Category: Featured

  • WHO Urged to Embrace Nicotine Alternatives

    WHO Urged to Embrace Nicotine Alternatives

    Derek Yach

    The World Health Organization should embrace safer alternatives to cigarettes in order to save 100 million lives that will otherwise be lost to smoking, according to Derek Yach, a global health consultant who led the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative during development of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was previously president and founder of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.

    “The WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has not kept pace with scientific and technological advancements,” Yach writes in The Lancet. “Over 120 million people worldwide, in seeking a path away from combustible cigarettes, have turned to safer alternatives, such as e-cigarettes, oral nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products. Evidence suggests that these alternatives improve quit attempts compared to traditional nicotine-replacement therapy.

    “Yet, the FCTC’s current emphasis on bans, prohibitions and regulations undermines access to these safer alternatives for millions of tobacco users. It is time to recognize their potential and prioritize harm reduction.”

    Writing in response to The 20th anniversary of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: hard won progress amid evolving challenges, Yach sets out a three-point plan that he says could result in potentially 100 million fewer premature deaths between 2025 and 2060:

    • Incorporate tobacco harm reduction: The FCTC should actively promote safer alternatives, recognizing their role in reducing harm.
    • Balanced Regulation: While regulation is necessary, it should not stifle innovation or limit access to safer products.
    • Science-based policies: Governments must base decisions on evidence, fostering independence and informed choices.

    “We cannot afford to wait for a miracle,” he says. “The WHO must adapt swiftly to the changing landscape of tobacco use and embrace innovative strategies to protect public health.”

    Yach disputes Kelly Lee and colleagues’ contention that tobacco companies’ development of safer alternative is purely profit-driven.

    “Negotiations leading to the FCTC’s adoption were intricate and delicate, resulting in nearly all major tobacco producers (except the USA and Indonesia) becoming signatories,” Yach says. “Rather than demonizing these legacy companies, we should acknowledge their evolving stance. Many are actively shifting away from combustible cigarettes, embracing safer alternatives as technology evolves.

    “Saving lives requires bold action. Let us unite in our commitment to a smoke-free future—one where harm reduction leads the way.”

  • Retailers Warned Over Underage Zyn Sales

    Retailers Warned Over Underage Zyn Sales

    Photo: Swedish Match

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned multiple retailers over sales of Zyn nicotine pouches to underage consumers.

    In a note posed on its website, the agency said it had issued 119 warning letters to brick-and-mortar retailers and had filed 41 civil money penalty complaints seeking more than $55,000 in total for underage sales of flavored Zyn nicotine pouches, including espressino, black cherry, lemon spritz, and cucumber lime.

    “There is no excuse for selling tobacco products to any underage person, and FDA will hold retailers accountable for those violations—especially those who continue to do so after being warned,” said Briang King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

    The FDA generally sends warning letters the first time an investigation or inspection reveals a violation. To achieve voluntary compliance, warning letter recipients have 15 working days to respond with the steps they will take to correct and prevent future violations. However, failure to promptly correct the violations may result in additional FDA action, including civil money penalties.

  • Ireland Mulls Single-Use Ban and Age Increase

    Ireland Mulls Single-Use Ban and Age Increase

    Photo: Timothy S. Donahue

    The Minister for Health in Ireland wants to raise the minimum age for smoking to 21, according to a local press report. He would also like to ban disposable vaping products.

    Stephen Donnelly said the government is also looking at a range of legislative measures “to come

    down hard” on vaping.

    He made the remarks at an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the workplace smoking ban in Ireland, which prohibited smoking in indoor commercial spaces.

    The process for legislating new restrictions, which involves a public consultation, is complicated by Ireland’s inclusion in the EU single market.

    Donnelly said he would personally recommend raising the smoking age and that legislation was being prepared in the event it was agreed upon at the government level.

    “It’s a measure aimed at people who are 15, 16, 17 years of age that—with a smoking age of 18—they find it relatively easy to go to either buy the cigarettes themselves or get a friend or an older sibling to get them.

    “But if you move to 21, it makes it much more difficult,” he said. The country raised the age to 18 last year.

    A public consultation will also examine issues such as banning disposable vapes and extending prohibited smoking zones to outdoor seating areas.

  • South Korea to ‘Refresh’ Graphic Warnings

    South Korea to ‘Refresh’ Graphic Warnings

    Photo: KT&G

    In December 2024, South Korea will mandate new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, reports mk.co.kr .

    The new warning pictures and phrases, the fifth approved set under the National Health Promotion Act, will be applied Dec. 23, 2024, through Dec. 22, 2026. The fourth approved set of warnings expires on Dec. 22, 2024.

    The new warnings replace two out of 10 types of pictures on cigarette packs, increasing the proportion of the disease depicted, and the phrase changes from a word to a sentence.

    For e-cigarettes, the subject of the warning pictures will increase from one to two, but the warning phrases will remain the same.

    “The fifth warning picture and phrase comprehensively considered the analysis of domestic and foreign policy studies, public surveys and opinions of related experts,” said Jeong Yeon-hee, head of the Health Promotion Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “We set it as an effective plan to prevent smoking and induce smoking cessation by utilizing the purpose of introducing the cigarette pack health warning notation system.”

  • Vapers Now More Likely to Quit Cigarettes

    Vapers Now More Likely to Quit Cigarettes

    Photo: Pcess609

    Smokers who switch to e-cigarettes are now more likely to stop smoking regular cigarettes, according to a new paper published by Oxford University Press in Nicotine & Tobacco Research. In the past, smokers who began vaping mostly continued smoking.

    Electronic nicotine delivery systems first emerged on the U.S. market in 2007. The first e-cigarettes resembled conventional cigarettes (in appearance) and used fixed low-voltage batteries. Beginning in 2016, manufacturers introduced e-liquids containing nicotine salt formulations. These new e-cigarettes became widely available. These nicotine salts are lower in pH than freebase formulations, which allow manufacturers to increase nicotine concentration while avoiding harshness and bitterness.

    Past population-level research provided conflicting findings on whether vaping helps people who smoke combustible cigarettes to quit smoking. Some research suggests improved cigarette quitting-related outcomes with e-cigarette use, while other research suggests the opposite. Inconsistent findings may be due to differences in the samples and measures considered, differences in the analytic approaches of researchers used, the rapidly changing product environment, or policy contexts.

    While our study doesn’t give the answers as to why vaping is associated with cigarette quitting in the population today when it wasn’t associated with quitting years ago, design changes leading to e-cigarettes that deliver nicotine more effectively should be investigated.

    Karin Kasza, assistant professor of oncology, Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

    The researchers here examined differences in real-world trends in population-level cigarette discontinuation rates from 2013 to 2021, comparing U.S. adults who smoked combustible cigarettes and used e-cigarettes with U.S. adults who smoked combustible cigarettes and did not use e-cigarettes.

    Using data from among adults (ages 21+) in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a national longitudinal study of tobacco use from people from all over the United States, the researchers found that between 2013 and 2016, rates of discontinuing cigarette smoking among adults in the U.S. population were statistically indistinguishable between those who used e-cigarettes and those who did not. Cigarette discontinuation rates were 15.5 percent for those who used e-cigarettes and 15.6 percent for those who did not.

    But the quit rates changed in subsequent years; the researchers here found that between 2018 and 2021 only 20 percent of smokers who did not use e-cigarettes stopped smoking combustible cigarettes, but some 30.9 percent of smokers who used e-cigarettes stopped smoking combustible cigarettes.

    The paper notes that the full study period spanned a time in the United States when the e-cigarette marketplace was expanding; salt-based nicotine formulations gained market share in 2016 and vaping products became available with increased nicotine yields over time. This was also a period in which state and federal governments restricted tobacco in various ways, including increasing the tobacco-purchase age to 21 and restricting flavored e-cigarettes.

    “Our findings here suggest that the times have changed when it comes to vaping and smoking cessation for adults in the U.S.,” said study first author, Karin Kasza, an assistant professor of oncology in the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, in a statement.

    “While our study doesn’t give the answers as to why vaping is associated with cigarette quitting in the population today when it wasn’t associated with quitting years ago, design changes leading to e-cigarettes that deliver nicotine more effectively should be investigated. This work underscores the importance of using the most recent data to inform public health decisions.”

  • Sampoerna Opens Third-Party Factory

    Sampoerna Opens Third-Party Factory

    Photo: Sampoerna

    Sampoerna opened a new third-party operator (TPO) factory for hand-rolled kretek cigarettes (SKT) in Jaten, Central Java, Indonesia, on March 27.

    Owned and operated by Attin Sigaret Indonesia, Jaten facility employs approximately 2,000 people.

    During the inauguration ceremony, Directorate General of Customs and Excise Representative Iyan Rubiyanto lauded the anticipated economic impact of the new factory.

    “We hope that the opening of this TPO will continue to absorb workforce and create a multiplier effect on the surrounding economy,” he was quoted as saying. “The sustainability of the industry is among the focus of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Ministry of Finance. Therefore, let’s maintain economic sustainability as a positive impact of the SKT industry.”

    Following a period of sustained decline, the SKT segment started recovering in 2020 after the government started supporting the segment in an effort to boost employment. Partially as a result of its measures, the SKT’s share of the tobacco market increased from 17 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2023.

    “On behalf of Sampoerna and tens of thousands of SKT hand-rollers, I would like to express my gratitude for the concern and support of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, which represents the central government, in ensuring the sustainability of the tobacco industry, including protecting the SKT labor-intensive sector through various policies,” said Sampoerna Director Elvira Lianita in a statement.  

    TPO Jaten is one of five new TPOs that officially started operations in the first quarter of 2024. It complements Sampoerna’s other new SKT partnerships in Cilacap, Purwodadi, and Kebumen Regencies in Central Java, as well as Bojonegoro Regency in East Java.

    Sampoerna now has partnerships with 43 TPOs, all of which are owned and operated by local entrepreneurs and/or local cooperatives. The company now employs, directly and indirectly, more than 90,000 people, about 90 percent of whom are working in SKT production facilities.

  • Contraband Crackdown to Boost Russian Budget

    Contraband Crackdown to Boost Russian Budget

    Photo: Sabphoto

    Recent measures to strengthen control over the tobacco market could significantly boost Russia’s budget, reports Interfax, citing comments by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

    “Together, we estimated that the volume of funds mobilized from measures to control the tobacco market could reach about 150 billion rubles [$1.64 billion]. This is a significant amount of a resource that we now need,” Siluanov said at an April 2 meeting of Rosalkogoltabakkontrol, which assumed regulatory authority over the production and circulation of  tobacco and nicotine-containing products on March 1.

    Tax-avoiding products accounted for 13 percent of Russia’s tobacco market in 2023, up from 11 percent in 2021, according to Siluanov.

    Rosstat data show that tobacco companies produced 198 billion cigarettes in 2023, which is 10.7 percent less than the previous year. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some multinationals have exited the market.

    Tax authorities expect to collect RUB824.152 billion in excise taxes from tobacco products this year.

    As part of its new responsibilities, Rosalkogoltabakcontrol must identify and stop the illegal production and trafficking of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. In addition, it will monitor manufacturer compliance with licensing and mandatory requirements for production, supply and the purchase and transportation of raw materials and finished products.

  • WAI Releases Anti-Smoking Policies Index

    WAI Releases Anti-Smoking Policies Index

    Photo: carlosseller

    We Are Innovation (WAI) released the 2024 Effective Anti-Smoking Policies Global Index. The index assesses around 5.5 billion people, nearly 70 percent of the world’s estimated 8 billion population. It offers an analysis of the public policies to eradicate smoking in 69 countries across four regions. Evaluating a range of 11 categories, the index delves into the intricacies of innovative noncombusted nicotine products, scrutinizing aspects such as regulatory frameworks, prohibitions, taxation and governmental measures for switching from traditional smoking.

    The 2024 Effective Anti-Smoking Policies Global Index includes 11 new countries. The newcomers are China, Finland, India, Norway, Qatar, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam.

    The top 20 countries in the global anti-smoking index, including the U.K., Sweden, Slovakia, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Lebanon, Greece, the U.S., Spain, New Zealand, Romania, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Croatia and Austria, collectively impact almost 1 billion people worldwide. European nations dominate the list, with 15 out of the 20 spots occupied by countries from this region. However, non-European nations like the U.S., Lebanon, New Zealand, Canada and Saudi Arabia also make significant strides in terms of regulations.

    The index emphasizes the urgent need for global advancements in anti-smoking policies as the majority of the world’s population resides in countries where such policies still need improvement, according to WAI.

    “With over 8 million lives lost annually to smoking-related diseases, the need for effective anti-smoking measures is more urgent than ever,” said WAI CEO Federico N. Fernandez in a statement.

    “Nations like Sweden and New Zealand are leading the way by embracing innovative nicotine products in the fight against combustible tobacco. Their public policies allowing alternatives have yielded remarkable results, with smoking rates around 5 percent—nearly smoke-free. This success highlights the vital role innovation must play in consigning smoking to history. Policymakers worldwide must follow the example set by these countries, fully harnessing safer products to uproot smoking’s devastating toll on global health.”

  • EU Lifts Limits on Cross-Border Cigarette Purchases

    EU Lifts Limits on Cross-Border Cigarette Purchases

    Photo: Richard Villalon

    European Union countries lifted the limit on cigarette purchases from other member states on March 29, in line with EU requirement, reports The Connexion.

    Previously, the limit was one carton (200 cigarettes or 10 packs) per person. It will now be up to member states’ customs officers to determine if the quantity of cigarettes brought in are for personal use or are contraband.

    While customs authorities said the change would make it easier to combat cigarette smuggling, tobacconists in high-tax countries said it would present them with unfair competition from lower-tax jurisdictions.

    In February, French tobacconists and newsagents protested against the planned changes, saying they would cost them business. Cigarettes in neighboring Spain, for example, sell for only half the price of those in France due to lower tax rates.

    Anti-tobacco activists have also criticized the new rules, describing them as “a win for the tobacco lobby.”

    Bertrand Dautzenberg, president of the Paris Sans Tabac association, complained that Europe was prioritizing market freedoms over health.  

    He said that lifting the limit was encouraging consumers buy their cigarettes in a country where they are cheaper. The message, said Dautzenberg, is that “You can now get lung cancer or a heart attack for €7 ($7.54) a day instead of €12.”

    Dautzenberg said that the definition of “personal use” was now too loose because there is no official limit.

    Previously, the EU directive had stated that member states could not set a limit under 800 cigarettes per person.

     Some are now calling for prices to be standardized across the EU.

  • Investor Welcomes Independent Directors

    Investor Welcomes Independent Directors

    Photo: KT&G

    Flashlight Capital Partners, a significant shareholder of KT&G Corp. welcomed the cigarette manufacturers’ appointment of an independent director, which the investor said would enhance governance and shareholder value.

    At its recent annual meeting, KT&G appointed Kyung-Man Bang as its new CEO. Shareholders also approved the appointment of Dong-hwan Shon and Sang-wook Kwak as outside directors

    “We view this appointment as a victory for all shareholders, irrespective of size or nationality,” said Sanghyun Lee, managing partner of Flashlight Capital, in a statement. “With the addition of a truly independent director committed to advancing shareholder interests, KT&G has taken a crucial step towards governance normalization.”

    In a letter addressed to KT&G’s new board of directors, Lee outlined asked the company to link the compensation of the board and CEO to performance; investigate the underperformance of KT&G’s Lil heat-not-burn product in Japan; and exit the asset management business, among other actions.

    “With the appointment of the new board of directors, especially Mr. Shon, we are optimistic that KT&G’s future will be characterized by increased transparency and improved governance standards,” said Lee.