Category: Featured

Survey Details Advocacy for Safer Nicotine

Image: Andrii Yalanskyi | Adobe Stock
Knowledge-Action-Change (KAC) has released a global survey investigating the role and activities of consumer organizations advocating for access to safer nicotine products (SNPs) and tobacco harm reduction.
Carried out by KAC’s Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction project, the research was published in Public Health Challenges.
It reveals that there are 54 active consumer advocacy groups working around the world to raise awareness about, and promote the availability of and access to, SNPs, which include nicotine vaping products (e-cigarettes), Swedish-style snus, nicotine pouches and heated-tobacco products.
The authors of the survey found that the vast majority of organizations (42) were operated entirely by volunteers, most of whom had successfully quit smoking with the help of SNPs.
Only seven of the groups had any contracted or paid staff (13 people globally), and for the last full year, the total funding for all organizations surveyed amounted to $309,810. This is in stark contrast to the millions of dollars spent on campaigns by actors, such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, seeking to limit access to SNPs, such as nicotine vaping products. The paper also notes that none of the consumer advocacy organizations reported receiving funding from tobacco or pharmaceutical companies.

This paper starkly demonstrates the major imbalance in resources available to consumer organizations advocating for access to safer nicotine products and those opposed to tobacco harm reduction, unfairly skewing the debate.
Gerry Stimson, director, KAC
Many of these organizations are members of four regional umbrella organizations covering Latin America (ARDT Iberoamerica), Africa (CASA), Europe (ETHRA) and Asia-Pacific (CAPHRA).
“This survey offered a unique opportunity to map these advocacy organizations for the first time and provide valuable insight into how they are operating all over the world,” said Tomasz Jerzynski, lead author and data scientist for the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction project. “The sustainability of these organizations is one of the main concerns that has come out of the data. All of these groups face challenges due to their small numbers of core workers and their dependence on volunteers.”
“This paper starkly demonstrates the major imbalance in resources available to consumer organizations advocating for access to safer nicotine products and those opposed to tobacco harm reduction, unfairly skewing the debate,” said Gerry Stimson, report author, director of KAC and emeritus professor at Imperial College London. “It also highlights why consumer groups must be recognized as legitimate stakeholders in the policy sphere.”
February 1, 2023
PMI, BAT Recognized for Gender Equality

Image: melita | Adobe Stock
Philip Morris International and BAT were included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI).
PMI made the index for the third year running, achieving an overall score of 80.6 percent.
“Achieving gender balance at all levels of the company is one of our top priorities, and I am delighted that our efforts are recognized again in this year’s index,” said Silke Muenster, chief diversity officer at PMI. “While we are making significant progress, we know we need to keep our foot on the acceleration pedal. An inclusive workplace that leverages the full talents of both women and men is crucial to our smoke-free vision, making our organization more innovative, resourceful and engaged.”
In 2022, PMI achieved its target of ensuring at least 40 percent female representation in managerial roles and announced a new target to achieve 35 percent of women in senior roles by the end of 2025, among other targets.
BAT, which participated in the index for the first time, received a score of 75 percent. BAT was recognized for creating an inclusive culture for women via its recruiting initiatives, adoption of family-friendly policies, sponsoring programs dedicated to educating women, and support of community programs. Inclusion in the index follows BAT being named as a Global Top Employer for a sixth successive year.
“Recognition in this year’s Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index demonstrates our commitment to addressing gender diversity and highlights our concerted global efforts to provide transparent reporting,” said Hae In Kim, BAT’s director of talent, culture and inclusion. “With more than 50,000 employees worldwide, our diversity and inclusion strategy is truly global, and I continue to be incredibly proud of the collective efforts made by all our employees.”
The GEI measures gender equality performance globally across five pillars as set by Bloomberg: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. The 2023 Bloomberg GEI comprises 485 companies from 45 countries and regions.
February 1, 2023
Trade Group: Cigar Flavor Ban Harmful

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Banning flavored cigars would do more harm than good, according to David Ozgo, president of the Cigar Association of America, reports The Center Square.
“The economic impact is one thing, but just as important is the fact that what you’re doing is taking away an adult’s right to choose,” Ozgo said. “When President [Barack] Obama passed legislation in 2009 regulating tobacco, he stressed the idea was not to take away an adult’s right to use tobacco if that’s what they choose.”
In 2021, flavored cigars made up 47 percent of the market, so banning them would have a huge economic impact, according to Ozgo. He projects losses of about $4 billion in retail sales, 16,000 jobs, $840 million in wages and an estimated $750 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.
“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”
Ozgo countered that it’s already illegal for a person under 21 to purchase tobacco. Government data shows less than 1 percent of youth use flavored cigars, he noted.
“This is a solution in search of a problem,” Ozgo said. “When you look at indicators of nicotine addiction, they’re not the same as, say, cigarettes. Really, people smoke cigars for different reasons. With cigars, it’s just something you do to relax and enjoy. We always say cigars are more of a hobby than a habit; you don’t even smoke one every day.”
February 1, 2023
KT&G Refuses Ginseng Spinoff

Photo: KT&G
KT&G has refused to spin off its ginseng business as requested by activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners, reports The Korea Herald.
“The spinoff will have little to no benefit to the company’s corporate value and shareholders from a long-term perspective,” KT&G Senior Executive Vice President Bang Kyung-man said.
Bang expressed concern that KT&G would potentially lose “synergy” in the event of the ginseng unit’s separation.
Flashlight Capital Partners has been putting pressure on KT&G to increase dividends and spin off its ginseng unit into a separate listing, among other things.
KT&G plans on initiating a share buyback program and aims to increase its overseas sales to over half by 2027. To raise the needed capital, KT&G can sell property assets and borrow from banks, according to Bang.
February 1, 2023
U.S. Cigarette Sales Down in 2020-2021

Photo: www.akolosov.art
The number of cigarettes that the largest cigarette companies in the United States sold to wholesalers and retailers nationwide decreased from 203.7 billion in 2020 to 190.2 billion in 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s most recent Cigarette Report. The report also states that in 2021, menthol flavored cigarettes comprised 37 percent of the market among major manufacturers, more than double the 16 percent market share they held in 1963.
The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion increased from $7.84 billion in 2020 to $8.06 billion in 2021. Price discounts paid to cigarette retailers ($6.01 billion) and wholesalers ($917 million) were the two largest expenditure categories in 2021. Combined spending on price discounts accounted for 86 percent of industry spending.
According to the Smokeless Tobacco Report, smokeless tobacco sales decreased from 126.8 million pounds in 2020 to 122 million pounds in 2021. The revenue from those sales rose from $4.82 billion in 2020 to $4.96 billion in 2021. Menthol flavored smokeless tobacco products comprised more than half of all sales and fruit flavored smokeless tobacco products comprised 2.7 percent.
Spending on advertising and promotion by the major manufacturers of smokeless tobacco products in the U.S. increased from $567.3 million in 2020 to $575.5 million in 2021. As with cigarettes, price discounts made up the two largest spending categories, with $308.2 million paid to retailers and $81.3 million paid to wholesalers in 2021. Combined spending on price discounts represented 67.7 percent of all industry spending.
Smokeless tobacco manufacturers also reported selling $804.8 million of nicotine lozenges or nicotine pouches in 2021, not containing tobacco, up from $422.7 million in 2020.
The Commission has issued the Cigarette Report periodically since 1967 and the Smokeless Tobacco Report periodically since 1987.
February 1, 2023
Altria Group Reports 2022 Results

Photo: Altria Group
Altria Group reported net revenues of $6.11 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022 and net revenues of $25.1 billion for the full year, down 2.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, from the comparable periods of 2021. Revenues net of excise taxes were down 0.1 percent for the quarter and up 2 percent for the full year, to $5.08 billion and $20.69 billion, respectively.
“It was an exciting year for Altria as our businesses delivered strong financial performance, and we continued to strategically invest toward our Vision,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford in a statement. “We generated strong adjusted diluted EPS growth of 5 percent and made meaningful progress in several areas of our smoke-free portfolio.”
“Our plans for 2023 include a continuation of our strategy to balance earnings growth and shareholder returns with strategic investments toward our Vision. We expect to deliver 2023 full-year adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $4.98 to $5.13, representing a growth rate of 3 percent to 6 percent from a base of $4.84 in 2022.”
Like other tobacco companies, Altria was impacted by high rates of inflation in 2022, which reduced adult tobacco consumers’ discretionary income and spending. “As a result, our businesses and the industry experienced elevated volume declines, and we observed accelerated share growth in discount cigarettes. Despite these factors, our leading tobacco brands remained resilient and we continued to observe significant brand loyalty in the tobacco space overall,” the company wrote on its website.
While Marlboro’s retail share of the total U.S. cigarette category dropped 0.4 points to 42.5 percent in 2022, the brand gained 0.5 points in the premium segment, claiming 58.2 percent of that category.
Altria Group also revised the valuation of its stake in Juul Labs, which has faced considerable regulatory and legal challenges. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the investment was worth $250 million, according to Altria.
February 1, 2023
CTP to Detail its Reagan-Udall Response

Brian King at the GTNF 2022
(Photo: Chris Frenzi)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) will provide an update in February on its planned actions in response to the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s evaluation of its program, CTP Director Brian King wrote in a letter published on the FDA website today.
In July 2022, FDA Head Robert Califf instructed the Reagan-Udall Foundation to review the agency’s food and tobacco programs following months of criticism over its handling of the baby formula shortage and e-cigarette reviews.
The report, published in December, highlighted several problems at the agency and offered suggestions for improvements in regulations and guidance, application review, compliance and enforcement.
“We are in the process of closely reviewing this feedback and in February will provide an update on our planned actions in response to the evaluation,” wrote CTP Director Brian King.
In his letter, King also noted the CTPs priorities for 2023, which include finalizing the product standards relating to menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, along with developing a proposed product standard that establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products.
January 31, 2023
BAT Restructures its Operations
Photo: BAT
British American Tobacco is restructuring its operations to streamline and accelerate the transformation of its business. The new structure will feature fewer but larger business units to improve collaboration and speed up decisionmaking.
“As our transformation journey towards our strategic milestones gathers pace, we need to further sharpen our operating model, streamline our business to drive agility, and continue to enhance organizational capabilities,” said BAT CEO Jack Bowles in a statement.
“As part of our commitment to building ‘A Better Tomorrow,’ the changes we have announced today will drive increased focus, accelerate our transformation and fuel growth as we strengthen the foundations of our future as a category-led enterprise.”
BAT will reduce the number of regions from four to three, and the number of business units from 16 to 12, while also accelerating its market exit plans. After the restructuring, the company will have the following regions: USA (Reynolds American Inc.), Americas & Europe (AME), and Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA)
In addition, two new management board roles will be created in order to ensure clarity of ownership, accountability and focus: chief transformation officer and director, combustibles.
The chief transformation officer will be responsible for driving faster transformation, accelerating greater capability build in key areas and enabling an even faster, simpler and more agile organization. The director, combustibles will lead the focus on driving value from combustibles to fuel further investment in new categories.

The changes we have announced today will drive increased focus, accelerate our transformation and fuel growth as we strengthen the foundations of our future as a category-led enterprise.
Jack Bowles, CEO, BAT
The following structural changes and appointments will take effect April 1, 2023:
Johan Vandermeulen, currently regional director, Europe, will be appointed to the new role of chief transformation officer
Luciano Comin will be appointed to the new role of director, combustibles
Frederico (Fred) Monteiro will be promoted to the management board as regional director, AME
Guy Meldrum will continue to lead BAT’s largest business in the USA as president, Reynolds American Inc.
Michael Dijanosic will take on an expanded role as regional director, APMEA
Javed Iqbal, director, digital and information, will work with the regional directors and chief transformation officer to ensure that the digital and information agenda is fully aligned with BAT’s corporate transformation
The president of Reynolds American Inc. and regional directors for AME and APMEA, and the director, digital & information, will report to the chief transformation officer. The director, combustibles will report to the chief growth officer.
Vandermeulen joined the management board in 2014 and has extensive leadership experience across BAT, previously leading the Asia Pacific and Africa & Middle East regions, following general and marketing management roles in Russia, Turkey and as a global brand director. Vandermeulen will report to Bowles.
Comin was regional director, Americas & Sub-Saharan Africa, prior to which he held senior general and marketing management positions in Europe, Mexico and Malaysia.
Monteiro has spent more than 20 years with BAT, most recently as area director of central Europe south, based in Romania. Prior to this role, Monteiro has held numerous senior leadership positions including marketing director, next generation products; head of marketing for the Europe Region and general manager, BAT Japan.
Further, David O’Reilly, director, research and science, will step down from the management board on Feb. 28, 2023, and leave BAT with effect May 31, 2023, to pursue other interests.
O’Reilly joined the management board in January 2012, and has been instrumental, both internally and externally, in driving the science agenda that has underpinned BAT’s transformation.
O’Reilly will be succeeded by James Murphy, currently executive vice president of scientific research and development at Reynolds American Inc.
Murphy has been with BAT for over 17 years and has held a number of senior roles in the center in R&D, operations and marketing as well as in the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa region. Murphy will join the management board as the director, research and science designate, with effect from Feb. 1, 2023, before assuming the role of director, research and science, reporting to the CEO, on March 1, 2023.
January 31, 2023
German Trade Group Blasts Call for Vape Ban

Jan Muecke
(Photo: German Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products)
Recent calls to ban e-cigarettes lack a scientific basis, according to the German Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products (BVTE).
In a recent interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Manne Lucha, minister of social affairs, health and integration for Baden-Württemberg, said that e-cigarettes should be treated the same as combustible cigarettes and that flavored vapor products should be banned.
“It is a scientific consensus that the intake of harmful substances when vaping e-cigarettes is much lower than when smoking tobacco. With his ‘post-factual’ statements, the minister is causing consumer uncertainty with counterproductive consequences for health policy,” said BVTE CEO Jan Muecke in a statement.
Muecke cited a 2020 statement by the German Cancer Research Center, which acknowledged that a complete switch from smoking to vaping reduces the consumer’s exposure to harmful substances. He also quoted Public Health England’s finding that e-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking.
According to the BVTE, e-cigarettes are the most frequently used smoking-cessation tool in Germany, ahead of less effective methods such as medical nicotine replacement products. The wide choice of flavored liquids, meanwhile, is a significant factor for adult smokers to switch to vaping, the organization wrote.
“Instead of fueling fears with false claims and misguided demands for bans, e-cigarettes should finally be promoted in Germany as an opportunity to minimize risks for smokers,” Muecke said.
January 31, 2023
PMI and KT&G Boost Collaboration

Photo: KT&G
Philip Morris International and KT&G are extending their cooperation in selling smoke-free devices with a long-term deal. The arrangement builds on a deal signed in March 2020 that has seen PMI commercialize the South Korean cigarette manufacturer’s Lil heat-not-burn product in more than 30 markets.
The new agreement, signed on Jan. 30, runs until Jan. 29, 2038, with performance-review cycles and associated commitments, based on volume, to be confirmed for each three-year period. PMI and KT&G expect these commitments to increase over the full duration of the agreement, starting with a total commitment for the first three-year period equivalent to 16 billion consumables.
The agreement gives PMI continued exclusive access to KT&G’s smoke-free brands and product-innovation pipeline, including offerings for low- and middle-income markets, that will enhance PMI’s existing portfolio of smoke-free products.
It gives KT&G continued access to PMI’s global commercial infrastructure and experience commercializing smoke-free products to support the further expansion of KT&G’s smoke-free business outside South Korea.
“We have been pleased with the success of our cooperation with KT&G so far and believe a long-term collaboration will accelerate the achievement of a smoke-free future. We want everyone who does not quit smoking to switch to a better alternative, for the benefit of their own health, public health, and society at large,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement, adding the KT&G’s Lil products play a complimentary role to PMI’s popular IQOS heat-not-burn device.
“With KT&G’s technology and speed of innovation and PMI’s science and commercial infrastructure, we believe our partnership will accelerate our shared vision of a smoke free future.”
“We are now able to further raise the competitiveness of KT&G’s smoke-free products in the overseas market and establish a basis for stable growth of our global business through the advancement of the strategic partnership with PMI,” said KT&G CEO Baek Bok-In in a statement. “KT&G will make efforts to acquire world-class capabilities to become a global top-tier company in NGP earlier than planned and to lead the next generation tobacco market.”
KT&G introduced Lil in 2017 and has been launching updated versions of the product at frequent intervals.
Following their March 2020 agreement, PMI and KT&G first introduced Lil in three markets including Japan. Later, they expanded sales to into 31 to countries in Europe and Central America, among other regions.
January 30, 2023