Category: Featured

French Customs Seize 40 Tons of Counterfeits

Photo: Europol
French Customs arrested two suspected members of a criminal gang and seized 40 tons of counterfeit cigarettes in the Marseille and Paris regions.
The criminal activities were conducted by an international criminal organization operating from Asia, according to Europol. The criminal group shipped counterfeit cigarettes by container from the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa, impersonating the names of legitimate importers.
The commercialization of these cigarettes in France would have represented a tax loss of around €15 million ($16.06 million). The volume of cigarettes confiscated during this operation represents the equivalent of approximately 10 percent of the total seizures made by French Customs in 2021.
Europol facilitated the information exchange and provided specialized analytical support. On the action day, Europol deployed an expert to France to cross-check operational information against Europol’s databases in real-time and to provide leads to investigators in the field.
In 2020, Europol created the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre to increase synergies between economic and financial investigations and to strengthen its ability to support law enforcement authorities in effectively combating this major criminal threat.
May 27, 2022
Steep Rise in Brazilian Tobacco Prices

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Tobacco buyers have been paying 43 percent more for flue-cured Virginia leaf and 35 percent more for burley leaf in Brazil, reports Kohltrade, citing a partial marketing survey carried out by Afubra, a tobacco growers association.
During a May 4 meeting of the Rio Grande do Sul Tobacco Sector Chamber, Afubra President Benício Albano Werner said famers have been receiving an average of BRL15.09 ($3.16) per kg for their flue-cured tobacco and an average of BRL13.48 for their burley this year, compared with BRL10.54 and BRL13.48, respectively around the same time in 2021.
Industry sources note strong competition to purchase the remaining stocks of green tobacco from farmers. By the end of April, the cigarette tobacco-producing states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana has sold 73 percent of their Virginia tobacco, 93 percent of their Burley leaf and 92 percent of their Comum tobacco to leaf merchants.
The price increases are attributed to the rising cost of energy, fertilizers and labor, among other factors.
May 27, 2022
Kazakhstan to Raise Excise on Tobacco

Kazakhstan will increase excise taxes on cigarettes and heated-tobacco products next year, reports Kazinform, citing the country’s national economy minister, Alibek Kuantyrov.
During a session of the Majilis, Kazakhstan’s Lower House of Parliament, Kuantyrov announced that by 2024, cigarette excise taxes should be no lower than €28 ($29.94).
It was also suggested to raise excise taxes on other tobacco products, such as heated-tobacco, to harmonize tobacco product excise within the Eurasian Economic Union. According to the minister, this will require a staged increase in duties.
May 27, 2022
Universal Reports Flat 2022 Results

Photo: Universal Corp.
Universal Corp. reported sales and other operating revenue of $2.1 billion for fiscal 2022 compared with sales and other operating revenue of $1.98 billion in fiscal 2021. Reported operating income was $160.3 million, up 8 percent over that reported in 2021. The company’s tobacco operations contributed sales and other operating revenues of $1.84 billion in fiscal 2022, down slightly from the previous year.
“I am proud of our fiscal year 2022 results, which were generally comparable to those in fiscal year 2021,” said George C. Freeman III, chairman, president and CEO of Universal Corp., in a statement. “During fiscal year 2022, we continued to face a very challenging logistical environment in many of our key tobacco regions. Strong performance from our Ingredients Operations segment offset some challenges that reduced results in our Tobacco Operations segment.
“Our plant-based ingredients platform is coming together nicely and is exceeding our expectations. With the acquisition of Shank’s Extracts, we are now positioned to offer our customers a broad range of products, from fruit and vegetable juices, concentrates and dehydrated ingredients to botanical extracts and flavorings. In fiscal year 2022, the Ingredients Operations segment saw increased demand for organic-based products and continued strong volumes for human and pet food categories as well as for vanilla extracts.

We continue to see opportunities to increase market share and expand the supply chain services we provide our customers.
George C. Freeman III, chairman, president and CEO, Universal Corp.
“Ongoing shipping constraints reduced our Tobacco Operations segment results for the year and quarter ended March 31, 2022, as a result of continued limitations in worldwide shipping availability stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the logistical constraints in fiscal year 2021, we had carryover tobacco volumes, which shipped in fiscal year 2022. Similar logistical constraints impacted fiscal year 2022, which led to an even larger amount of tobacco volumes, reflecting a difference of about $70 million in revenue, which did not ship in fiscal year 2022, compared to the carryover volumes from fiscal year 2021. Tobacco shipment volumes in fiscal year 2022 were also reduced due to smaller African burley crops.
“We experienced volatile tobacco and currency markets in Brazil during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022. Appreciation of the Brazilian currency coupled with strong demand for leaf tobacco led to unprecedented increases in green prices for leaf tobacco and earlier purchasing of the 2022 Brazilian crop, resulting in disruptions to market dynamics. To fulfill our customers’ orders, leaf tobacco purchases from our contracted farmers this season have been at the prevailing inflated market price for all leaf tobacco regardless of the quality of leaf tobacco. This resulted in larger inventory write downs in the quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter.
“As we move into fiscal year 2023, we are seeing strong demand for our plant-based ingredients and tobacco products. We believe leaf tobacco supply for flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured and oriental tobaccos to be in an undersupply position. At the same time, we continue to see opportunities to increase market share and expand the supply chain services we provide our customers. We expect continued logistical constraints as well as higher costs, particularly freight, raw materials, labor, fertilizer and energy, in both our tobacco and ingredients businesses. We are actively working to mitigate these challenges, and I am confident that we can deliver another good ye
May 26, 2022
Study: Vapes Have Higher Health Costs Than Smokes

Photo: Tobacco Reporter Archive
The use of electronic cigarettes costs the United States $15 billion annually in healthcare expenditures—more than $2,000 per person a year—according to a study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing.
The study, published on May 23 in Tobacco Control, is the first to look at the healthcare costs of e-cigarette use among adults 18 and older, according to the release.
“Our finding indicates that healthcare expenditures for a person who uses e-cigarettes are $2,024 more per year than for a person who doesn’t use any tobacco products,” said lead author Yingning Wang of the UCSF Institute for Health and Aging.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, combustible cigarette smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion each year, including more than $225 billion for direct medical care for adults.
The researchers based their estimates of healthcare costs and utilization on data from the 2015–2018 National Health Interview Survey. Healthcare utilization included nights in the hospital, emergency room visits, doctor visits and home visits.
“Healthcare costs attributable to e-cigarette use are already greater than our estimates of healthcare costs attributable to cigar and smokeless tobacco use,” said Wang. “This is a concerning finding given that e-cigarettes are a relatively new product whose impact is likely to increase over time.”
May 25, 2022
Latest PATH Data Files Released
Photo: Tobacco Reporter Archive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products and the National Institute of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse announced the availability and location of newly released and updated data files from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, including the following:
New data sets:
Wave 5.5 Special Collection Restricted-Use File (SCRUF)
PATH Study Adult Telephone Survey (PATH-ATS) SCRUF
Updated datasets:
PATH Study Restricted-Use Files: Ever/Never Reference Data
Master Linkage Files (MLF)
The Wave 5.5 Special Collection data were collected from youth participants ages 13 to 19 between July and December 2020. Data in the PATH-ATS were collected between September and December 2020 from a subsample of adult participants ages 20 and older, complementing the Wave 5.5 Special Collection. Additionally, Restricted-Use Files have been updated to include Wave 5 Ever/Never Reference Data, and the Restricted-Use and Public-Use Master Linkage Files have been updated.
Questions about the collection, content, weighting, documentation, or structure of PATH Study data (this excludes questions on statistical analysis or analytic guidance) may be submitted to PATHDataUserQuestions@Westat.com.
May 25, 2022
John Miller Joins 22nd Century Group

John Milller
John J. Miller has joined 22nd Century Group to help the company achieve the full potential of its reduced-nicotine business.
Miller has more than 35 years of experience in the tobacco and consumer packaged goods industries. He will work directly with Jim Mish, CEO, and with Michael Zercher, chief operating officer of 22nd Century Group.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome John Miller to our team,” said Mish. “His significant hands-on expertise and insight in strategic planning, assessing and implementing strategic partnership opportunities, and leading sales and marketing efforts will be instrumental in accelerating revenue, profit and market share growth for the company. We look forward to John’s contributions to the success of the company’s launch of VLN, our reduced nicotine cigarettes with 95 percent less nicotine than conventional cigarettes, which is the first and only modified-risk tobacco product approved by the FDA.”
“I am extremely impressed with the team of outstanding professionals at 22nd Century Group and their commitment to product innovation,” said Miller in a statement. “I am very enthusiastic to be joining the company at this pivotal time in its history and leading the VLN initiative on the heels of the product’s successful pilot launch. VLN is a transformative brand with tremendous market potential. I am incredibly optimistic about the meaningful difference it could make in the lives of people to help them smoke less.”
Most recently, Miller was the president and CEO of Swisher International, a 160-year-old leading lifestyle brands company that is the largest manufacturer and exporter of cigars and smokeless tobacco products in America. Miller joined Swisher in November 2012 as senior vice president of sales and marketing, was promoted to president in 2017 and was named CEO in March 2021.
Miller’s experience also includes more than 20 years in various management positions at U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. As regional vice president, he had direct oversight and responsibility for all sales, planning and operations for key brands in the Western United States. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. was acquired by Altria in 2009.
Miller holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Master of Business Administration degree from the George L. Graziadio School of Business Management at Pepperdine University.
May 24, 2022
Lucy Submits PMTAs for Modern Oral Products

Photo: Lucy Goods
Lucy Goods has submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking marketing authorization of 42 of its modern oral nicotine products, including its innovative line of capsule pouches.
Lucy is a developer, marketer and distributor of next-generation nicotine products that offer adult tobacco consumers alternatives to conventional tobacco. One of the key product innovations described in Lucy’s recently submitted PMTAs is its use of nontobacco nicotine.
The nontobacco nicotine in Lucy products is manufactured using principles of green chemistry but is otherwise chemically identical to tobacco-derived nicotine in other modern oral products on the market, according to Lucy Goods. The low-waste manufacturing process does not require arable land or pesticides used in the cultivation of tobacco for tobacco-derived nicotine.
Lucy’s recent filings represent the second round of FDA applications from the company. In 2020, Lucy submitted PMTAs for its modern oral nicotine products containing tobacco-derived nicotine, which are currently under review by the FDA. Even before the FDA was granted regulatory authority over nontobacco nicotine products, the company had been engaged in serious efforts to prepare PMTAs for its suite of nontobacco nicotine products.
Willie McKinney
“Lucy’s commitment to working with the FDA is essential to its goal of delivering innovative nicotine products for switching adult smokers,” said Willie McKinney, CEO of McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors and a regulatory advisor to Lucy, in a statement. “These PMTAs for Lucy’s NTN [nontobacco nicotine] modern oral products demonstrate the company’s ability to drive such innovation responsibly.”
“Submitting PMTAs for our nontobacco nicotine products is a key milestone for us as we continue to create the highest quality and most innovative products in the industry,” stated David Renteln, CEO of Lucy. “We are proud of the evidence we have provided to the FDA in these PMTAs, and we look forward to working with the agency as the process moves forward.”
Lucy is an independently owned and operated nicotine alternative company formed with the mission of reducing tobacco-related harm to zero.
May 24, 2022
Malawi Makes $26 Million From Tobacco

Photo: Tobacco Reporter Archive
Malawi has sold 13 million kg of tobacco generating over $26 million during the ongoing tobacco sales at the country’s four tobacco floors, according to Malawi24.com.
The Tobacco Commission (TC) has described the current situation in tobacco markets as “promising” despite challenges leading to low volumes of leaf.
“For illustration purposes, burley tobacco grades of NG (nondescript) that would ordinarily be bought at the government’s set minimum price of $0.95 because of reflecting on its quality had been bought at a price as high as $1.76, which is 85 percent higher than the set minimum price,” said Joseph Chidanti Malunga, the TC’s CEO.
“As of [May 18], the average price of the leaf was $2.04 per kg. We anticipate that we can get even better prices, but these are positive developments on the market.”
“Even the rejection rate has tremendously reduced, and, in some cases, we don’t even have rejection. I went to Mzuzu [and] the other time Chinkhoma—there was no rejection at a particular point. So, this is exciting not just to the commission but [to] the growers as well,” he added.
Chidanti Malunga indicated that this year the commission will only manage to sell at least 100 million kg of the product against the required 161 million kg, which he attributed to a change of rainfall patterns.
May 23, 2022
Bangladesh: MPs Want Tobacco-Free Country

Photo: LadyInBlack | Adobe Stock
About 40 Members of Parliament (MPs) adopted a declaration to achieve tobacco-free status in Bangladesh by 2040, according to The Dhaka Tribune.
MP Habibe Millat presented the declaration at a media briefing on May 20, 2022, in Cox’s Bazar. The three-day Conference on Achieving a Tobacco-Free Bangladesh by 2040 was organized by the Bangladesh Parliamentary Forum for Health and Well-Being (BPFHW) at the Sea Pearl Resort. The conference was organized in association with the Shastho Shurokkha Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) Bangladesh.
Signed by Habibe, chairman of the BPFHW, the 16-point declaration acknowledged the progress on the commitment so far, recognized the urgent need for action and recommended some key actions to realize the vision.
Officials noted progress through the Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) Act 2005, as amended in 2013, and the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Rules 2006 and 2015, which led to a reduction in overall adult smoking rates from 43.3 percent in 2009 to 35.3 percent in 2017.
May 23, 2022