Category: News This Week

A new report signals “strong growth potential” for packaging holography technologies, according to the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA).

Intelligence published by Research and Data predicts the global market for anti-counterfeiting packaging will reach almost $250 billion by 2026.

The anti-counterfeiting packaging sector in the Asia Pacific region will experience a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent owing to the developing market in China and India.

This is primarily due to the rise in healthcare concerns, higher adoption rates of anti-counterfeit technologies and growing awareness about track-and-trace technologies.

“The report highlights holograms as an effective weapon in the battle to thwart counterfeiters and fraudsters,” said IHMA chair Paul Dunn. “Those involved in the supply chain will always be reassured by the presence of holograms on products and recognize the benefits they provide.”

England’s outgoing chief medical officer, Sally Davies, has expressed concern about the long-term consequences of vaping, saying it could be a “ticking time bomb.”

Davis shared her views in an interview with Civil Service World after a sixth person is confirmed to have died of a mysterious disease linked to vaping.

Her comments are remarkable given England’s accommodating stance on vaping. In 2015, Public Health England (PHE) published a report suggesting that vaping could be 95 percent less harmful than normal cigarettes, and the agency has promoted e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.

Davies conceded evidence has accumulated to suggest that e-cigarettes may help as a smoking cessation tool but did not believe the evidence is hard yet.

John Newton, director of health improvement at PHE, previously said that although the agency was aware of the risks, “there is widespread academic and clinical consensus that while not without risk, vaping is far less harmful than smoking.”

Regarding the spate of deaths in America, Martin Dockrell, head of tobacco control at PHE, said, “A full investigation is not yet available, but we’ve heard reports that most of these cases were linked to people using illicit vaping fluid bought on the streets or homemade, some containing cannabis products, like THC, or synthetic cannabinoids, like spice.

“Unlike the U.S., all e-cigarette products in the U.K. are tightly regulated for quality and safety by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and they operate the Yellow Card Scheme, encouraging vapers to report any bad experiences.

“Our advice remains that e-cigarettes are a fraction of the risk of smoking, and using one makes it much more likely you’ll quit successfully than relying on willpower alone. But it’s important to use U.K.-regulated e-liquids and never risk vaping homemade or illicit e-liquids or adding substances, any of which could be harmful.”

Davies is not the first British medical professional to raise concern about vaping. Earlier, Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine urged PHE to stop promoting e-cigarettes as a means to helping smokers quit.

England’s e-cigarette policies have come in for criticism from abroad as well.

Charlotta Pisinger, chair of the European Respiratory Society Tobacco Control Committee, questioned whether e-cigarettes really helped smokers quit.

“It is important to remember that none of these very, very rich tobacco companies and e-cigarette companies have registered their product as a smoking cessation product,” she said. “The only reason why they haven’t done it is [that] they have no evidence that vaping is a good cessation tool. If it was effective, they would have tried to have it approved.”

Pieter Sikkel, president, CEO and chairman of Pyxus International, has called recently announced plans to ban adult use of flavored e-liquids in the U.S. misguided.

“As manufacturers and marketers of e-liquids, an adult-use product, our subsidiaries and affiliates recognize the unique responsibility in bringing nicotine products to market and are committed to responsible marketing practices,” said Sikkel.

“Our companies recognize the seriousness of youth access to e-liquid products and have long supported responsible efforts to address this issue. Bans and outright restrictions of an adult’s use of flavors in e-liquid products are misguided and not based on scientific research.

“The fact is, e-liquids are intended only for responsible adult consumption and, like other adult products, the effort should be focused on educating and preventing underage access to all e-liquids rather than restricting the types of products legal age adults can and do enjoy today.”

Juul Labs has entered China, the world’s largest cigarette market, with online storefronts on e-commerce sites owned by Alibaba Group and JD.com, reports Reuters.

The move comes as U.S. health officials are investigating a handful of deaths and hospitalizations tied to vaping in Juul’s home market.

Previously, the company launched its products in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. It recently raised more than $750 million in an expanded funding round.

While China’s 300 million smokers presents an opportunity for Juul, the company will also face stiff competition.

Local firms, such as Relx, Yooz, and SNOW+ are selling Juul-like devices that discretely vaporize potent nicotine salts and have received millions of dollars in venture capital funding.

Earlier this year the Chinese government released a draft document suggesting that its e-cigarettes regulations will eventually largely resemble those in Europe.

British American Tobacco (BAT) plans to reduce its workforce by 2,300 people as part of a restructuring program to simplify its business and create a more efficient, agile and focused organization.

The objective is to better position BAT to meet ever-evolving consumer needs and deliver savings that can be reinvested in the growth of its portfolio of new categories such as vapor, tobacco heating products and oral tobacco.

To enable better focus on key growth areas, faster decision making, greater management accountability and the elimination of duplicative activities, the proposals will reduce management layers, create fewer larger more accountable business units, better leverage its global business services activities and  simplify all key business processes and “ways of working,” BAT announced in a statement.

The program, which is planned to be substantially complete by January 2020, envisages a reduction of around 2,300 roles globally. With the focus on simplification and removal of management layers, it is expected that over 20 percent of the senior roles in the organization will be affected.

A consultation process is now underway with all staff who will be impacted.

“Since taking on the role of chief executive five months ago, I have been clear that I wanted to make BAT a stronger, simpler and faster organization and ensure a future fit culture,” says Jack Bowles, chief executive.

“My goal is to oversee a step change in new category growth and significantly simplify our current ways of working and business processes, whilst delivering long-term sustainable returns for our shareholders. This is a vital first move to help achieve these goals.

“A program of this significance involves decisions that will be difficult for our people, but ultimately it is the right thing for our business.

“As a result, BAT will be better placed to deliver on our target of generating £5 billion [$6.22 billion] of revenues in new categories by 2023/24.”

BAT’s announcement follows reports of job cuts at Japan Tobacco International (JTI).

In early September, Swissinfo reported that JTI would reduce staff at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, by a quarter over a three-year period as part of a program to make the business more competitive.