Category: Featured

  • Malawi Devalues

    Malawi Devalues

    Photo: Africa

    Malawi is devaluing the kwacha’s by one third.

    In a notice to authorized dealer banks seen by Reuters, the country’s central bank said the kwacha’s exchange rate to the U.S. dollar would be adjusted to MKW1,700 from MKW1,180.

    The southern African country has been struggling with dwindling foreign currency reserves due in part to declining revenue from tobacco exports.

    Malawi earned $282.62 million from tobacco sales during the 2023 marketing season. While this figure was up substantially from the $182.12 million generated by sales of the golden leaf in the previous season, it is not nearly enough to alleviate the nation’s trade imbalance.

    In 2020, Malawi’s import bill was $2.8 billion, versus exports of only $800 million, according to the National Statistics Office.

    Depending on the season, tobacco accounts for between 40 percent and 70 percent of Malawi’s export earnings. To reduce its heavy reliance on a single commodity, the country has been working to diversify its economy by developing supplemental value chains, such as mushrooms, bananas and groundnuts.

  • Alternatives Boost Cessation: Tholos

    Alternatives Boost Cessation: Tholos

    The Tholos Foundation, in partnership with Japan-based Pacific Alliance Institute and Sweden-based consulting firm Scantech Strategy Advisors, has released a policy paper, Safer Nicotine Works, on how Sweden and Japan have successfully reduced smoking rates by introducing safer alternative nicotine products.

    Safer Nicotine Works investigates oral nicotine and heated tobacco’s effects on smoking rates in Sweden and Japan. It follows Vaping Works, which studied four countries’ vaping experiences. The latter found that nations adopting vaping, like the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and New Zealand, experienced smoking rate reductions at double the global average.

    In Japan, the introduction of heated tobacco products has remarkably reduced male smoking rates below 30 percent for the first time, reversing previous stagnation.

    Sweden, with a smoking rate of 5.6 percent 1 is poised to be “smoke-free” within the year. The recent decline in smoking is attributed to the rise of nicotine pouches introduced in 2019.

    Tholos Foundation’s research indicates consumers in both countries led the shift to safer alternatives. Policymakers’ key role was to ensure these alternatives were accessible and viable. Data confirms that safer nicotine significantly aids smoking cessation. With safer nicotine products like vaping, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches, and snus, smoking rates are dropping rapidly.

    “Safer nicotine is, quite literally, saving lives around the world,” said Tholos Foundation Vice President Lorenzo Montanari in a statement. “The experience of Sweden and Japan, just as in the U.K., Canada, New Zealand and France, proves that when people have access to safer products, they choose them in huge numbers. We now have the tools we need to fight harmful high smoking rates: governments around the world must now support their citizens to make a better choice.”

    According to the Tholos Foundation Sweden and Japan’s success in lowering smoking rates highlights the efficacy of comprehensive tobacco control strategies. “They have regulated alternative nicotine products, prioritizing public health,” the organization wrote in a press note. “Sweden and Japan’s experiences provide key lessons for nations aiming to decrease smoking and encourage smoke-free alternatives. By enabling access to safer alternative nicotine products and implementing appropriate regulations, countries significantly improve public health outcomes and address smoking.”

  • Activists Advise ‘Sensible’ Policies

    Activists Advise ‘Sensible’ Policies

    Photo: lemanieh

    The U.K. emphasis on creating a smokefree generation may be misguided considering that regular underage smoking has already reached an all-time low, according to critics.

    The government is actively pursuing its plan to create a tobacco-free generation through the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, presented in the King’s Speech to Parliament on Nov. 7. This initiative, revealed in October, is particularly contentious as it proposes a complete prohibition on legal access to cigarettes for individuals under the age of 15. In addition to this, the bill introduces the possibility of implementing new taxes and restrictions on vaping, signaling an effort to combat youth vaping.

    The government’s strategy involves a multifaceted approach, including a public consultation on youth vaping launched on Oct. 12. This consultation is open to U.K. residents of all ages, encouraging input from “teenagers, parents, teachers, medical professionals, academic experts and others” until Dec. 6. The overarching goal is to address youth vaping while still supporting adults in their efforts to quit smoking.

    Writing in Filter, Kiran Sidhu spoke to several tobacco harm reduction advocates, some of whom suggested the government should prioritize reducing adult smoking, especially in economically disadvantaged communities where smoking rates are higher.

    One of the key points of contention in the proposed bill is the potential ban on disposable vapes. While some advocate for such a ban, citing environmental concerns and youth use, others argue that it may have unintended consequences. Disposable vapes are favored by adults seeking to quit smoking due to their accessibility, ease of use and lower cost. A ban on disposables could disproportionately impact disadvantaged groups and potentially slow down the overall decline in smoking rates.

    The government’s public consultation has garnered mixed responses on social media, with some perceiving it as a response to public outcry over a perceived youth-vaping crisis. Skepticism exists regarding the impact assessment process, with concerns that it may selectively support proposed restrictions while disregarding opposing views.

    Amidst the debate, the director of an online vape retailer emphasizes the importance of responsible regulation. He suggests that listening to the experiences and insights of vapers, alongside input from scientists and professionals working with smokers, will lead to sensible regulations that prioritize harm reduction.

    Previously hailed as a global example of successful tobacco harm reduction through vaping, the U.K. must now find a balance between addressing youth vaping, environmental impact and supporting adults in their journey to quit smoking. The outcome of the public consultation will significantly shape the future regulatory landscape for tobacco and vaping products in the U.K.

  • Stronger Enforcement Urged of Violations

    Stronger Enforcement Urged of Violations

    Photo: momius

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could take stronger enforcement action against tobacco retailers with histories of sales to youth and other violations, according to a report published by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    The authors analyzed the extent and nature of the FDA’s inspections of, and enforcement actions against, vendors occurring over nearly a decade through the agency’s tobacco retailer compliance check inspection program.

    The OIG found the FDA conducted more than 1 million inspections from 2010 through 2019, by inspecting, at least once, 74 percent of tobacco retailers that were in business nationwide as of 2020. The FDA almost always returned to inspect retailers where it found violations within 12 months. In some States, inspection activities were correlated with neighborhoods’ socioeconomic conditions, raising questions about how FDA and its contractors select retailers to inspect.

    Overall, FDA’s actions against retailers that violated tobacco laws and regulations were in accord with its policies.

    However, retailers with histories of violations were often not subject to the strongest enforcement actions. FDA collected the full amount for only 9 percent of the civil money penalties (CMPs) it issued to retailers with histories of violations compared to 60 percent of CMPs it issued to retailers with fewer violations. Also, retailers in our sample that could have been subject to a no-tobacco-sale order usually did not receive one.

    However, the OIG did not determine the extent to which FDA’s consideration of mitigating factors or actions by Administrative Law Judges played a role in these outcomes.

    In its report, the OIG recommends that FDA give greater weight to retailers’ past noncompliance when taking enforcement actions against retailers with histories of violations, and determine whether variation in inspection activity on the basis of neighborhoods’ socioeconomic status is appropriate and the extent to which it is meeting FDA’s objective for protecting vulnerable populations.

  • Zimbabwean Farmers Bemoan Power Cuts

    Zimbabwean Farmers Bemoan Power Cuts

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Power cuts  in Zimbabwe are impacting irrigation and increasing tobacco farmers’ production costs, reports The Herald, citing Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) CEO Rodney Ambrose.

    “Power outages from about 0500 hours in the morning to as late as 2200 hours are a major concern in most growing areas at the moment,” Ambrose was quoted a saying. “Growers are struggling to complete their irrigation cycles and are relying on diesel powered generators, incurring huge costs.”

    Ambrose said the crop quality, yield and grower viability would likely be compromised as the option of running generators for irrigation is not sustainable. With curing of the irrigated crop scheduled to start in early December power demand will increase further.

    “We are engaging with the power utility to identify clusters where power supply can be prioritized just like they did for the wheat program. However, if power deficits persist nationally, the cluster solution may not entirely resolve the issue. The next option is to plead with the government to provide subsidized diesel or allow duty free imports of fuel primarily for powering generators,” said Ambrose.

    Ambrose believes the long-term solution is for farmers to transition to solar power although this has a costly outlay that requires growers to have access to long term financing.

    It will also require the government to permit duty-free and tax-free imports of solar equipment for farming activities, he added.

    Tobacco farmers have planted 22,298 hectares this season, including 16,962 hectares of irrigated tobacco, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.

    The report said 105,805 growers had been registered so far compared to 133,724 registered growers during the same period last year, marking a 26 percent decline.

  • Track-and-Trace Honored in the Breach

    Track-and-Trace Honored in the Breach

    Image: alien185

    Only two out of the more than 40 cigarette manufacturers in Pakistan have properly implemented the country’s track-and-trace system, according to British American Tobacco, reports The Nation.

    Speaking during a media briefing organized by the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) in Islamabad, BAT’s area head of legal and external affairs for the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, Mona Iskandarani, stressed the importance of timely implementation and enforcement of the track-and-trace system.

    “We acknowledge the recent enforcement initiatives undertaken by the Federal Board of Revenue in Pakistan but we need sustained enforcement efforts across the supply chain to curb the menace of illicit cigarette trade in Pakistan,” said Iskandarani.

    PTC’s legal and external affairs director, Asad Shah, pointed out that while track-and-trace systems have been implemented in various countries, the system does not offer a silver bullet. Rather, it serves as a tool to facilitate law enforcement agencies to carry out raids and seizures of tax evaded products, he said.

    Despite a lapse of 15 months since the implementation deadline, only two out of over 40 cigarette manufacturers have implemented the track-and-trace in true letter and spirit, Shah lamented. Instead of declining, tax evasion has grown in the tobacco sector since the system became mandatory, he said.

    The share of illicit cigarette sales is projected to grow from 37 percent of the market in fiscal 2021-2022 to approximately 63 percent by the end of fiscal 2023-2024, potentially causing the government lose PKR310 billion ($1.08 billion) in tax revenues in fiscal 2023-2024.

  • Decro Installs Goebel Slitter-Rewinders

    Decro Installs Goebel Slitter-Rewinders

    Photo: Goebel IMS

    Goebel IMS installed two Monoslit 9000 slitter rewinders on Guangdong Decro’s high-speed BOPP film production lines.

    Guangdong Decro Film New Materials Co. is one of the top manufacturers of BOPP film in China, featuring four subsidiaries—including Guangdong Decro Package Films Co.—and three manufacturing facilities that total more than 187,000 square meters. Currently, Decro runs seven international advanced BOPP lines, two functional coating lines and ten twin-screw extruders for functional Masterbatch.

    The two Goebel machines have a 1,200 meters per minute speed and the newest design and technologies for processing special kinds of BOPP film.

    “As one of the worldwide leading BOPP manufacturers for specialty films, we always require sophisticated high-end equipment to meet our customers’ demand,” said He Wenjun, vice president of Guangdong Decro Package Films Co.

    “We are happy to have identified Goebel IMS as a trustworthy partner for our primary slitting and rewinding operations. The performance of the machines exceeds our expectations and especially the second line was installed and operating in record time. We are looking forward to continuing our positive working relationship with Goebel IMS.”

    “We would like to thank Guangdong Decro for their trust in Goebel IMS and the good cooperation which enabled the very successful commissioning of the two primary slitters for their two new BOPP lines with a working width of 8.7 meters,” said Tobias Lanksweirt, managing director of Goebel Schneid- und Wickelsysteme.

  • Budget Office Urged to Ditch Flavored Cigar Ban

    Budget Office Urged to Ditch Flavored Cigar Ban

    Photo: Paul Raven

    The Cigar Association of America (CAA) has asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to withdraw the Food and Drug Administration flavored cigar product standard (FCPS) banning flavors in cigars, which it said would cost the industry nearly $4 billion in sales—up to 47 percent of industry sales—and destroy 16,000 jobs.

    “We presented evidence to OMB that FDA’s proposed flavored cigar ban dramatically fails to meet the criteria necessary for such a ban under the Tobacco Control Act, offering little or no public health benefit while having a devastating economic impact on the industry,” said CAA President David Ozgo in a statement following the group’s Nov. 6 meeting with OMB officials.

    “FDA claims the product standard will reduce youth usage of cigars and that prohibiting flavored cigars will address health disparities in minority adult subpopulations. CAA showed OMB government data demonstrating that neither of these claims is true.”

    In order for FDA to impose a flavored cigar ban through a FCPS, the law requires that the Agency consider: whether the potential product standard is appropriate for the public health, taking into consideration scientific evidence concerning the risks and benefits to the population as a whole; the increased or decreased likelihood that existing users of tobacco products will stop using such products; and, the increased or decreased likelihood that those who do not use tobacco products will start using such products.

    “FDA’s flavored cigar product standard fails on all three accounts,” Ozgo charged. “Youth usage rates of cigars, and of flavored cigars in particular, are at all-time lows and these low rates reflect a stable and sustained trend.”

    There is little or no public health benefit from the proposed flavored cigar product standard, but huge negative economic consequences will result.

    David Ozgo, president, CAA

    The 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) showed past 30‐day youth cigar use at 1.85 percent and past 30‐day youth flavored cigar use at 0.83 percent. The recently released 2023 NYTS data showed past 30‐day youth cigar use has declined to 1.6 percent. While the flavored cigar use data has not yet been released, it is expected to follow the trend at under 1 percent of use.

    Other government surveys reflect similar trends. In fact, the most recent Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Survey (PATH) showed that past 30-day youth usage of cigars was only 0.7 percent and past 30-day youth usage of flavored cigars was just 0.14 percent.

    In addition to unsupported youth usage claims, the CAA contends that the FDA failed to show that adult subpopulation health disparities are associated with flavored cigar use or that banning flavored cigars would remedy these disparities among Black, Non-Hispanic Americans. The CAA did so despite the fact that FDA is required by law to base its decisions not on subpopulation impacts but on impacts to the population as a whole.

    “FDA’s claims aside, there is simply not a pattern of use of these products that raises a concern of public health that can justify eliminating an entire category of products, while depriving adult consumers of the right to choose these products” Ozgo said.

    While the public health case is non-existent, FDA’s proposal would have dramatically negative economic consequences. A recent study by the Policy Navigation Group showed the flavored cigar ban would reduce retail sales by nearly $4 billion, up to 47 percent of industry sales, causing some 16,000 people to lose their jobs.

    The CAA and other industry groups recently convinced a court to reject the agency’s effort to regulate “premium” cigars. More particularly, the judge in the case ruled against the FDA, citing the agency for ignoring the scientific evidence. The proposed FCPS similarly ignores scientific evidence.

    “Just as it did in 2016 and 2019, we urge OMB to again reject FDA’s flavored cigar proposal,” said Ozgo. “There is little or no public health benefit from the proposed FCPS, but huge negative economic consequences will result. This is as bad as public policy gets. Ultimately, FDA’s proposal is a solution in search of a problem.”

  • 22nd Century Continues VLN Expansion

    22nd Century Continues VLN Expansion

    Photo: 22nd Century Group

    22nd Century Group has expanded its VLN retail presence with more than 500 additional locations across 11 U.S. states.

    With these latest additions, 22nd Century Group’s FDA-authorized VLN reduced nicotine content cigarettes can now be found at more than 5,100 store locations spanning 23 states, including the addition of Washington, Oregon, Kentucky and Louisiana.

    “The addition of over 500 new VLN sales locations has propelled us beyond the noteworthy milestone of 5,100 stores. Our VLN sales presence now extends to 23 states, making VLN available in many of the top markets where smokers reside,” said 22nd Century Group interim CEO John Miller in a statement.

    “VLN is purposefully crafted to offer adult smokers a clinically documented tool to gradually reduce their smoking frequency and mitigate the associated health risks over time. We are pleased that an increasing number of adult smokers now have access to this important product if they are seeking new ways to reduce their smoking habit,” said Miller.

  • Policymakers Must Keep Up With Innovation: Poll

    Policymakers Must Keep Up With Innovation: Poll

    Photo: Minerva Studio

    Policymakers must keep up with innovative breakthroughs to benefit public health, according to respondents to an international survey carried out by Povaddo and commissioned by Philip Morris International. Seventy-four percent of participants agreed that governments’ failure to act in a timely fashion has negative consequences for public health.

    Fielded among 30,591 general population adults aged 21 or older in 15 countries, the survey included the following results:

    • 63 percent of respondents support harm reduction as an appropriate approach to help move adult consumers who do not quit smoking away from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
    • Over half of respondents (56 percent) believe their governments need to consider the role that smoke-free alternatives can play in eradicating cigarette use in their country.
    • Respondents overwhelmingly agree that impacted people’s voices must be heard, with 81 percent stating that governments need to consider the views of adults who smoke or use other nicotine products when deciding how to regulate different nicotine products.

    According to PMI, the results reinforce the call to put an end to inaction and accelerate progress on a smoke-free future.

    “In a world that demands change, it is imperative that regulators and public health officials hear from those most impacted by a policy of inaction,” said Gregoire Verdeaux, senior vice president, external affairs at PMI, in a statement. “In the case of cigarettes, those paying the highest price are adult smokers in need of better options. Their voices, needs, and aspirations must be central to the strategies and policies crafted to create a better future.”