Category: Regulation

Massachusetts Flavor Ban Boosts Out-of-State Sales

Photo: Borgwaldt Flavor
Tobacco sales in Massachusetts convenience stores are down less than a week after the state’s ban on flavored tobacco took effect, reports CSP Magazine. However, tobacco sellers in neighboring states are reporting an uptick in business.
On June 1, Massachusetts restricted the sale of flavored combustible cigarettes and other tobacco products—including menthol cigarettes and flavored chewing tobacco—to licensed smoking bars where they can be sold for on-site consumption.
“We’re down double digits in menthol cigarettes,” said Leo Vercollone, CEO of VERC Enterprises, a retail convenience store/gasoline and carwash group operating in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Cigarette and other tobacco product sales were down about 12 percent at his Massachusetts stores compared to last year, Vercollone said. However, in the first few days of June, tobacco sales at two of his stores on the New Hampshire border were up about 40 percent, he said.
Tobacco sales make up about 15 percent to 30 percent of in-store revenue for c-stores, and menthol sales typically make up about 34 percent of tobacco sales—and more in minority communities and cities, said Jonathan Shaer, executive director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association.
The effects of the ban, coupled with the devastating effects of Covid-19 on the economy, could mean 800 or more c-stores will permanently close within months, Shaer estimates.
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June 11, 2020
FDA to Review Altria Nicotine Pouches

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and filed for substantive review premarket tobacco product applications for 35 On! products manufactured by Helix Innovations, an Altria joint venture.
To support these applications, Altria submitted more than 66,000 pages of documentation, including six primary studies.
“We believe the scientific evidence in these applications demonstrates that the marketing of On! is appropriate for the protection of public health,” said Paige Magness, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Altria Client Services. “On! nicotine pouches are a key part of our vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future.”
On! nicotine pouches are tobacco-leaf-free and are available in seven flavors and five nicotine levels. In the fast-growing nicotine pouch category, On! currently offers the broadest portfolio of choices for adult tobacco consumers seeking alternatives to traditional tobacco products, according to Altria.
On! was distributed in more than 28,000 stores at the end of the first quarter, including the top five U.S. convenience store chains by volume. According to IRI, total oral tobacco derived nicotine category sales in 2019 grew approximately 275 percent compared to 2018.
June 10, 2020
BAT Slammed for ‘Tattling’ on JTI Menthol Substitutes

Photo: simisi1 from Pixabay
Bob Blackman, chairman of the U.K. All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, has criticized British American Tobacco (BAT) for leaking information about products made by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) following the ban on menthol cigarettes sold in the European Union, reports I News.
Blackman said he received a letter from BAT that claimed it had data showing that a new range of JTI cigarettes still contained menthol. “As I responded, their offer is completely inappropriate; their public duty is to share the evidence with the appropriate authorities without delay,” said Blackman.
A spokesman for BAT said the group had analyzed several JTI products and found them to contain menthol characteristics.
While admitting its new cigarettes contain menthol, JTI insisted they do not break the new laws.
“Some JTI cigarettes and rolling tobacco sold in the U.K. do still contain very low levels of menthol,” a spokesman for JTI said. “This is not prohibited under the law, provided that the use of such flavorings does not produce a clearly noticeable smell or taste other than one of tobacco—which they do not.”
Blackman said he had forwarded a copy of the letter to Public Health Minister Jo Churchill who responded that the issue was “being followed up” by her officials to investigate.
June 8, 2020
South Africa Asks More Time to Defend Tobacco Ban

Blanks for Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes waiting to be transformed into cigarette packs at a South African tobacco packaging factory. Photo: Taco Tuinstra
South Africa’s government has requested more time to defend its cigarette ban in court.
State attorney Arista Wasserman has written the judge president of Gauteng to request that the initial hearing in the challenge against the ban brought by the Fair Trade Tobacco Association be postponed in light of the pressures facing the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, including the coronavirus pandemic.
South Africa banned the sale of tobacco at the start of the nationwide lockdown in late March, citing health reasons. The ban was extended under level 4 and again under level 3 of the lockdown. The government has argued that smoking leads to more severe cases of Covid-19, and the ban is necessary to reduce strain on the country’s health system.
The Federation of International Trade Associations, whose members include Carnilinx and Gold Leaf Tobacco, petitioned the court in May to reauthorize the sale of tobacco products.
British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) last week lodged a separate legal challenge against the ban. According to BATSA, the ban has cost it between ZAR300 million ($17.64 million) and ZARR350 million in lost revenues per week. It estimates that about ZAR2.4 billion has been lost in tax revenue during the first eight weeks of lockdown.
June 4, 2020
Tobacco Firms Accused of ‘Undermining’ EU Menthol Ban

Photo:Beverly Buckley from Pixabay
Ireland’s minister of health, Simon Harris, has urged the EU to crack down on tobacco industry actions that he believes are “undermining” the recently enacted ban on menthol cigarettes.
Across the EU, tobacco companies have been introducing products targeted at smokers who previously used menthol products.
Philip Morris International (PMI), for example, introduced Marlboro Bright, a brand that it described as a “menthol blend without methylation.” Japan Tobacco International (JTI) launched Silk Cut Choice Green.
JTI and Philip Morris both advertised their new brands to Irish retailers as replacements or substitutes for their old menthol cigarettes.
PMI believes Marlboro Bright complies with the ban because the cigarette doesn’t taste of menthol when smoked. It also criticized any Irish retailers that are still illegally selling its old menthol Marlboro Green brand.
Anti-smoking campaigners in Britain recently lambasted JTI for distributing information to retailers on how to “navigate” the ban in a publication titled “Making a Mint.”
Rival tobacco companies that have chosen not to introduce substitutes for menthol cigarettes also criticized the moves by JTI and PMI.
“We believe both the letter and spirit of the law is clear, and as such we are not launching any cigarette brands or accessories with menthol-type properties,” said Simon Carroll, the Ireland country manager for British American Tobacco, whose subsidiary there is PJ Carroll.

The menthol market was estimated to represent up to 18 percent, or about €252 million ($282.3 million), of the Irish tobacco market before the introduction of the EU ban on May 20.

June 3, 2020
India: E-cigarettes Widely Available Despite Ban

Photo: Ethan Parsa from Pixabay
Vapor products remain widely available in India eight months after the country banned them.
In September 2019, India prohibited the sale of vapor products to promote public health and prevent youth use (also see “Nipped in the Bud,” Tobacco Reporter, May 2020). “We immediately took a decision so that the health of our citizens, our young is not thrown at risk,” India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said at the time.
While leading players such as Juul have left the country, vapor products remain widely available today. People can still buy e-cigarettes on the internet or from any paan shop, according to press reports.
Most products on the market today originate in China and retail for less than the offerings of the banished Western companies did.
Samrat Chowdhery
“The only thing that the ban has changed is branded products are out of the market,” a seller who has been in the business for three years was quoted as saying.
“It is difficult to enforce regulations as nicotine is available in all other forms,” Samrat Chowdhery, founder and director of the Association of Vapers India, told Business Insider. “Formal players making e-cigarettes are exiting the market. Once black market industry gains a footover, it will be impossible to get control over it. The government missed a golden opportunity to tax these products.”
June 3, 2020
Taiwan Mulls Ban on Novel Tobacco Products

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration (HPA) wants to ban the sale of novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products reports The Taipei Times.
On May 29, the agency announced draft amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (THPA) to cover products currently not covered by the act.
One amendment would raise the legal age for smoking and the minimum age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 20.
A recent survey found that smoking and vaping rates among young Taiwanese increased last year.
The smoking of cigarettes and e-cigarettes by junior high and high school students last year increased for the first time since the THPA took effect in 2009, HPA Tobacco Control Division Director Chen Miao-hsin said.
Physician Chen Mu-jung said that teenagers are less cautious when it comes to addictive substances and that flavors added to cigarettes could overpower the pungent taste of tobacco, making teenagers more curious and even leading some to believe that flavored cigarettes are somehow healthier.

June 1, 2020
E-Cigarettes Gain Popularity in Taiwan

Youth smoking is up for the first time in a decade, according to government figures. Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The number of young Taiwanese people smoking rose for the first time in a decade in 2019, reports Taiwan News, citing a report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration.
Remarkably, considering that e-cigarettes are illegal in Taiwan, the popularity of vaping rose by half.
An estimated 81,000 young Taiwanese smoked combustible cigarettes last year, while 57,000 youths vaped, Central News Agency (CAN) reported.
The survey found that the proportion of junior high school students with a smoking habit rose from 2.8 percent in 2018 to 3 percent in 2019, and the proportion of senior high school students from 8 percent to 8.4 percent.
Four out of every 10 young smokers smoke flavored cigarettes, which are more popular with women, the study discovered. The most popular motivator to start smoking cited was curiosity, followed by “seeing other people smoke,” parents smoking and the desire to relieve pressure.
The popularity of vaping among young people surged from 2.7 percent in 2018 to 4.2 percent last year, with male senior high school students the most likely category to use e-cigarettes.
May 29, 2020
EU Push to Tax Novel Products Like Tobacco

Photo: Horst Winkler from Pixabay
EU member states will ask the European Commission this week to place electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other novel tobacco products under the EU Tobacco Excise Directive, meaning these products would be taxed just like traditional tobacco products, according to a report by Euractiv.
Although novel tobacco products are regulated under the Tobacco Product Directive from a health perspective, there is currently no EU-wide excise framework.
Some member states tax e-liquids and heated tobacco products at different rates while others do not tax them at all.
In January 2018, the European Commission refrained from proposing harmonized taxation for novel tobacco products, citing a lack of data.
However, in February 2020, the executive published a report expressing concern about the lack of harmonization’s impact on the functioning of the EU internal market.
“The current lack of harmonization of the tax regulatory framework for these products is also restricting the possibility to monitor their market development and control their movements,” the report stated.
The tobacco industry argues that novel tobacco products and electronic cigarettes have significantly reduced health risks compared to traditional smoking and should therefore be taxed at lower levels.
May 27, 2020
WHO Launches Reports on New Products

Photo: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published three reports to inform countries on the current state of scientific knowledge and policy options available for novel tobacco products such as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs).
ENDS and ENNDS, commonly known as e-cigarettes, are available in more than 100 countries while HTPs can be bought in about 40 countries.
The WHO insists that many of the new products are harmful to health.
“HTPs expose users to toxic emissions similar to those found in cigarette smoke, many of which can cause cancer, while ENDS on their own are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and lung disorders and adverse effects on the development of the fetus during pregnancy,” the WHO stated in a press release.
Because of the damaging and addictive nature of these products, the WHO says regulation is crucial to protect populations, particularly youth.
The publication of the briefs coincides with World No Tobacco Day 2020 on May 31. This year’s theme is “protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from nicotine and tobacco use.”
May 27, 2020