Category: Featured

Denver: Mayor Vetoes Flavored Tobacco Ban

Photo: Blanca
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed a bill that would have banned the sale of most flavored tobacco and vaping products in 2023.
In a letter to the city council, Hancock stated that such a ban would not be effective due to surrounding counties continuing to sell the products, and he added that a ban would harm small businesses. He offered a compromise, though, including boosting enforcement of existing laws, and stated that a statewide ban would be more effective. He has encouraged the city’s legislators to draft a bill that would outlaw flavors across Colorado.
The city council will discuss whether to override the veto at their Monday night meeting.
“I believe in passing and implementing effective policies,” Hancock said in an interview with The Denver Post. “I didn’t see that this bill singling Denver out would do anything to keep nicotine and vaping products from our young people.”
Public health advocates criticized Hancock’s decision.
“There is no excuse for Mayor Hancock vetoing this critical ordinance, siding with Big Tobacco over Denver’s kids and the 100-plus organizations who support this policy,” said Jodi Radke, regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a statement.
Vape show owners welcomed the veto.
“I can say we are breathing a sigh of relief today,” Monica Vandrusko, owner of Cignot, a vape shop in northwest Denver, said. “We are happy to hear Hancock wants to work with us instead of just putting us out of business.”
The Denver City Council approved the ban on most flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, and vaping products on Dec. 6, and the ban would have been effective in July 2023. Under the law, adults in Denver only would be able to buy flavored smoking products in hookah lounges and cigar and pipe shops.

December 13, 2021
Vapor Companies Brace for Radical Change

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
China’s domestic e-cigarette market is going to look very different next year. On Nov. 27, the State Council gave the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) jurisdiction over vapor products. Shortly after, the STMA issued draft rules for the sector.
While much remains unclear, the draft does offer some insights, according to an industry source who spoke to Tobacco Reporter’s sister publication, Vapor Voice, on the condition of anonymity because he didn’t have permission to speak on the matter.
For starters, China will allow only closed pod systems with tobacco-derived nicotine and tobacco-derived nicotine salts. Flavors will be permitted, and cartridges can’t leak, according to a translated copy of the proposed rules.
Unlike some other countries, China will allow only tobacco-derived nicotine. The rules do not allow for a synthetic nicotine. “Nicotine extracted from tobacco should be used, and the purity should not be less than 9 percent,” the standards state. “Benzoate, tartrate, lactate, levulinate, malate and citrate of nicotine are allowed, and nicotine for preparing the above nicotine salts shall meet the requirements of [the previous statement].”
However, synthetic nicotine will still be allowed in products for export. What isn’t clear is if that synthetic nicotine must be shipped into China premixed in PG and/or VG and held in bond or if a pure synthetic can be imported.
“There’s no legal imports of nicotine as far as we can tell,” the Vapor Voice source said. “There’s seems to be no leeway for legal imports of a pure synthetic nicotine. However, we think if people import e-liquids with nicotine as a certain percent of that, that’s okay.”
“We don’t know if it’s 10 percent or 20 percent and it can only be brought into the country to be manufactured for re-export—that appears to be okay. That is just how we are interpreting the rule though, maybe someone else is seeing it differently.”
It also seems that the proposed rules also do not allow for a company to import finished vaping products into China and then sell them domestically without having a license and being registered with STMA. However, the country will continue to encourage exports, and wants domestic manufacturers to develop markets overseas.
“What they’ve really done is they’re clamping down on anything that is destined for the domestic market,” the source said. “They’ve also tapped into the tax department. Any time a manufacturer wants to manufacturer an e-cigarette or parts for an e-cigarette, they have to have a local representative from the taxation bureau there. And each day’s production that they run, they have to pay tax on those products at the end of that day. They’re clamping down in terms of what people can do as well as trying to ensure that they collect relevant taxes from all the manufacturers.”
Chinese vapor manufacturers are still waiting to understand what needs to be done officially for a company to produce vaping products for either the international or domestic market. “We’re still waiting on that,” the source told Vapor Voice.
“The important piece isn’t the product standards. What I’m really interested in is the registration process, who’s allowed to do what, who has to issue licenses, because now there’s an emergency management bureau involved, not just STMA, so it’s a lot of people. We’re also trying to figure that piece out.”
China’s product standards do clarify what types of products China will allow domestically. The country will only allow closed-pod systems to be sold, stating that “devices and cartridges using e-liquid should have a closed structure to prevent artificial filling.”
Additionally, while flavors are approved only under a “temporary permit for additive in e-vapor matter” and any substance or flavor not listed “shall be used only after being proved to be safe and reliable by risk assessment,” the standards state. The listed additives include flavoring extracts such as coffee, cocoa, prune and vanilla bean.
The standards allow for a maximum of 20 mg nicotine per milliliter (mL).
The outlook for China’s domestic manufacturers the outlook is grim, according to the Vapor Voice source. While international players will likely survive, they are confused about what will expected when the rules are finalized.
In Shenzhen, the capital of global vapor manufacturing, the industry is said to be in a state of shock. “Everybody, from big to small, is scrambling to try and find out how this relates to them,” the source said. “They all have to register immediately with State Tobacco Monopoly to continue doing business. They have to register what they’re going to be manufacturing, what their exports are, where they are going. It’s a complete disaster.”
December 10, 2021
22nd Century Ready to Support Kiwi Plan

22nd Century Group announced today that it is ready to provide commercial support to the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan, including supplying reduced nicotine content combustible cigarettes able to meet New Zealand’s proposed standards.
The final version of the plan introduced on Dec. 9 details comprehensive measures to reduce smoking, including legislation to implement a reduced nicotine mandate.
“We applaud the bold plans in New Zealand, which is now leading the world in introducing novel and highly effective tobacco control strategies to end cigarette addiction,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group, in a statement.
“This is an ambitious plan, and reduced nicotine content cigarettes such as our VLN products will be critical to its success. We are fully prepared to support New Zealand and its Smokefree Plan as it blazes a trail for other health agencies around the world to follow, including the United States FDA and the World Health Organization,”
New Zealand’s plan details six key focus areas, the fourth of which is: “Making it easier to quit and harder to become addicted by only having low-level nicotine smoked tobacco products for sale and restricting product design features that increase their appeal and addictiveness.”
With just 0.5 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco, 22nd Century’s VLN reduced nicotine content cigarettes contain 95 percent less nicotine than conventional cigarettes, but they taste, smell and smoke the same, according to 22^nd Century Group.
22nd Century’s modified-risk tobacco product application is currently in the final stage with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the company says it remains highly confident of a positive outcome given its recent dialogue with the agency.
December 10, 2021
Eonsmoke Settles Youth-Marketing Lawsuit

Photo: Vitalii Vodolazskyi
Eonsmoke and its co-owners will pay Massachusetts nearly $51 million to settle a lawsuit over selling vapor products to minors, the office of Attorney General Maura Healey announced on its website. The e-cigarette retailer has also agreed to stop selling its products in the state.
The AG’s settlement resolves allegations that the defendants directly targeted young people for sales of its vaping products through marketing and advertising intended to appeal to youth. The attorney general’s office also alleged that Eonsmoke failed to verify the age of online purchasers of its products and failed to ensure shipments of these products were received by a person 21 years or older, the state’s minimum legal sales age for smoking products.
“Eonsmoke coordinated a campaign that intentionally targeted young people and sold dangerous and addictive vaping products directly to minors through their website,” said Healey. “We were the first to take action against this company and its owners, and today we are holding them accountable and permanently stopping them from conducting these illegal practices in our state.”
Eonsmoke ceased all operations and dissolved in 2020. If co-owners Gregory Grishayev and Michael Tolmach want to sell tobacco products in Massachusetts in the future, they are required to get authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and give notice to the AG’s Office to ensure compliance with federal and state law.
December 10, 2021
PMI Reports on Ag Labor Practices

Photo: PMI
Philip Morris International has published its Agricultural Labor Practices: 10-Year Anniversary Report. The report recognizes the company’s decade-old agricultural labor practices (ALP) program, which launched in 2011 with the aim to eliminate child labor and to achieve safe and fair working conditions on farms where PMI sources tobacco.
“In marking the 10-year anniversary of our ALP program and the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor, we have developed a comprehensive report to reflect on the progress we’ve made while acknowledging that accelerated action is more urgent than ever,” said Jennifer Motles, chief sustainability officer, PMI, in a statement. “We are acutely aware that poverty and inequality are at the root of child labor and other human rights issues. Through our focus on living income, we aim to build resilience in our farming communities, provide new and alternative sources of revenue, and improve income levels and households’ livelihoods.”
Updated in 2019 to include its living income target, PMI’s ALP program is an ambitious and comprehensive effort to improve labor practices in a global agricultural supply chain. The report reaffirms the company’s commitment to continue protecting, promoting, and supporting the socioeconomic well-being of tobacco-farming communities. This includes the ambition to achieve 100 percent of its contracted farmers paying at least the legal minimum wage by 2022, zero child labor in its tobacco supply chain by 2025, 100 percent of its contracted farmers making a living income by 2025, and 100 percent of contracted farmers supplying tobacco to PMI to have basic water access by 2025 and access to basic sanitation and hygiene by 2030.
These strategic ambitions continue to build on ALP targets already achieved in previous years, which include providing safe and decent accommodation to workers, and ensuring 100 percent of farmers and workers have access to personal protective equipment for the application of crop protection agents and prevention of green tobacco sickness.
These strategic ambitions continue to build on ALP targets already achieved in previous years, which include providing safe and decent accommodation to workers, and ensuring 100 percent of farmers and workers have access to personal protective equipment for the application of crop protection agents and prevention of green tobacco sickness.
Through our focus on living income, we aim to build resilience in our farming communities, provide new and alternative sources of revenue, and improve income levels and households’ livelihoods.
Jennifer Motles, chief sustainability officer, PMI
In commemoration of the 10-year anniversary, PMI is also partnering with Verité to integrate its learnings into an open-source toolkit that will aid companies, suppliers, and producers in driving improvements in labor practices of agricultural supply chains around the world. The initiative, called the “Verité Farm Labor Due Diligence Toolkit,” is part of an action pledge Verité has made in support of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor.
The toolkit will draw on the insights developed during Verité’s collaboration with PMI on the ALP program, as well as Verité’s work with other clients. PMI will join a coalition of other private-sector sponsors convened by Verité to support the toolkit initiative, helping to prioritize, develop and promote the materials to be included within.
“By continuing to collaborate with our partners such as Verité, we further strengthen our foundations, scale our efforts, and share our learnings to improve agriculture labor practices,” said PMI Head of Social Impact Anna Kletsidou. “As the company delivers a smoke-free future, we are expanding into electronics—leveraging our ALP learnings, PMI remains alert to environmental and social impacts created by this supply chain and is developing robust strategies to address them.”
Since its implementation, PMI’s ALP program has showcased the importance of partnership, digitalization, and continuous improvement. Earlier this year, PMI commissioned a publication focused on climate justice and the interconnectivity between environmental and social issues, recognizing the impact of climate change on human rights and the need to develop coherent and inclusive strategies.
December 10, 2021
Essentra launches ECO Flute Filter

Image: Essentra
Essentra Filters has launched ECO Flute Filter following the recent launch of ECO Active Filter. ECO Flute was developed as a sustainable, non-plastic alternative to Essentra’s Combined Performance Superior (CPS) filters and is the latest product in Essentra’s proprietary ECO range sustainable filters.
“With this latest launch of our ECO Flute Filter, we are excited to be able to offer our business partners more sustainable options to our existing range of products,” said Essentra Filters Global Marketing Manager Seng Keong Low.
The Flute definition is comparable to existing CPS filters, providing the visual impact unique to this range. The design is customizable for length, circumference, pressure drop, flute length, and can be combined with other filter segments to suit customer requirements.
More information about Essentra Filters’ ECO range of products is available at the company’s website.
December 10, 2021
IEVA: Risk of EU Flavor Ban Remains

Dustin Dahlmann (Photo: IEVA)
The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) welcomed the decision of MEPs to recognize tobacco harm reduction as a tool in beating cancer; but remains concerned that the report approved today by the European Parliament leaves the door open to a flavor ban in the EU.
The Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) recently voted on the amendments and the draft of the Beating Cancer report by Rapporteur Véronique Trillet-Lenoir. The authors of the report identify smoking as one of the main causes of cancer and IEVA agrees that everything should be done to significantly reduce the smoking rate in Europe.
“There is little scientific doubt that tobacco harm reduction is a key tool in achieving this goal,” the IEVA wrote in a press note. “Even those skeptical of tobacco harm reduction concede that vaping is many orders of magnitude less harmful than continuing to smoke. According to Public Health England, e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco and the risk of cancer drops by 99.6 percent.”
The reports’ compromise amendment on vaping includes the recognition of vaping as a tool to help some smokers quit smoking and the need for further research on vaping to be done in relative terms (i.e. in comparison to combustible tobacco).
But the final text of the report also includes a mention of further assessment of flavors “particularly attractive to minors and non-smokers” and a possible ban on them in the context of the review of the Tobacco Products Directive.
“European Parliament reports like this are necessarily a compromise,” said IEVA President Dustin Dahlmann. “IEVA notes that the variety of flavors is one of the most important reasons for smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and for vapers not to go back to smoking. A ban on flavors would eliminate one of the main advantages of the e-cigarette over the tobacco cigarette—an improved taste.”
“We also see that the importance of the e-cigarette for quitting smoking is recognized and that the risks of vaping are planned to be assessed even more in relation to the risks of smoking in the future. This approach must be pursued, and not undermined by banning most products on the market today.”
December 10, 2021
KT&G Earns ISO 50001 Certification

Photo: KT&G
KT&G has earned ISO 50001 certification from for five of its factories in South Korea.
Established by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 50001 covers energy management system standards. KT&G was recognized for establishing departmental energy targets, setting priorities and creating an evaluation process.
With this certification, KT&G now holds four major ISO certifications: ISO 9001 (quality management system), ISO 14001 (environmental management system), ISO 45001 (safety and health management system) and ISO 50001 (energy management system).
“The major certifications from ISO prove KT&G as a workplace with clear goals and systematic processes in the fields of energy, environment, safety, and quality,” a KT&G official said in a statement following the awards ceremony in Daejeon. “We plan to take the lead in creating a sustainable future value.”
Earlier this year, KT&G announced it would aim for carbon neutrality by 2050 as part of its environmental management ambitions.
December 10, 2021
Dessi Temperley Joins PMI Board of Directors

Photo: Vitezslav Vylicil
Philip Morris International has appointed Dessislava Temperley to its board of directors.
Temperley is a former global public company chief financial officer with more than 25 years of experience across a variety of sectors, working for several blue-chip multinationals. According to PMI, she has a proven track record of delivering strategic change with strong operational leadership resulting in superior financial results, most recently as group CFO and executive board member of Beiersdorf.
Prior to this, she held several senior positions at Nestlé. She is also a nonexecutive member of the board of directors for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Corbion and Cimpress.
“We are pleased to have Dessi Temperley join the Philip Morris International board of directors,” said PMI Executive Chairman André Calantzopoulos in a statement. “She brings extensive experience with financial planning and strategy, M&A and reporting to drive our business performance, and help navigate the increasing pace and scale of PMI’s continued evolution toward delivering a smoke-free future and beyond.”
December 10, 2021
Spain to Update 2006 Tobacco Law

The health ministry in Madrid (Photo: Photo: Stoyan Haytov)
Spain’s ministry of health has finalized a draft of new tobacco regulations that call for plain packaging, a higher prices and restrictions on the sales and distribution of e-cigarettes, reports Euro Weekly. The proposal also includes smoking bans in certain private spaces, such as personal motor vehicles.
Spain’s current anti-smoking legislation dates from 2006 and makes no provisions for newer nicotine products such as e-cigarettes.
The government is concerned that e-cigarettes could “encourage experimentation in young people and non-smokers”, who may be lured by the “colors of the vaporizers or the flavors used.” The ministry of health noted that many websites selling vapor products had insufficient age-verification measures in place.
Spain’s proposed regulations dovetail with the EU’s goal to create a tobacco-free generation and the World’ Health Organization’s ambition to achieve a relative reduction in tobacco consumption of 30 percent by 2025.
The draft regulations are now with Spain’s scientific and medical societies for comment.
December 10, 2021