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Category: Global Regulation

  • France Bans Disposable E-Cigarettes 

    France Bans Disposable E-Cigarettes 

    Today (Feb25), France officially banned the sale, distribution, and free provision of pre-filled and non-refillable vaping devices. It does not apply to refillable cartridges. Previously passed unanimously by France’s Parliament on Feb. 13, the law aims to curb youth nicotine use and reduce waste, Le Parisien reported.

    Proposed by former Green Party Deputy Francesca Pasquini, the ban follows two years of legislative work, including consultations with the European Commission. Lawmakers criticized the disposable devices for targeting young consumers with sweet flavors, colorful packaging, and low prices.

    The ban comes as global concerns grow over the popularity of e-cigarettes and similar devices, which are often marketed as safer alternatives to traditional smoking.

  • Judge Pauses FDA Menthol Ban Case to August

    Judge Pauses FDA Menthol Ban Case to August

    In a two-page order, U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam granted a request filed last week jointly by both the government defendants and the public health advocates who filed the lawsuit, seeking a stay on the proceedings until mid-August. The lawsuit filed by anti-tobacco groups seeking to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s delay to ban menthol cigarettes was paused by a federal judge in response to moves made by the Trump administration.

    Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. for the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a stay  in the case between the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and the FDA over whether the agency lawfully delayed a Biden-era final rule that would ban menthol cigarettes from store shelves.

    Both parties in a joint submission proposed the stay on Feb. 18.

    In late January, the FDA withdrew its proposed rules to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors in cigars.

    “The recent withdrawal of both proposed federal flavor bans is compelling evidence that the Trump administration is taking a less aggressive rulemaking posture compared to the Biden administration,” Troutman Pepper Locke wrote on its Tobacco Law Blog. “The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs withdrawal filings do not detail the reasoning behind the decision. However, several comments submitted during each proposed rule’s comment period detail ample justifications for withdrawing the proposals.

    “With respect to the menthol cigarette ban, industry argued that illicit markets would proliferate, fed by consumer demand for menthol cigarettes despite the proposed prohibition.”

  • NY AG Files Lawsuit Against 12 Vape Companies

    NY AG Files Lawsuit Against 12 Vape Companies

    New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit against 12 e-cigarette manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for “their role in fueling the youth vaping epidemic.” Those named in the lawsuit are Puff Bar, MYLE Vape, Pod Juice, Mi-One Brands, Happy Distro, Demand Vape, EVO Brands, PVG2, Magellan Technology, Midwest Goods, Safa Goods, and Price Point Distributors, as well as Price Point principals Weis Khwaja, Hamza Jalili, and Mohammad Jalili.

    “These companies are responsible for illegally distributing, marketing, and selling flavored disposable vapes, which have become extraordinarily popular among minors,” James said in a statement. “The vaping industry is taking a page out of Big Tobacco’s playbook: they’re making nicotine seem cool, getting kids hooked, and creating a massive public health crisis in the process.”

    In 2020, New York banned the sale of flavored vapor products, however, the products exploded in popularity globally in the past decade and are readily available at numerous outlets. The lawsuit seeks a “disgorgement of all revenues earned as a result of illegal activity” which would translate to hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as a permanent ban on flavored vapes in New York.

    “This punitive approach undermines American entrepreneurship and ignores the public health benefits of vaping as a smoking cessation tool,” Allison Boughner, the vice president of American Vapor Manufacturers, a trade group that represents vape makers and retailers, said in a statement. “This misguided action unfairly targets legitimate American businesses that employ thousands and contribute to local economies. Our members are dedicated to offering adult smokers safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes, supporting a mission of harm reduction backed by science and millions of successful former smokers.”

    Matthew Glauser, the chief strategy officer and a co-founder of Demand Vape, one of the companies named in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the suit was “wasting New York taxpayers’ money and federal court time, which desperately need to be focused on substantive issues that truly impact our communities.”

    According to the New York Times, Tony Abboud, the executive director of another industry group, Vapor Technology Association, disputed the suit’s claim that there was a youth vaping epidemic and called on President Trump “to take bold and decisive action to end the government lawfare against the flavored vaping industry.”

  • Belgium Finds Violations in 80% of Shisha Bars

    Belgium Finds Violations in 80% of Shisha Bars

    Belgium’s  Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that more than 80% of the nation’s shisha bars were found to have violations. Of the 131 shisha bars inspected, 106 violated the smoking ban regulation and 107 offered non-compliant tobacco products, according to L’Avenir.

    Smoking tobacco is allowed in shisha bars, but only outside or in designated smoking rooms with a smoke extraction system and restricted space, as mandated by the tobacco regulations. Non-compliant smoking rooms along with the sale of non-compliant tobacco products were reported to be the two main issues found, followed by improper tobacco labeling and illegal tobacco advertising.

  • U.K. Investigating Vaping Effects on Children

    U.K. Investigating Vaping Effects on Children

    Today, Britain’s government announced the launch of a decade-long study that will investigate the long-term effects of vaping on children as young as 8. The government has been cracking down on the rapid rise of vaping among children, with estimates showing a quarter of 11- to 15-year-olds have tried it.

    “The long-term health impacts of youth vaping are not fully known, and this comprehensive approach will provide the most detailed picture yet,” the health department said.

    The £62 million ($78.1 million) study will track 100,000 people aged 8-18 years for 10 years, collecting data on behavior and biology as well as health records, the statement said. The World Health Organization has urged governments to treat e-cigarettes similarly to tobacco, warning of their health impact and potential to drive nicotine addiction among non-smokers, especially children and young people.

  • Washington’s Proposed Flavored Product Ban Takes Hit 

    Washington’s Proposed Flavored Product Ban Takes Hit 

    The Washington State House Committee on Consumer Protection & Business narrowly advanced House Bill 1203 by an 8-7 vote yesterday (Feb. 18), setting the stage for further legislative debate on a proposal to ban flavored tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products statewide.

    If passed, the bill would prohibit the sale, display, and advertisement of flavored tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products, including those marketed with terms like “cool,” “chill,” “ice,” or “fresh.” The bill also targets so-called “entertainment vapor products,” which include vape devices with interactive features such as music or video display capabilities. It also mandates a statewide public awareness campaign, led by the Department of Health, to educate the public on the risks of flavored nicotine products. Retailers would be required to post clear signage notifying customers of the ban, and violators would face stiff penalties enforced by the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

    While the bill moved forward, the debate in committee reflected deep divisions over the proposal, and even its main sponsor, Rep. Kristine Reeves, admitted the bill needs more work. Rep. Chris Corry voiced strong opposition, arguing that adults should have the right to make their own choices.

    “I think that this bill, while I understand the underlying merits…it’s a little paternalistic for us to say which products they can and can’t have,” Corry said. He also warned of unintended consequences, citing examples from other states where similar bans have fueled underground markets.

    The bill now moves to the House Ways and Means Committee for further consideration but is not expected to pass this year.

  • Trump Administration’s Cuts Reach FDA Tobacco Product Employees

    Trump Administration’s Cuts Reach FDA Tobacco Product Employees

    The Trump administration’s attempts to reduce the size of the federal workforce have reportedly extended to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices, and other products were fired.

    On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to fire 5,200 probationary employees across its agencies, which include the FDA, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated, according to three FDA staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

    The total number of positions eliminated is still not clear, but the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agency’s centers for food, medical devices, and tobacco products — which includes oversight of electronic cigarettes.

    The FDA employs nearly 20,000 people but has been strained since a wave of departures during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a reported 2,000 uninspected drug facilities that haven’t been visited since before the pandemic. It has also been criticized for not moving faster to catch recent problems involving infant formula, baby food, and eyedrops. A former FDA official said cutting recent hires could backfire by eliminating staffers who tend to be younger and have more up-to-date technical skills, whereas the FDA’s current workforce skews toward older workers who have spent one or two decades at the agency.

    “You want to bring in new blood,” said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner under President George W. Bush. “You want people with new ideas, greater enthusiasm, and the latest thinking in terms of technology.”

  • France Bans Disposable E-Cigarettes

    France Bans Disposable E-Cigarettes

    With a final vote in the Senate’s upper house, the French parliament today banned single-use electronic cigarettes, accusing them of being gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment. France is the second EU country to enact such a ban, joining Belgium which did it in December.

    “It is a great victory in a two-pronged battle that we were fighting: an environmental battle against the polluting lithium batteries in these ‘puffs’, and a health battle for our schoolchildren,” lawmaker Francesca Pasquini, the author of the bill, said.

    “A fine piece of cross-party work!” lawmaker Michel Lauzzana said on X. “We are now awaiting the promulgation of this law and its application throughout the country.”

    The legislation was earlier approved by the National Assembly lower house.

  • N.Y. Lawmakers Want to Ban Zyn for its Flavors

    N.Y. Lawmakers Want to Ban Zyn for its Flavors

    New York lawmakers have introduced a bill in the legislature that would ban flavored oral nicotine pouches such as Zyn, which recently received FDA approval. The pouches do not contain tobacco and are the fastest-growing product on the U.S. tobacco market, but lawmakers are comparing their flavors to flavored vape cartridges that were banned in the state in 2020 because they are attractive to children.

    “You always have to keep on top of this industry,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who is sponsoring the bill. “Because as we extinguish some of the availability to youth in particular, the industry comes up with more ways to entice people to be addicted to nicotine and their products.”

    The legislation — which is sponsored in the Senate by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal — asserts that minors could turn to nicotine pouches as flavored vapes become harder to find under New York’s ban.

    Zyn is manufactured by Swedish Match, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International, which maintains that Zyn is intended and marketed only for those 21 and older, and that the vast majority of Zyn’s clientele are not new nicotine users, but adults switching to a safer delivery method.

    “Almost everyone has come from another product,” Brian Erkkila, Swedish Match’s director of regulatory science, said. “That’s who the product is designed for. If you think about the flavors our product comes in, they come in flavors that have been in smokeless tobacco products like moist snuff and dip, for decades. These aren’t new flavors. They’ve been around for a long time.”

    Alan Mathios, a professor at Cornell University who studies the economics of tobacco regulation, called the potential ban shortsighted and said it could lead to the proliferation of illicit products, make the market more difficult to regulate, and have the opposite result in terms of keeping them away from underage users.

    “A lot of menthol smokers really like their menthol,” Mathios said. “If they don’t have an alternative menthol product, they’re unlikely to move away from cigarettes. So even if you do see some youth movement into menthol-flavored pouches, you have to weigh that against the role that menthol-flavored products play in helping adults switch.”

  • Maldives Allows Police to Destroy Vapes

    Maldives Allows Police to Destroy Vapes

    Tobacco Control General Regulations published today in Maldives grant police the authority to seize and destroy vaping devices prohibited under the Tobacco Control Act. The import and use of vapes was banned in December, and while the existing law allows for fines on those who possess or sell vapes, it previously did not grant police the power to confiscate already imported devices. Under the new regulations, police can now confiscate vaping devices and related items found in possession or use.

    Individuals caught with a vape device will face a fine of MVR 2,000 ($130), while those who refuse to surrender the items to the police may be fined MVR 50,000 ($3,250). Distributing vapes for free results in a fine of MVR 10,000 ($650) and the sale of vapes incurs a fine of MVR 20,000 ($1,300). Additionally, selling vapes to individuals under 21 results in a fine of MVR 50,000.