of Anita Sharma addressing common concerns of smokers who are considering switching to vaping to help them quit their smoking habits.

    The month will also see publication of research on the level and quality of advice that is being provided to adult smokers when considering a switch to vaping.

    “We know from Public Health England that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking, and the last 18 months has seen a massive groundswell of support from the medical and political worlds underlining how vital vaping is toward helping people to quit smoking and the overall health of the nation,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA, in a statement.

    “We are steadfast and determined in our mission and resolve to give smokers a real choice, underpinned by VApril 2022 and the huge support we receive from vape retail stores and other businesses across the U.K. as well as vape associations across the world.”

  • Altria Signs Power Purchase Agreement

    Altria Signs Power Purchase Agreement

    Photo: sumikophoto

    Altria Group has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for energy produced by a new wind farm project in Haskell and Throckmorton Counties, Texas, USA. Altria’s contracted portion of the Inertia Wind Energy Center is intended to address the emissions from 100 percent of Altria’s annual purchased electricity demand across all U.S. facilities.

    “This is our first-ever VPPA and marks significant progress toward our science-based environmental targets—achieving 100 percent renewable electricity and reducing operational greenhouse gases emissions by 55 percent by 2030,” said Sal Mancuso, executive vice president and chief financial officer in a statement.

    “When the project is operational, we expect we will hit both those targets—ahead of schedule. We’re proud to support a project that will bring additional renewable energy to the electricity grid, contributing to positive climate action.”

    The Inertia Wind Energy Center will be developed, owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, and is expected to be operational by the end of 2022 with a total generation capacity of 301 megawatts. In addition to bringing clean energy to the grid, the project is expected to create jobs and provide long-lasting economic benefits to the local community.

    Altria’s agreement equates to around 400,000 MWh of renewable electricity per year—the equivalent of over 51,000 homes’ annual electricity use—and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 283,000 metric tons, or equivalent to the emissions from more than 61,000 passenger vehicles being driven each year.

  • Women in Tobacco to Meet in Paris

    Women in Tobacco to Meet in Paris

    The next Women in Tobacco (WIT) event will take place May 5-6 at Hotel Villa Modigliani in Paris. The event is sponsored by SWM.

    Patricia Kovacevic

    The event will kick off with a snack lunch on May 5, followed by the GTNF In Focus: Sustainability virtual conference in the presence of Patricia Kovacevic, who will moderate the event.

    The evening program features a Quayside dinner and a one-hour cruise on the river Seine.

    The GTNF In Focus conference continues May 6 and is followed by a team activity.

    Participants qualify for a special rate for the night of May 5 of €166 ($180.98) per room at Hotel Villa Modigliani with the code SWMWIT2022 .

    For hotel reservations please contact: llegal@vacancesbleues.fr or cpasquet@vacancesbleues.fr. Reservations may be cancelled free of charge up to April 14, 2022.

    To register for the WIT event, please contact Elise Rasmussen at witforwomen@gmail.com or +44 777 564 5048.

    WIT Agenda

    Thursday, May 5

    12:30 pm
    Welcome & snack lunch at the Hotel Villa Modigliani, 13 Rue Delambre, 75014 Paris, France

    02:00 pm
    GTNF inFocus Sustainability virtual conference in presence of Patricia Kovacevic who will moderate the event.
    Stay tuned and Check the program here or on the website: sustainability.infocusseries.org.

    08:00 pm
    Quayside dinner followed by a one-hour River Seine cruise.

    Friday, May 6

    08:45 am
    Welcome at the Hotel Villa Modigliani, 13 Rue Delambre, 75014 Paris, France

    09:00 am
    GTNF inFocus Conference Debriefing
    & Specific Presentations

    10:15 am
    Team Activity:
    Embark for a “Responsible World Tour!”

    12:30 pm
    Event closure

  • Survey: Smokers Happy to Buy Illicit Tobacco

    Survey: Smokers Happy to Buy Illicit Tobacco

    Photo: BAT

    Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of participants in a poll among U.K. smokers bought illicit tobacco in the past year, according to a recent survey reported in Talking Retail.

    The figure is down from 2019, when the same survey found that 78 percent of respondents said that they had bought illicit tobacco.

    One challenge for the industry is that few consumers have moral reservations about purchasing illicit products. Sixty-eight percent of survey participants said they had no issue with buying tobacco this way.

    Carried out by the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), the survey of 12,000 smokers also found that nearly one-fifth (19 percent) of respondents bought their illicit tobacco from social media sites.

    “There is positive news in this year’s survey findings, with more people reporting illicit tobacco when they were aware of it—a major uplift to 32 percent compared with 17 percent in 2017—and a decline in people purchasing illegal tobacco in every region across the U.K., with the exception of London,” said Rupert Lewis, director of the TMA.

    “However, the 2021 findings still highlight the continued widespread availability of illicit tobacco as well as the entrenched perception among many consumers that it is ‘acceptable’ to trade or buy illicit

  • U.S. House votes to decriminalize marijuana

    U.S. House votes to decriminalize marijuana

    Photo: p_gangler

    The U.S. House of Representatives voted on April 1 to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, reports The New York Times.

    While the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act is unlikely to get the required majority in the Senate, supporters said the vote was a necessary step toward building consensus on something that can become law.

    The bill would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, impose an 8 percent tax on cannabis products, allow some convictions on cannabis charges to be expunged and press for sentencing reviews at the federal and state levels. It would also make Small Business Administration loans and services available to cannabis businesses while setting standards for them.

    By lowering law enforcement and incarceration costs and imposing new taxation, the bill would save the government hundreds of millions of dollars. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the act would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $3 billion over the next decade.

    Thirty-seven states have legalized cannabis for medical use, and 15 have granted adults legal access for purely recreational purposes. Because cannabis remains a federally controlled substance, however, banks insured by the federal government have been loath to make their services available to the burgeoning marijuana industry.

    Faced with declining demand for cigarettes, some tobacco companies have been eying marijuana as a new business area.

    Sales in that industry totaled $20 billion in 2020 and are projected to more than double by 2025.

  • Vectura Directors Step Down

    Vectura Directors Step Down

    Photo: Charnchai saeheng

    Vectura CEO Will Downie and Chief Financial Officer Paul Fry have stepped down from their roles with the company following the £1 billion ($1.31 billion) takeover by Philip Morris International, reports The Times.

    PMI acquired Vectura last year as part of the company’s “beyond nicotine” strategy. This move caused controversy in the healthcare industry as Vectura is a producer of inhalers and medicines for smoking-related conditions. Critics said the takeover represented a conflict of interest.

    Following the takeover, Vectura was banned from many pharmaceutical industry conferences due to the company’s new ties to the tobacco industry.

    The tobacco industry’s involvement in pharmaceutical businesses is facing increasing scrutiny. In March, the World Health Organization said it would deny an emergency use listing to Medicago’s Convifenz Covid-19 vaccine, because of the company’s tobacco ties.

    PMI owns a minority stake in Medicago, which now faces pressure to seek a different shareholder.