Category: Packaging

  • One-stop shop

    One-stop shop

    Gilles Michel discusses Mayr-Melnhof Packaging’s plans for the recently acquired Tann Group.

    TR Staff Report

    In January, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging (MM Packaging) concluded its purchase of the Tann Group from its former family shareholders. The deal strengthens MM Packaging’s position in cigarette packaging with capabilities in tipping paper, which is technically closely related to the company’s existing business.

    The Tann Group prints and finishes externally sourced paper and is a global leader in cigarette tipping products.

    The Tann Group now operates as part of Mayr-Melnhof Cigarette Packaging, which is led by Gilles Michel. With nearly three decades of experience in the packaging and printing industry, Michel has managed MM Packaging’s cigarette packaging sales for approximately 15 years and, prior to that, he managed several of the company’s production facilities.‘

    Tobacco Reporter asked Michel about MM Packaging’s plans for the Tann Group.

    Tobacco Reporter: What was the rationale behind the acquisition?

    Gilles Michel: We are connecting two leaders, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging and [the] Tann Group. Both companies produce their products—hinge lids/packaging and tipping paper, respectively—from fiber-based substrates: carton board and paper. There are considerable parallels between our businesses, including the fact that we use the same technologies.

    Concentrating both products and activities in a unit is a perfect fit and creates a worldwide unique bundling of graphic supplies for the cigarette industry. This, in turn, helps meet the industry’s ever-rising demand for complex and innovative solutions in ever-shortening cycles.

    What will change, and how are you going to concentrate strengths?

    While keeping the established brands Tann Group and Mayr-Melnhof Packaging unchanged, we are going to become a single-stop shop for packaging and tipping paper with one voice to the customer and a close, experienced ear to the market. Our first common presentations as well as our joined appearance at the recent World Tobacco exhibition in Dubai were very positively received by our customers.

    After a few months of cooperation in this new setup, it has become evident that we are building on a strong company culture and common understanding based on best practice in operations and innovation with a long-term dedication toward market success.

    What are the current market trends, and how are you responding to them?

    The industry is more and more driven by fast reaction times—in some countries driven by regulation, in others by competition. Demand has become more volatile over the course of the year, with an increase in complexity.

    We are determined to stay on top of this ongoing transformation, building on a very strong customer base and a worldwide reach, as well as a highly motivated workforce that is dedicated to utmost flexibility.

    While market volume is obviously dropping in line with decreased smoking prevalence, the outlook for value is more positive due to the cigarette producers’ increased focus on differentiation, branding and innovations such as HnB [heat-not-burn products]. Customers are upgrading their products, and we are offering a wide range of innovative solutions. The range goes from complex multicolor effect prints using special varnishes such as “soft touch” and includes innovations enhancing the design, such as laser imaging or delivering a multisensory experience. In addition, the trend toward haptic experience and aromas continues, and we cater to it with outstanding solutions.

    Furthermore, interacting and communicating with the consumer via various functionalities is increasingly gaining attention. This comprises, for example, surface features that directly address the human senses.

    On the other hand, cigarette machines are getting faster and faster. This means that the quality of packaging and tipping paper in terms of physical, mechanical and dimensional properties is absolutely crucial.

    Last but not least, national and international regulations for tobacco products are becoming stricter. It is our challenge to follow these regulations by developing precise compositions and constructions of packaging and tipping paper without big room for variations. At the same time, we are obliged to maintain a qualitatively outstanding optical appearance of our products.

    Looking forward, what are your plans for capital expenditure and expansion?

    We remain committed to investing in new machinery and upgrades along with market demand and in line with customer requirements. Our biggest investment recently has been into a state-of-the-art factory in China, Tann Longyou, further positioning us as a leading supplier of tipping paper in the People’s Republic of China.

    Moreover, we aspire to bring packaging machinery to our sites, which currently cover only tipping paper, with the aim to add value and service.

    Certainly, speeding up performance based on quality, service, efficiency and innovation will continuously affect all operations. The reorganization of internal logistics and packaging is to play a major part involving more projects in automation and digitalization. This way, we will be able to even better support our customers in achieving success in their markets.

    How would you describe your personal imprint on these undertakings?

    Having been on the sales side of the business for the past decade and a half, I intend to keep solution orientation and close customer contact central to our approach along with a focus on the performance of our asset base.

    Our mindset will continue to be characterized by trust, passion, highest product quality, a global perspective and the drive to innovate. Together, these values will take us and our customers to the next level.

  • Plain packaging in Uruguay

    Plain packaging in Uruguay

    Uruguay will require plain tobacco packaging starting January 2020 to discourage smoking, Uruguay’s Public Health Minister Jorge Basso said on Monday.

    The announcement follows a 2016 court ruling against Philip Morris International which had sued to throw out a bill demanding plain packaging.

    “Justice, in this case, ruled in favor of the bill,” said Basso, noting that “prevention and the promotion of healthy habits are the leading concerns of public policy on matters of health.”

    Since the government’s anti-tobacco campaign was launched, the smoking rate in the country has fallen from 25 percent among those aged above 15 in 2009 to 21.6 percent in 2017.

  • Larger warnings coming

    Larger warnings coming

    South Korea’s health ministry has announced that the graphic warnings on cigarette packs will be enlarged starting in 2020, reports Yonhap News.

    The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it plans to adopt a revised law that mandates expanding the warning images from the current 50 percent of the package’s exterior to 75 percent. Currently, the size of the warning photos must cover more than 30 percent of both sides of cigarette packages with warning text making up an additional 20 percent.

    The revision—which mandates 55 percent of the warning photos and another 20 percent with warning text—comes amid growing calls to send a stronger message discouraging smoking.

    Currently, 105 countries have adopted pictorial warnings, with 43 of them mandating more than 65 percent of tobacco packages to be covered with disturbing pictures that depict the consequences of smoking.

  • Guidelines issued

    Guidelines issued

    To encourage compliance with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) has produced an advisory note that analyses the different stages of a full track and trace system.

    It also explores the extent to which governments are required to interact with the tobacco industry at each stage.

    The report analyses the key technical and governance requirements related to track and trace under the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), specifically considering the requirement to interact with the tobacco industry only where “strictly necessary.”

    Of the 14 stages identified in the report, only six were deemed to need active input from the tobacco industry, mainly those in the warehousing and distribution part of the process.

    The ITSA guidelines build on previous work carried out on the implementation of a tobacco track and trace system compliant with the FCTC Protocol. The Protocol entered into force in 2018 and requires countries to establish by 2023 a track and trace system for all tobacco products manufactured in or imported into its territory.

    “The FCTC Protocol is widely recognized as an international blueprint for the regulation of tobacco production and distribution, one that will help to drive down illicit tobacco trade providing that countries comply with it,” said Nicola Sudan, general secretary of the ITSA.

    “Governance requirements to determine roles and responsibilities for the establishment of a track and trace system are set out in the Protocol and are driven primarily by the need to prevent conflicts of interest and to reduce the risk of fraud in the tobacco industry.

    “While certain information for the system, such as shipment and invoicing data, can only be supplied by tobacco companies, many other tasks should be carried out by the relevant authority to protect tobacco policy from the vested interests of the industry.

    “In practice, however, this does not happen. The EU Tobacco Products Directive falls short of security industry best practice and the WHO standards, allowing the tobacco industry and its allies to perform tasks which could and should be done independently by the relevant authorities.”

    ITSA has called for greater investment in security solutions that could ultimately drive down fraud and help governments around the world to collect additional excise revenues and control tobacco consumption. Currently more than 150 jurisdictions around the world use tax stamps to tackle smuggling, counterfeiting and tax evasion on tobacco products.

    The ITSA promotes the benefits of tax stamp programs and best practice within the sector.

     

     

     

     

  • Loose change

    Loose change

    It is now illegal to sell single cigarettes on the Maldives, according to a story in The Maldives Independent.

    The ban, which came into force on Saturday, is the first provision of the January 2019 regulation on tobacco-products pack design and labeling to come into effect.

    Other provisions, including graphic health warnings on tobacco-products packaging, are due to come into effect later this year.

    From November 1, it will be illegal to sell tobacco products without graphic health warnings.

    The ban on the sale of loose cigarettes and the graphic-images requirement were drawn up two years ago, but their introduction was delayed until a new government took over.

    The sale of single cigarettes needed to be banned because “it is a tactic mainly used to lure children and young adolescents into smoking,” Dr Aishath Aroona, vice chair of the Tobacco Control Board, told the Maldives Independent after the regulation on packaging and labeling of tobacco products was submitted to the president’s office for approval in September 2017.

    Meanwhile, in May 2019, Malé City Council decided to introduce a ban on smoking on the streets of the Maldives capital. It is due to take effect six months after the council enacts new regulations, according to the council.

    The country’s 2010 Tobacco Control Act prohibits smoking in government offices, parks, sports stadiums, public transport, childcare or educational facilities and designated non-smoking areas in restaurants. The law did not include streets and roads in its definition of a public space.

  • FDA final guidance

    FDA final guidance

    US vape shops that modify a product so that it is deemed by the US Food and Drug Administration to be a ‘new tobacco product’ are required to comply with the agency’s premarket authorization requirements, according to a final FDA guidance.

    In a note issued through its Center for Tobacco Products, the FDA said it had posted a notice in the Federal Register announcing the publication of the final guidance, Interpretation of and Compliance Policy for Certain Label Requirement; Applicability of Certain Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Requirements to Vape Shops. This guidance was said to finalize the draft guidance of the same title, which was available for public comment on January 17, 2017.

    ‘Under section 903(a)(2)(C) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [FD&C], a tobacco product in package form is misbranded if its label does not include an accurate statement of the percentage of tobacco used in the product that is foreign-grown and domestic-grown,’ the note said. ‘This guidance clarifies FDA’s interpretation of this as applying only to tobacco products that are made or derived from tobacco. Tobacco products (such as components, parts, and accessories) that are not made or derived from tobacco would not be required to bear the statement.

    ‘Additionally, at this time, FDA does not intend to enforce this requirement for certain products, including tobacco-derived liquid nicotine, e-liquid made or derived from tobacco, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and waterpipe tobacco. FDA is providing this compliance policy as the agency recognizes the current scientific and technical difficulties of quantifying the percentage of foreign and domestic tobacco used in these products.

    ‘The guidance also clarifies [that] vape shops that are tobacco product manufacturers are subject to the requirements in section 904(a) and (c) of the FD&C Act, including the requirements to provide ingredient listings, report harmful and potentially harmful constituents, and submit health documents. Those vape shops that modify a product so that it is a new tobacco product are required to comply with the premarket authorization requirements. Vape shops that are engaged in the manufacture, preparation, compounding, or processing of tobacco products are required to comply with the establishment registration and product listing requirements in section 905 of the FD&C Act.

    ‘The final guidance explains certain activities which modify a product, and which would subject the vape shop to the requirements of the Act that apply to manufacturers and includes a compliance policy for limited circumstances for which FDA does not intend to enforce these requirements…’

  • Making their mark

    Making their mark

    The UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has said that the sale or distribution of any ‘unmarked’ tobacco products will be prohibited across all local markets as of August 1, according to a story put out by the Emirates News Agency.

    In a press statement issued yesterday, the FTA said that it was holding a series of training workshops to introduce inspectors across the UAE’s economic development departments to the objectives and implementation methods of the Marking Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme, which went into effect in January.

    The FTA’s director-general, Khalid Ali Al Bustani, was quoted as saying the digital marks would be placed on tobacco packaging and registered in the FTA’s database. The marks contained data that could be read using a sophisticated device, he said.

    The digital coding scheme is aimed at preventing the sale of non-tax-compliant tobacco products.

    The workshops were said to be part of the Authority’s commitment to maintaining communication with all relevant government and private-sector entities.

    They were aimed at keeping these entities informed about developments surrounding tax procedures, while, at the same time, taking account of their opinions and suggestions to ensure the UAE tax system was implemented easily and seamlessly.

  • Appointment at LLFlex

    Appointment at LLFlex

    LLFlex has hired Curtis Conley as director of global supply chain.

    In this role, Conley will be responsible for all aspects of the company’s supply chain operations, including inventory control, supplier management, logistics and customer service.

    Prior to joining LLFlex, Conley served as a global commodity manager at Woodward, Inc, and for Amcor Flexible Packaging.

    LLFlex is said to be North America’s largest supplier of cigarette inner bundling material, as well as custom-printed laminations for cigar, pipe and smokeless tobacco.

  • Slowly does it

    Slowly does it

    A federal court on Tuesday ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to issue a final rule mandating graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising, according to a statement issued by a number of health and anti-tobacco organizations and posted on the website of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

    The order by Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts was said to have been made in response to a lawsuit filed in October 2016 by eight public health and medical groups and several individual pediatricians.

    ‘In a September 2018 ruling, Judge Talwani agreed with the health groups that the FDA has both “unlawfully withheld” and “unreasonably delayed” agency action to require the graphic warnings,’ the statement said.

    ‘In response to Judge Talwani’s ruling, the FDA proposed issuing the final graphic warnings rule by May 2021. ‘Instead, Judge Talwani ordered the FDA to issue a proposed rule by August 15, 2019, and a final rule by March 15, 2020.

    The current cigarette warnings, which are printed on the side of packs, date back to 1984.

    The March 6 statement was issued on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Truth Initiative.

  • Caught on camera

    Caught on camera

    A study by researchers at the Limerick Institute of Technology, Ireland, has found that ‘diversity is ostensibly lacking’ in images used as part of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive, according to a story by Sarah Burns for The Irish Times.

    Among 42 anti-smoking images used on cigarette packages and in campaigns, none ‘distinctly include’ members of a racial or ethnic minority, they found.

    ‘All visible models, or body parts of models, used in the campaigns are Caucasian,” the researchers concluded.