Category: News This Week

  • Production rising

    Production rising

    Farmers in Azerbaijan had harvested 4.55 million kg of tobacco as of Oct. 14, according to the ministry of agriculture.

    The country expects to produce 8.2 million kg of tobacco this year, 9.5 million kg in 2020, 12 million kg in 2021 and 12.6 million kg in 2022. In 2018, 6.3 million kg of tobacco was harvested.

    The government expects Azerbaijan’s 2019 crop to reach a value of $45 million in 2019 and to increase by 20 percent annually until 2022.

    Last year, Azerbaijan exported tobacco worth $10 million, while imports amounted to $116 million.

    The government aims to minimize the imports of tobacco products. Tabaterra CJSC has invested $48 million in a tobacco factory in the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park. The company intends to supply 80 percent of the demand for tobacco products in Azerbaijan.

  • Fewer Greeks smoking

    Fewer Greeks smoking

    The number of adults who smoke in Greece has declined to 27.5 percent from 40 percent in a decade, according to a new study.

    Conducted by the American College of Greece’s Public Health Institute and the Hellenic Cancer Society, the survey found that 17.9 percent smoke daily and 9.6 percent smoke fewer than seven cigarettes a week.

    Smoking is least popular among young adults. Only 7.9 percent of those surveyed in the 18-24 age group smoked, compared with 9.9 percent in the 25-34 group and 26.1 percent among 45-50-year-olds.

  • Alarm over smoking bans

    Alarm over smoking bans

    Extreme smoking bans undermine social inclusiveness without benefitting public health, according to a report published today by the smokers’ campaign group Forest EU.

    The new report includes the Smoking in Society Index, the most comprehensive, up-to-date public table of smoking and vaping regulations in the 28 EU member states.

    Slovenia is the worst EU country to smoke in, followed by Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Poland,

    Forest describes the extent of the new smoking and vaping prohibitions as worrying, with many member states enacting restrictions that go beyond the 2009 EU Recommendation on smoke-free environments.

    “The prohibition of smoking in the open air and the extension of smoking bans to vaping represent a betrayal of the 2009 EU Recommendation on smoke-free environments,” said Guillaume Périgois, director of Forest EU.

    “Reaching into smokers’ homes takes tobacco control in a new and rather sinister direction.”

    Périgois called on the European Commission to denounce the marginalization of smokers and vapers and reaffirm the principles of the 2009 EU Recommendation.

  • Referred to court

    Referred to court

    The European Commission has referred Hungary to the EU Court of Justice for failing to apply the minimum EU excise duty on cigarettes.

    Hungary’s lower duties distort competition with other member states and are at odds with EU health protection policy, according to the Commission.

    EU rules require member states to charge a cigarette excise duty of at least 60 percent of the applicable weighted average retail price of cigarettes and not lower than €90 per 1,000 cigarettes.

    Hungary was allowed a transitional period until Dec. 31, 2017, to gradually increase the cigarette excise duty and reach the required minimum threshold.

    The country has raised the excise tax on cigarettes in three increments since Sept. 1, 2018. Since July 1, 2019, the tax has been HUF19,200 ($63.63) per 1,000 cigarettes plus 23.5 percent of the retail price, but at least HUF 32,200 per 1,000 cigarettes.

  • Michigan ban halted

    Michigan ban halted

    A judge on Tuesday blocked Michigan’s ban on flavored vapor products, objecting to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s use of emergency powers.

    Gretchen had ordered the state ban in September, declaring teenagers’ use of e-cigarettes a public health emergency.

    While acknowledging that vaping is a public health concern, Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens of the Michigan Court of Common Claims said that there was likely no basis for the governor to use her emergency powers.

    The data cited by the governor in ordering the ban had been available since at least February, she said, undercutting the claim that it was an emergency.

    Stephens’ ruling is a preliminary injunction, meaning it will remain in effect while the retailers and the state continue to litigate the dispute.

    Whitmer vowed to appeal the ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court.

    “This decision is wrong,” the governor said in a statement. “It misreads the law and sets a dangerous precedent of a court second-guessing the expert judgment of public health officials dealing with a crisis.”

    Michigan vapor industry representatives welcomed the ruling, describing the ban as government overreach into the lives of adults. Vape store owners had expressed fear that the ban would put them out of business.

  • Smoking cost calculated

    Smoking cost calculated

    The costs of health insurance for the treatment of smoking-related and alcohol-related ailments totaled KRW13 trillion ($11 billion) in South Korea for the 2016–2018 period, according to a recent report by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

    The costs used to treat smoking and alcohol maladies accounted for 8 percent of the KRW58.7 trillion that the NHIS spent on the entire country in 2018.

    By age bracket, the report noted that health insurance payments provided to those in their 60s for smoking-related illnesses grew by over 11 percent from 2016 to 2018 to 5.76 million people receiving support.

  • Revenue target exceeded

    Revenue target exceeded

    The Philippines collected PHP8.1 billion ($156.9 million) in tobacco excise taxes during the first half of 2019, 32.8 percent more than the government’s target, reports The Philippine Star.

    The Department of Finance attributed to better-than-expected collections to improved compliance as the government continues to crack down on illicit tobacco trade.

    In July 2018, the Philippine government increased the excise tax on tobacco products.

  • Fine challenged

    Fine challenged

    The Tedis distribution company and several tobacco manufacturers will challenge a decision by Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee to fine them UAH6.5 billion ($263.4 million) for anti-competitive actions.

    The committee announced the penalty on Oct. 10, saying the industry colluded to keep new businesses from entering the market.

    The accused tobacco companies are Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco (BAT).

    “We are disappointed with the decision made by the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine,” a BAT representative said. “British American Tobacco has been working in Ukraine for more than 25 years, and throughout this time, it has acted in full compliance with the laws of Ukraine.”

    Imperial Tobacco said the competition watchdog helped bring about the current situation. The company pointed out that during 2008–2010, the Anti-Monopoly Committee permitted Tedis Ukraine to acquire several key distribution companies.

  • Malaysia mulls vapor ban

    Malaysia mulls vapor ban

    Malaysia is considering a ban on vapor products following an outbreak of vaping-related deaths and illnesses in the United States, reports Reuters.

    “A detailed study is required to review the need for enforcing a total ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes and vapes,” Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told Parliament.

    Tobacco products in Malaysia are currently regulated under the Food Act while the sale of vaporizer liquids containing nicotine has been banned since 2015.

    The country is finalizing a law that would ban the use of all smoking products, including electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, among minors and prohibit their promotion and advertising.

    As of Friday, U.S. authorities had reported 29 deaths and 1,299 cases of respiratory illnesses linked to the use of vapor products.

  • PMTA filed for Vuse

    PMTA filed for Vuse

    Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) on Oct. 11 submitted a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking permission to market its Vuse vapor products.

    RAI is among the first in the vapor industry to file a PMTA, according to its parent company, British American Tobacco (BAT). To remain on the U.S. market, all vapor products must be submitted for FDA review by May 11, 2020.

    RAI’s submission includes more than 150,000 pages of documentation intended to demonstrate that the continued marketing of Vuse is “appropriate for the protection of the public health,” as required by the FDA.

    “Today’s application marks the culmination of years of hard work across multiple teams involving more than 100 individuals, including dozens of Ph.D. team members collaborating every day, with a substantial financial investment,” said James Figlar, executive vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at RAI.

    “We have long worked to build a broad portfolio of competitive options for the adult tobacco consumer, and today’s application is a strong next step for us in that journey,” said Ricardo Oberlander, CEO of RAI.

    RAI previously submitted a regulatory application for Camel Snus. The company intends to submit additional applications for products in its “new oral” portfolio, such as Velo.