Category: Featured

Vaping Group Supports Call to Defund WHO

John Dunne (Photo: UKVIA)
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has joined the chorus of voices condemning the World Health Organization (WHO) for its urging of countries to take an aggressive anti-vaping stance ahead of a crucial health summit later this year.
According to leaked documents reported in the Daily Express, the WHO plans to use November’s COP9 summit in the Netherlands as a platform to tell leading international health figures that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as smoking tobacco.
The UKVIA joins the criticism of the WHO by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Chair Mark Pawsey, MP, who has called into question why the U.K. government is continuing to fund the body to the tune of £340 million ($471.8 million) over the next four years.
The UKVIA notes that this action flies in the face of the scientific reality of vaping in the U.K., which has seen millions of people quit smoking in recent years. Research by British scientists has consistently shown vaping to be the most popular and successful aide to quitting smoking.
The Cochrane Review into e-cigarettes highlights that existing studies show that vaping is nearly 50 percent more effective in helping smokers quit cigarettes than other methods of smoking cessation, according to the UKVIA. The review found that as many as 11 percent of smokers using a nicotine e‐cigarette to stop smoking might successfully stop compared to only 6 percent of smokers using nicotine‐replacement therapy or nicotine‐free e‐cigarettes or 4 percent of people having no support or behavioral support only.
The vaping industry here in the U.K., together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, is right to call out these baseless attacks on the sector.
John Dunne, director general, UKVIA
There are already 3.2 million adults in Great Britain who have made the switch from smoking. The vaping industry needs to be supported as a British success and able to assist the remaining 6.9 million adult smokers in the U.K., according to the UKVIA.
“The stance of the World Health Organization is extremely concerning,” said John Dunne, UKVIA director general, in a statement. “The vaping industry here in the U.K., together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, is right to call out these baseless attacks on the sector. Vaping is a great British success story, enabling millions of people to switch from smoking.
“The APPG is also right to call for the U.K. government to reconsider the level of its funding to the World Health Organization in light of these reports. Thankfully, now that the U.K. has left the EU, it is no longer bound by the ridiculous, and quite frankly dangerous, WHO messaging urging the bloc to treat vaping in the same way as smoking.”
May 3, 2021
Critics: EU Committee Ignores Science
Photo: pavel_shishkin
The European Commission has missed an opportunity to bolster its Beating Cancer Plan and recognize the importance of vaping in reducing smoking-related diseases among Europeans, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
A recent report from the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) fails to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking, the IEVA noted in a statement. “Such an omission renders the report of little use to policymakers,” it wrote. “An assessment of the impact e-cigarettes have had on European public health must be informed by this evidence.”
Independent and publicly funded scientific research has shown that e-cigarette use is far less harmful than smoking, according to the IEVA.
“The SCHEER committee has failed to present scientific data on vaping in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of the IEVA. “The result is a report that is little more than a series of baseless predetermined assertions. Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted, and this alone has serious public health implications. We urge decision-makers in Brussels to integrate harm reduction in their overall strategy.”

Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted.
Dustin Dahlmann, president, IEVA
An earlier draft of this report was put to public consultation in September 2020 and was widely criticized. Yet, the final report reiterates the core findings of the initial draft.
A comprehensive critique of this draft was published in the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal. The authors assert that “the opinion’s conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as [a] substitute for tobacco cigarettes.”
The Harm Reduction Journal report recommends seven crucial areas that the committee should have considered to address this significant deficit, but SCHEER has decided not to do so. These were:
The potential health benefits of ENDS substitution for cigarette smoking;
Alternative hypotheses and contradictory studies on the gateway effect;
Its assessment of cardiovascular risk;
The measurements of frequency of use;
Non-nicotine use;
The role of flavors; and
A fulsome discussion of cessation.
Earlier this week, the World Vaper Alliance expressed similar concerns about the SHEER report.
May 3, 2021
Japan Tobacco Reports ‘Robust’ First Quarter

Photo: JTI
The Japan Tobacco Group reported revenue of ¥547.4 billion ($5.02 billion) for the first quarter of 2021, up 5.3 percent over the revenue reported in the 2020 first quarter. Adjusted operating profit increased 21.3 percent to ¥178.1 billion while operating profit was up 24.2 percent to ¥160.1 billion. At constant currency, adjusted operating profit was ¥186.9 billion, up 27.2 percent from the 2020 quarter.
“JT Group maintained a strong momentum in the tobacco business, mainly fueled by continued market share gains in combustibles in many markets. Furthermore, temporary and favorable industry volume trends in some mature markets resulted in a robust first quarter,” said Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO of the JT Group, in a statement.

JT Group maintained a strong momentum in the tobacco business, mainly fueled by continued market share gains in combustibles in many markets.
Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO, JT Group
“As announced in February, we are focusing our management resources on heated-tobacco sticks and are currently preparing the launch of Ploom X, our next-generation device in this category, in the second half of this year. Additionally, we are making steady progress as planned in developing a blueprint of our new operating model and organizational structure for a combined tobacco business from 2022.
“With our robust first-quarter performance, we aim to achieve our full-year forecast. However, we cannot ignore the uncertainties that the Covid-19 pandemic poses, so we will continue to closely monitor the changing operating environment.”
For the full-year 2021, the JT Group expects revenue to decrease by 0.6 percent to ¥2.08 trillion. Consolidated adjusted operating profit at constant currency is expected to increase by 5.1 percent to ¥512 billion.
On a reported basis, adjusted operating profit is forecast to decrease by 2.5 percent to ¥475 billion. Operating profit is forecast to decrease by 22.6 percent to ¥363 billion.
April 30, 2021
Tobacco Evaluating Menthol Announcement

Ohoto: auremar
Tobacco companies are assessing the impact of the Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars. On April 29, the agency announced it is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year.
Altria and Reynolds American said they would evaluate the proposal, while Imperial’s U.S. business, ITG Brands, said it was disappointing but not unexpected.
“We believe the rulemaking process will reveal that there is no clear scientific evidence to support a federal menthol and flavor ban,” ITG Brands wrote in a statement. “We are hopeful that FDA will follow the law and prioritize sound policy and science over political pressure.
“ITG Brands is well prepared to engage with the FDA to ensure that the agency is guided by the science on this issue and that regulators give due consideration to the numerous unintended consequences that such policies would inevitably bring. We will also make sure the voices of our adult consumers and wholesale and retail partners are represented during every stage of the years-long rulemaking process.”
“We share the common goal of moving adult smokers from cigarettes to potentially less harmful alternatives, but prohibition does not work,” an Altria spokesman told Reuters. “Criminalizing menthol will lead to serious unintended consequences.”
Reynolds, which owns the top-selling U.S. menthol brand Newport, said in a statement Thursday that “the published science does not support regulating menthol cigarettes differently from nonmenthol … nor does it support that menthol cigarettes adversely affect initiation, dependence or cessation.”
“Reynolds will evaluate any proposed regulation and will participate in any consultation and the rulemaking process by submitting robust, science-based evidence.”
U.S. menthol cigarettes accounted for about 25 percent of BAT’s profit, 20 percent for Altria and 15 percent for Imperial, according to brokerage Jefferies.
The proposed ban can take years to implement and might throw the health regulator into protracted legal battles with the industry.
Anti-smoking groups have for decades argued that mentholated cigarettes contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and often draw young people into smoking.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew Myers said the latest move could be the “strongest action” that the United States “has ever taken to drive down the number of kids who start smoking.”
Critics say a menthol ban is misguided. In a commentary, Guy Bentley of the Reason Foundation said the proposed measure is illiberal and violates the fundamental spirit of fairness.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said the FDA’s initiative has the potential to backfire if the agency does not promote nicotine and tobacco harm reduction products along with the menthol ban.
“Evidence from other countries suggests that a menthol ban is not a magic wand that will spur a majority of users to quit nicotine entirely,” Conley was quoted as saying by The Winston-Salem Journal.
“There will be no massive public health benefit if the response from most menthol and little cigar smokers is to switch to Marlboros or use illicit products bought off the street,” said Conley.
Menthol cigarettes are already banned in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the European Union. California and Massachusetts have also outlawed mentholated cigarettes.
The FDA is also considering requiring cigarette manufacturers to lower the levels of nicotine in their products to nonaddictive levels.
“Lowering nicotine content in cigarettes … that’s something that’s still under consideration,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said on a media call on Thursday.
April 30, 2021
Guy Bentley: Banning Menthol is Misguided
Guy Bentley
The case for banning menthol fails on both public health and broader societal grounds, according to Guy Bentley, the director of consumer freedom research at Reason Foundation. On April 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its intention to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors (including menthol) in cigars.
The agency said it is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year. As part of the rulemaking process, the FDA must solicit input and consider consequences of a menthol ban, including unintended consequences.
In a commentary published on the Reason Foundation’s website, Bentley says the proposed menthol ban is illiberal and violates the fundamental spirit of fairness. He goes on to lists 10 reasons why such a measure would be misguided:
Contrary to what proponents of a ban say, most youth smokers don’t use menthol cigarettes. According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the popularity of menthol cigarettes among young people has declined substantially. From 2014 to 2018, the percentage of youth smokers using a menthol product fell from 54.5 percent to 46.1 percent.
While Black smokers use menthol at significantly higher rates than white smokers do, they have lower smoking rates overall. According to CDC data for 2020, the rate of smoking among Black, non-Hispanic high school students was 2.8 percent compared to 5.3 percent of white, non-Hispanic smoking high school students.
Black adults smoke at a similar rate to white adults but the preferred products of white smokers aren’t targeted by the ban.
States with higher menthol consumption have lower youth smoking rates.
Menthol prohibition will create illicit markets and more police interactions, especially in minority communities. The U.S. illicit tobacco market is already between 8.5 percent and 21 percent of total sales and represents between $2.95 billion and $6.92 billion in lost gross state and local tax revenues.
Menthol bans have a poor record of reducing smoking. According to a survey published by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, just 8 percent of European menthol smokers said they had quit after the EU ban on menthol cigarettes took effect in May 2020.
Menthol cigarettes are no more dangerous than nonmenthol cigarettes. In fact, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that menthol smokers’ risk of lung cancer was around 30 percent lower than nonmenthol smokers.
Menthol cigarettes are not more addictive than nonmenthol cigarettes.
Menthol bans are unnecessary thanks to safer nicotine alternatives like e-cigarettes.
Adults should be free to choose which cigarettes they smoke.
April 30, 2021
Pyxus Secures Working Capital Funding

Photo: Pyxus International
Pyxus International announced that one of its indirect subsidiaries has entered into a term loan credit agreement with the company and certain of its other subsidiaries as guarantors, with certain funds managed by Glendon Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital as lenders and Alter Domus (U.S.) as administrative agent and collateral agent.
The credit agreement establishes a $120 million delayed-draw term loan credit facility with a maturity date in July 2022.
“Covid-19 has caused delays in shipment of leaf tobacco, which, as a result, has pushed fulfillment of certain customer orders from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 into fiscal 2022,” said Pieter Sikkel, president and CEO of Pyxus International, in a statement.
“The combination of these delays along with increasing customer demand for 2021 crops has created the need for a short-term financing to fund working capital. We anticipate a portion of this loan will be repaid once Covid-19-related delays have been resolved, though a portion may be left outstanding to fund increased purchases of this year’s crop in line with our improving sales expectations.”
April 30, 2021
FDA ‘Intends’ to Ban Menthol

Photo: esser
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated its intent to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors (including menthol) in cigars. In a statement released today, the agency said it is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year.
“This decision is based on clear science and evidence establishing the addictiveness and harm of these products and builds on important previous actions that banned other flavored cigarettes in 2009,” the FDA wrote in its press release.
“Banning menthol—the last allowable flavor—in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products,” said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.
“With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products.”
According to the FDA, there is strong evidence that a menthol ban will help people quit. “Studies show that menthol increases the appeal of tobacco and facilitates progression to regular smoking, particularly among youth and young adults,” the agency stated. “Menthol masks unpleasant flavors and harshness of tobacco products, making them easier to start using. Tobacco products with menthol can also be more addictive and harder to quit by enhancing the effects of nicotine.”
One study cited by the FDA suggests that banning menthol cigarettes in the U.S. would lead an additional 923,000 smokers to quit, including 230,000 Black Americans in the first 13 to 17 months after a ban goes into effect. An earlier study projected that about 633,000 deaths would be averted, including about 237,000 deaths of Black Americans.

These flavor standards would reduce cigarette and cigar initiation and use, reduce health disparities and promote health equity by addressing a significant and disparate source of harm.
Mitch Zeller, Director, CTP
“For far too long, certain populations, including African Americans, have been targeted and disproportionately impacted by tobacco use. Despite the tremendous progress we’ve made in getting people to stop smoking over the past 55 years, that progress hasn’t been experienced by everyone equally,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
“These flavor standards would reduce cigarette and cigar initiation and use, reduce health disparities and promote health equity by addressing a significant and disparate source of harm. Taken together, these policies will help save lives and improve the public health of our country as we confront the leading cause of preventable disease and death.”
The FDA stressed that, if implemented, enforcement of any ban on menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars will address only manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers and retailers. “The FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumer possession or use of menthol cigarettes or any tobacco product,” the agency stated.
Racial justice groups have expressed concern that by outlawing menthols, the FDA would set the stage for more negative interactions between law enforcement and people of color, who smoke a disproportionate share of menthol cigarettes.
Earlier this week, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing more than 200 African American-owned community newspapers from around the United States, and leading Black and Hispanic law enforcement executives, too, sent a letter urging the FDA to keep menthol cigarettes legal.
In acting on menthol, the FDA granted a citizen’s petition requesting that the agency pursue rulemaking to prohibit menthol in cigarettes, affirming its commitment to proposing such a product standard.
The 2009 Tobacco Control Act (TCA) did not include menthol in its ban on characterizing flavors in cigarettes, leaving menthol cigarettes as the only flavored combusted cigarettes still marketed in the U.S. The law instructed the FDA to further consider the issue of menthol in cigarettes.
Since then, the FDA sought input from an independent advisory committee as required by the TCA, and further demonstrated its interest by issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, undertaking an independent evaluation and supporting broader research efforts—all to better understand the differences between menthol and nonmenthol cigarettes and the impact of menthol on population health.
In the U.S., it is estimated that there are nearly 18.6 million current smokers of menthol cigarettes. But use of menthol cigarettes among smokers is not uniform: Out of all Black smokers, nearly 85 percent smoke menthol cigarettes compared to 30 percent of white smokers who smoke menthols. In addition, among youth, from 2011 to 2018, declines in menthol cigarette use were observed among non-Hispanic white youth but not among non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic youth.
After the 2009 statutory ban on flavors in cigarettes other than menthol, use of flavored cigars increased dramatically, suggesting that the public health goals of the flavored cigarette ban may have been undermined by continued availability of these flavored cigars, according to the FDA.
Flavored mass-produced cigars and cigarillos can closely resemble cigarettes, pose many of the same public health problems and are disproportionately popular among youth and other populations. In 2020, non-Hispanic Black high school students reported past 30-day cigar smoking at levels twice as high as their white counterparts.
Nearly 74 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 who use cigars say they smoke cigars because they come in flavors they enjoy, according to the FDA. Among youth who have ever tried a cigar, 68 percent of cigarillo users and 56 percent of filtered cigar users report that their first cigar was a flavored product. Moreover, in 2020, more young people tried a cigar every day than the number of young people who tried a cigarette.
Pamela Kaufman
Pamela Kaufman and Sanath Sudarsan of Morgan Stanley said that while the absence of a proposed rule in today’s statement was “somewhat better than the market had feared,” the FDA’s plan is likely to remain an overhang for the sector. They also noted the agency did not indicate plans to ban menthol in noncombustible products such as e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn products and nicotine pouches, which could help incentivize smokers to move away from cigarettes and toward reduced-risk alternatives.
Menthol regulation will have to follow the FDA’s multi-step/multi-year rulemaking process. The next step is a preliminary rule that would be subject to a comment and review period, typically lasting 90 days. The FDA would then review stakeholder responses and publish a final rule, which would require review from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Management and Budget. Once a rule is finalized, the industry would have additional time to implement the change.
Kaufman and Sudarsan expect the tobacco industry to challenge a final rule, questioning its scientific basis and stressing the risk of creating an illicit market for menthol cigarettes.

April 29, 2021
Vapor Group Dismayed by Final SHEER Report

Photo: Parilov
The EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) final report on e-cigarettes is a step backward for Europe, according to the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA). Based on weak data, it ignores crucial scientific evidence, experience from consumers and the expert opinions received in the consultation period, the advocacy group said in a statement.
“This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA. “SCHEER ignores a large amount of scientific evidence on vaping, all of which was provided by experts and consumers to SCHEER during their consultation earlier this year. They chose to ignore it. This is a slap in the face of vapers and of common sense.”
According to the WVA, the report does not consider crucial independent evidence from Public Health England, which shows that e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than smoking and recently found that vaping is the most used means to quit smoking.
“Countries like the U.K. and France are actively encouraging smokers to use vaping and switch to this less harmful alternative,” said Landl. “If the EU really wants to tackle smoking-related illnesses, it needs to look very carefully at all of the evidence. Unfortunately, the SCHEER report is biased against vaping, and its recommendations, if transposed into legislation, will damage public health.”
This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike.
Michael Landl, director, WVA
The next few months will see further legislation updates in the EU as outlined in Europe’s Beating Cancer plan, including updates to the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Excise Directive. In this context, the findings of the SCHEER committee may ultimately be detrimental to the health of Europe’s citizens.
“It seems like the main objective has been overlooked: reducing the number of smokers and tackling smoking-induced illnesses,” said Landl. “Vaping is not smoking and must not be treated the same. Regulation must be drafted in a way that encourages current smokers to switch. The EU needs to focus on practical solutions to reduce harm, and this major point is missing from the SCHEER analysis. Vaping can help smokers quit, but this report ignores that and compares vaping to nonsmoking. So it is unsurprising that the results don’t echo reality.”
The full SCHEER report is here.
April 29, 2021
U.K. Health Service to Offer Vaping Devices

Photo: UAV4
As part of a trial being led by the University of East Anglia, the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) will provide vaping devices and e-liquids to smokers coming to the emergency departments of five hospitals across the U.K. to help them quit.
Patients attending emergency departments in five hospitals in Norfolk, London, Leicester and Edinburgh will be offered a device, enough e-liquid supplies for a week and referral to local smoking cessation services alongside medical advice.
This will be followed up at one, three and six month intervals over a 30 month period to monitor success rates for those introduced to vaping compared to those only offered leaflets with details of local smoking-cessation services in the same trial.
“I welcome this trial being launched and the additional research, which will hopefully make it easier for people to quit smoking in the future,” said Norman Lamb, former health minister and former chair of the House of Commons science and technology committee.

I welcome this trial being launched and the additional research, which will hopefully make it easier for people to quit smoking in the future.
Norman Lamb, former health minister
“I am particularly keen to ensure that vaping is made available to people with mental ill health given continuing high smoking rates. It is very positive to have such a prominent trial funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) including clinical trials. I await the results with interest.”
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) heralded the NHS’ decision as a landmark moment. “This is a hugely significant moment in the history of vaping and harm reduction,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA.
“For the first time, following years of research and campaigning, we are finally at the point where the NHS looks to be fully embracing vaping and acknowledging its important role as the number one quit method.”
Dunne renewed his call to government to give vaping more opportunity to promote itself as a harm reduction alternative to smoking when it is due to review the Tobacco-Related Products Regulations in May.
“We have put forward the idea of using government-approved expert health claims on vaping products to encourage the remaining six to seven million smokers in the U.K. to switch as well as making sure that there are greater opportunities for the vaping industry to engage with smokers through marketing and advertising means, as current restrictions deter those who may have otherwise made the changeover,” he said.
“It is extremely important that hospital staff have the knowledge to advise smokers about vaping, including which devices to use, nicotine levels and flavors to opt for in order to support a successful quit.”
April 29, 2021
Video: Arrests in Anti-Counterfeit Operation
An international law enforcement operation involving the Netherlands, Poland and Europol has resulted in the arrest of 30 members of a prolific organized crime gang flooding Europe with millions of counterfeit cigarettes.
According to Europol, 94 tons of tobacco and 5.4 million counterfeit cigarettes have been removed from circulation following this international sweep. This gang is also believed to be involved in violent robberies.
This operation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.
Code-named operation PITBUUL, this operation took part in two phases. A first action day was carried out in the Netherlands at the end of March. Two illegal factories were dismantled in the Dutch cities of Schaijk and Heerlen with a production capacity of more than 1 million cigarettes per day, which equates to a tax loss of over €243,000 ($294,521) per day per factory.
A total of 21 Polish and Ukrainian workers were arrested on-site, and 5.4 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized alongside 40 tons of raw tobacco and 800 kilos of hookah tobacco.
A second action day was carried out in Poland last week to arrest the criminal masterminds running this gang. On this occasion, Polish law enforcement raided a dozen of addresses across the country. As a result, nine individuals were arrested and 54 tons of tobacco were seized alongside machinery used for the production of cigarettes. Officers also seized firearms and weapons alongside clothing resembling police uniforms, radio communication devices and signal jammers. According to initial estimates, the loss to the Polish budget is estimated in excess of €11 million.
Europol supported this case by organizing operational meetings, facilitating the exchange of information between the different countries involved and analyzing the operational data to identify the main targets. Its experts were deployed both in the Netherlands and in Poland to support the national authorities on the spot.
The investigation is still ongoing to try to find potential links to other European countries.
April 29, 2021