Category: News This Week

JT sales down
Japan Tobacco (JT) sold 75.5 billion cigarettes in 2019, 7.9 percent fewer than in 2018. The company’s domestic cigarette revenue fell by 2.4 percent to ¥485 billion ($4.41 billion) over the same period.
JT’s cigarette market share was 60.4 percent in 2019.
The company will no longer release a monthly disclosure of Japanese domestic cigarette sales results due to the fluctuation from new product releases and product retail price amendments. Results will be released quarterly from fiscal year 2020 onward.
January 22, 2020
Strongest warning yet
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued its strongest warning yet against vaping, stating the habit harms developing teenage brains and can damage a growing fetus as well as increase the risk of heart disease and lung disorders.
The WHO warned there is “little evidence” that e-cigarettes help smokers quit smoking and that they may instead addict nonsmokers to nicotine.
The warnings come from a Q&A session on Twitter.
When asked if vapor devices were less dangerous than regular cigarettes, the WHO refused to give a definitive answer. “This depends on a range of factors, including the amount of nicotine and other toxicants in the heated liquids, but we know that e-cigarettes pose clear health risks and are by no means safe,” a WHO representative wrote.
The WHO’s stance contrasts that of Public Health England (PHE), which finds vaping to be 95 percent less risky than smoking. Commenting on the WHO’s tweets, John Newton, director for health improvement at PHE, said the agency was “continuing to review evidence of e-cigarettes.”
The WHO called for governments to consider taxing vapor products the same way they tax traditional tobacco products.
January 22, 2020
Advisory narrowed
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed from its website a broad guidance stating people should stop vaping in response to the outbreak of vaping-related illnesses.
The CDC first said people should stop using all vapor products in September but later narrowed that recommendation to vapor products containing THC—the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. The new recommendation no longer includes the broad reference to stopping vaping, though the agency still says youth, pregnant women and nontobacco users shouldn’t vape.
“Recommendations were refined to reflect the best available scientific evidence and to best protect public health,” said Brian King, the chief science officer for the CDC’s vaping-related outbreak response.
Evidence has linked the vaping-related illnesses and deaths to vitamin E acetate, a cutting agent used in vape oils that contain THC. There have been 2,668 hospitalizations from the vaping-related illness as of Jan. 14 and at least 60 deaths, the CDC said. Hospitalizations have slowed since peaking in September, but new cases and deaths are still being reported.
The CDC also made a distinction between the vaping-related illnesses and the uptake in youth vaping, two different epidemics, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
January 22, 2020
Record Cigarette Prices in Australia
The price of Australian cigarettes will rise by 12.5 percent this year, bringing the average pack to almost AUD50 ($34.26).
Beginning in September, a 25-pack of Marlboro Golds will cost AUD48.50, one of the highest prices in the world for a pack of cigarettes. The cheapest pack will be about AUD29.
This will be the eighth consecutive price increase as a part of the government’s attempt to reduce tobacco use.
Critics say the price increase will stimulate the black market and punish those who are addicted to nicotine. A pack-a-day smoker will spend more than AUD10,000 a year on average following the hike. RYO smokers will see a similar increase in the price of loose tobacco.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of adults who smoke daily has remained stagnant despite the price increases—the rate dropped 0.7 percent between 2014–2015 and between 2017–2018.
Black market tobacco sales increased last year; officials seized more than 300 tons of contraband in 2019.
January 21, 2020
Bates: ’95 Percent Safer’ Stands
Contrary to its claim, a recent critique does not debunk the statements made by Public Health England (PHE) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) that vaping is at least 95 percent less risky than smoking, according to Clive Bates, director of Counterfactual Consulting.
Writing on his blog, Bates examined the authors’ propositions and found them wanting.
“Not a single word of their paper addresses the supposed foundation of their critique—that PHE/RCP are wrong, and the risks of vaping are likely to exceed 5 percent of those of smoking,” Bates wrote.
While the paper contains several baseless assertions that are irrelevant to the “at least 95 percent lower” relative risk claim (gateway effects, smoking cessation efficacy and secondhand aerosol exposure), it says nothing about the relative magnitude of smoking and vaping risks, according to Bates.
“No analysis, no data, no evidence—nothing that discusses relative risk and why PHE/RCP are supposedly wrong. Niente. Nada. Rien. Nichts. Nothing,” he wrote.

January 21, 2020
Imperial to Close Cigarette Factory in New Zealand
Imperial Tobacco plans to close its Petone factory in New Zealand, citing falling demand, reports the NZ Herald.
“Globally consumer demand for our product has declined, so the proposal to close our Petone cigarette factory is necessary for the future of our business,” said Kirsten Daggar-Nickson, head of corporate and legal affairs for Imperial Brands.
“In markets like New Zealand, that future is next generation products. So we’re transitioning our business, product line and distribution channels to offer these products to smokers that want to transition to a healthier alternative, and we successfully launched an electronic cigarette MyBlu in the New Zealand market last year.”
The factory closure puts 122 jobs at risk. Imperial Tobacco has entered a consultation process with its employees.
January 21, 2020
PMI Topman Sounds Alarm About Harm Reduction
The historical opportunity offered by smoke-free alternatives to reduce the health impact of smoking is in jeopardy due to misinformation and calls for prohibition, according to Andre Calantzopoulos, CEO of Philip Morris International (PMI).
Writing in Fortune, Calantzopoulos said that thanks to rapid advances in science and technology, better alternatives now exist for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.
However, the opportunity for trajectory-shifting progress in public health is endangered by public confusion and prohibitionist legislation.
Calantzopoulos pointed to the U.S. where recent incidents of lung illness attributed to black market THC products have been conflated with the use of unadulterated legal e-cigarettes. At the same time, media have been widely reporting on the valid concerns around the use of e-cigarettes by youth, he said.
“This combined coverage has left many men and women who smoke confused about smoke-free alternatives,” Calantzopoulos wrote.
Compounding the issue, he added, a handful of tobacco control NGOs in several countries have seized the opportunity to call for legislation that either prohibits some or all smoke-free alternatives or severely restricts smokers’ access to and ability to learn about these products.
“If regulators respond to these calls by choosing a prohibitionist route over a science-based approach, the opportunity for progress in public health may be lost,” Calantzopoulos cautioned.

January 21, 2020
Recognizing climate credentials
Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco (JT) and Imperial Brands have been recognized for their efforts to reduce their environmental footprints.
All companies made the 2019 A-list of CDP, a global environmental impact nonprofit organization.
“For many years, PMI has been taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our operations and across our value chain, where 85 percent of the emissions occur,” said Huub Savelkouls, PMI’s chief sustainability officer. “Being placed on CDP’s A-List for climate change validates the progress we are making in our commitment to sustainability and environmental transparency.”
“We are delighted that our efforts have resulted [in] inclusion in the CDP A-list and see it as great recognition of our work to secure a better tomorrow for all our stakeholders,” said Simon Cleverly, group head of corporate affairs at BAT.
“This clearly reflects our continued efforts to reduce our environmental footprint and our transparency in disclosing information,” said Kazuhito Yamashita, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer of compliance and general affairs for JT.
“We’ve made good progress in reducing our environmental impact over the last decade, and in 2019 developed new long-term environmental targets for the next 10-30 years, setting science-based carbon targets for both our direct operations and our supply chain,” said Surinder Sond, group head of sustainability at Imperial Brands.
“We’re committed to minimizing our environmental impacts and we’re delighted that our hard work and progress has been recognized by the CDP.”
CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. It uses a detailed and independent methodology to assess the companies that submit data, allocating a score from A to D based on the comprehensiveness of the disclosure, awareness and management of environmental risks and demonstration of best practices associated with environmental leadership.
Those that don’t disclose or those that provide insufficient information receive an F.
January 21, 2020
Closure announced
Imperial Tobacco plans to close its Petone factory in New Zealand, citing falling demand, reports the NZ Herald.
“Globally consumer demand for our product has declined, so the proposal to close our Petone cigarette factory is necessary for the future of our business,” said Kirsten Daggar-Nickson, head of corporate and legal affairs for Imperial Brands.
“In markets like New Zealand, that future is next generation products. So we’re transitioning our business, product line and distribution channels to offer these products to smokers that want to transition to a healthier alternative, and we successfully launched an electronic cigarette MyBlu in the New Zealand market last year.”
The factory closure puts 122 jobs at risk. Imperial Tobacco has entered a consultation process with its employees.
January 21, 2020
Record prices
The price of Australian cigarettes will rise by 12.5 percent this year, bringing the average pack to almost AUD50 ($34.26).
Beginning in September, a 25-pack of Marlboro Golds will cost AUD48.50, one of the highest prices in the world for a pack of cigarettes. The cheapest pack will be about AUD29.
This will be the eighth consecutive price increase as a part of the government’s attempt to reduce tobacco use.
Critics say the price increase will stimulate the black market and punish those who are addicted to nicotine. A pack-a-day smoker will spend more than AUD10,000 a year on average following the hike. RYO smokers will see a similar increase in the price of loose tobacco.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of adults who smoke daily has remained stagnant despite the price increases—the rate dropped 0.7 percent between 2014–2015 and between 2017–2018.
Black market tobacco sales increased last year; officials seized more than 300 tons of contraband in 2019.
January 21, 2020