What is being billed as Spain’s first tobacco harm reduction scientific congress is due to be held in Barcelona, on September 19.
The congress, which already has 13 expert speakers lined up, is being organized by
ANESVAP (the Spanish Association of Users of Personal Vaporisers) and MOVE (the Medical Organization Supporting Vaping and Electronic Cigarettes).
In a press note, these organizations said they had been fighting hard during the past years to present the latest scientific evidence on the use of personal vaporisers to health and medical professionals in Spain, and to the wider society.
Some had listened, they said, and a few had accepted that tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies could be helpful in respect of public health.
Nevertheless, those supporting THR in Spain were still very few.
ANESVAP and MOVE said that they were therefore organising the first ever conference on THR in Spain.
Presentations from leading international experts in the field, would provide evidence about the place of THR in reducing smoking and its consequences, they added.
Registration for the Tobacco Harm Reduction Summit Spain is available at: http://thrsummitspain.org/.
Category: Sustainability
Spain to host THR summit
Growing worries for farmers
In addition to the problems caused to them by ongoing international tariff-related trade battles, North Carolina tobacco farmers face a new hurdle to selling their crop because the US Food and Drug Administration is pushing to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels, according to a story by Cullen Browder for WRAL-TV.
North Carolina has long been the number-one tobacco-producing state in the US, and while it grows only half the amount of tobacco it did 20 years ago, changing this cash crop would impact about 1,500 farm operations across the state.
Sixty percent of North Carolina tobacco is sold overseas, and Graham Boyd, executive vice president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association of North Carolina, said the US already faced tough competition from countries that wouldn’t face the same nicotine restriction.
Both the association and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have raised concerns about the FDA plan.
“What matters to us is, does this put us at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace from a global perspective?” Boyd said.
Meanwhile, Loren Fisher, the Philip Morris Professor in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department of North Carolina State University, said that reducing nicotine in tobacco plants was no easy task.
“Those varieties don’t exist,” Fisher said. “It would take some time with plant breeding. It would be a conventional breeding program. If you were starting at ground zero, it could take 10 to 12 years.”
Genetically modified plants would provide a quicker transition, but Fisher said international buyers were leery of GMO products.
“That is not accepted by consumers and especially our customers outside the US who purchase tobacco that we grow in the United States,” he said. “Transgenic tobacco is not acceptable.”Law change logical
In launching last week in Switzerland Logic Pro, a nicotine-containing electronic cigarette, Japan Tobacco International became the first international company to introduce such an e-cigarette, according to a note posted on the company’s website.
The launch was said to have followed the Federal Administrative Court’s decision on April 24 to lift Switzerland’s ban on the sale of e-cigarettes containing nicotine.
‘Logic Pro comes one year after the success of PLOOM TECH, its [JTI’s] tobacco-infused vapor product that heats tobacco at very low temperatures without combustion,’ the company said.
‘With Logic Pro, JTI widens its reduced risk products portfolio in Switzerland to satisfy consumer demand for e-cigarettes.
‘Logic Pro is a closed-tank electronic vapor device which heats a nicotine-containing liquid to produce an inhalable vapor. Its replaceable capsules come in five flavors – regular, menthol, cherry, berry mint and vanilla – and two different strengths. E-liquids for Logic Pro capsules are made in Europe in line with strict international quality standards, and use food flavoring agents, pharmacopeial nicotine, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin. All of this comes together in one sleek, convenient and satisfying vape.’
“Vapers today are looking for a superior and easy vaping experience,” said John Aurlund, JTI’s GM in Switzerland. “Thanks to the combination of its Europe-made e-liquid and first-class hardware, Logic PRO gives users a quality vapor with an enjoyable taste. With Logic, already the number one e-cigarette in several European countries, we can now meet a growing consumer need in Switzerland. We’re happy the new regulatory environment allows for more consumer choice in the country.”
Logic is an American brand of electronic cigarettes acquired by JTI in 2015.
The company said that it was a leading brand in major e-cigarette markets. It was the number one e-vapor brand in Ireland and the number one closed-tank e-vapor device in France, Italy and the UK.
‘In the UK, Logic Pro was voted the 2018 E-Cigarette of the Year, recognizing JTI’s dedication to the consumer,’ JTI said. ‘Already the number three global leader in the e-cigarette category, Logic is currently sold in 11 major e-cigarette markets.’
JTI said that Logic would be made available across Switzerland in independent trade and kiosk stores. The device would retail for CHF19,90, with refill packs of three capsules available for CHF5,90.Fictional deliveries
The European Commission has said that it is aware of the limitations of currently available methods for the measurement of cigarette deliveries of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.
It said that this issue was carefully considered during the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and that it was concluded there was insufficient evidence that would support the revision of the existing provisions.
The Commission was responding to a question that was based on a study by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The RIVM researchers found that the amount of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide delivered was at least twice as high as manufacturers claimed it was.
The Commission said the results presented recently by the RIVM were in line with the measurements conducted by Hammond et al. in 2006, which indicated that ‘none of the smoking regimens currently in use adequately “represent” human smoking behaviour and none are significantly associated with measures of nicotine uptake among human participants’.
‘As the Commission pointed out in its replies to written questions E-003557/2017 and E-001317/2018, Article 4(3) of TPD empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to adapt the measurement methods, based on scientific and technical developments or internationally agreed standards,’ the Commission said. ‘The Commission will report on the application of the TPD by 2021.’Time is a great stealer
According to a Zimbabwe Herald story dated July 26, the country’s flue-cured-tobacco growers have delivered a record crop of 239.8 million kg.
And, with sales due to end tomorrow, one other record could be set: the longest period in which prices have not increased.
The Herald reported that growers had been paid $700.9 million for their 239.9 million kg, which puts the average price at US$2.92 per kg.
That’s a lower average price than was paid in 1996, US$2.94.
Contracted growers fared better than did those who sold at auction. The former were paid US$603.9 million for delivering 204.5 million kg of tobacco, for an average price of US$2.95 per kg.
The latter, meanwhile, were paid US$97.0 million for delivering 35.3 million kg, for an average price of US$2.75 per kg, which means that they were paid 6.5 percent less for their tobacco than was the average grower of 1996.Time for urgent action
The US’ National Tobacco Reform Initiative (NTRI) is calling on the Food and Drug Administration actively and expeditiously to pursue the course of action the agency announced in July 2017 ‘with respect to its proposed tobacco and nicotine regulatory framework that would focus on nicotine and support innovations to promote tobacco harm reduction based on the continuum of risk for nicotine-containing products’.
On July 28, 2017, the NTRI said, the FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, and the director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller, announced new policy directions on tobacco and nicotine that called for a ‘comprehensive regulatory plan’ that would accelerate efforts in winning the war against cigarette smoking.
In a letter to the commissioner on the one-year anniversary of his announcement, the public health leaders who are part of NTRI said that while they had seen progress during the past 50 plus years in respect of declining smoking prevalence, an estimated 32 million US adults still smoked cigarettes. ‘Cigarette smoking remains this nation’s leading cause of preventable disease and death, responsible for about 480,000 deaths each year and costing this country approximately $300 billion in health care costs and lost productivity,’ the NTRI said in a press note. ‘With so many lives on the line each year, there must be an urgency to take bold, visionary actions immediately to reduce the disease burden that smoking addiction inflicts on the health of Americans.
‘While the NTRI fully supports the FDA’s announced visionary initiatives, we are concerned that the FDA is/will become mired in overly bureaucratic processes that will delay taking necessary and obvious steps to protect the public’s health. While some attention is being focused on the priority to consider reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes, the other equally important priority to establish a more workable and flexible regulatory framework to regulate all tobacco and nicotine products based on their risks and relative risks (continuum of risk) is nowhere to be seen.’
“[I]f prudent product standards and reasonable guidelines for making truthful modified risk claims are not available before introducing a product standard for reducing nicotine’s addictiveness in combustible cigarettes, the opportunity to accelerate a mass-migration away from smoked tobacco products, relegating cigarettes to the ashtray of history, will be lost,” veteran tobacco and nicotine researcher and NTRI member, David B. Abrams, PhD, was quoted as saying. Abrams is a professor at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, NYU College of Global Health, New York University.A cautionary tale
The New Nicotine Alliance (UK) has welcomed ‘the bold vision’ a UK MP in highlighting the increased role that tobacco harm reduction could play in the future of tobacco control policy.
In a press note issued on Friday, the Alliance said that, in a debate on the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan in the House of Commons on July 19, Sir Kevin Barron had highlighted the gulf between the UK and Ireland, two countries with identical traditional tobacco control policies but with differing approaches to electronic cigarettes. Between 2012 and 2016, smoking had dropped by nearly a quarter in the UK, while in Ireland, where e-cigarettes were viewed with suspicion, the smoking rate had risen.
‘Sir Kevin, who has 20 years’ experience of government policy surrounding tobacco, suggested that a “proper harm reduction strategy” which further welcomed the advent of innovative nicotine delivery products could deliver significant further benefits to public health in the UK,’ the press note said.
‘The NNA applauds Sir Kevin’s bold vision of the increased role that tobacco harm reduction could play in the future of tobacco control policy and calls on Under-Parliamentary Secretary of State, Steve Brine, to be less cautious and to commit to promoting a better understanding of risk-reduced products amongst health authorities under his charge.’
“E-cigarettes are a proven safer alternative to smoking and the UK boasts 1.5 million former smokers who have converted from combustible tobacco to exclusively vaping instead,” said NNA chair Sarah Jakes (pictured). “Sir Kevin’s comments are most welcome, but it is continually disappointing that Steve Brine is reluctant to recognise the part that recreational use of these products can play. Instead of adhering to a goal of total nicotine abstinence, it would be better to install policies which would encourage long-term use of alternatives.
“As mentioned during the debate, many smokers genuinely enjoy smoking and view giving up smoking as giving up on an enjoyable part of their life. Devices that can deliver the nicotine they enjoy without the harm of combustible tobacco are a perfect solution for huge numbers of people. Government should be more understanding of the pleasure that nicotine can deliver and of the reasons that current smokers continue to smoke.
“Pleasure should not be a dirty word when it comes to nicotine, just as it isn’t when talking about a pint in the pub or a welcome coffee in the morning. It is the combustion of tobacco which causes the harm, and if smokers are more confident in trying reduced-risk products, there will be even more future public health successes, like the ones highlighted by Sir Kevin yesterday [July 19].
“The UK is regarded worldwide as a global leader in tobacco harm reduction and the results speak for themselves, therefore we hope that Mr Brine will show more leadership, and less caution, towards safer nicotine products to better enable him to achieve the ambitious targets that he has set in the government’s Tobacco Control Plan.”Looking on the bright side
Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance estimates that the Government may collect up to Rp3 trillion ($207 million) in additional revenue next year from a new excise on vaping liquids, according to a story in The Jakarta Globe.
At the beginning of this month, the Government imposed a 57 percent excise tax on e-liquids containing tobacco extracts or nicotine, a rate the Globe said was more than four times the maximum excise on ‘regular cigarettes’.
The country’s 200 domestic producers are required to start paying excise on e-liquids by October. 31.
Noegroho Wahyu, acting director of excise, said that so far three e-liquid producers were registered to pay excise, but that the government expected the remaining producers to register before the deadline.
The Government is expected to collect Rp50-70 billion in additional revenue from the new excise this year, but it estimates that will rise to about Rp3 trillion per year once all manufacturers are registered.
Aryo Andrianto, chairman of the Indonesian Personal Vaporizer Association (APVI), was quoted as saying that the excise rule meant the government had officially acknowledged the industry and provided it with legal certainty.
Vaping liquid producers were planning to increase their prices by a maximum of 20 percent to soften the blow on consumers, Aryo said, before indicating that the producers were not opposed to the excise tax.
Meanwhile, producers hope that, following the imposition of the excise tax, the government may be more willing to support the industry’s export efforts.
Deni Syarifa, chairman of the E-Liquid Micro-Entrepreneurs Association, estimates that manufacturers could export up to two million bottles of vaping liquid per month.
“There is currently demand for around 5,000 to 10,000 bottles per month from just one country,” Deni said, adding that producers planned to ship the liquid to countries in Asia, Central America and Europe.A question of smuggling
A German member of the European Parliament has asked the Commission what it is doing to combat the smuggling of tobacco products.
In a preamble to his question, Wolf Klinz said the EU was confronted with the smuggling of tobacco products across its eastern and southern borders, and, because of the low prices of these products, with the undermining of the EU’s efforts to limit smoking.
He asked whether the Commission was aware of the smuggling methods and the organised groups behind the smuggling, and what the Commission was doing to combat the smuggling.
The Commission is due to answer in writing.US using child labor
In the US, where people under 18 are barred from buying tobacco and vapor products, children as young as seven are hired to work on tobacco farms, according to a National Public Radio story relayed by the TMA.
Melissa Bailey Castillo, outreach co-ordinator at the Kinston Community Health Center in North Carolina, was quoted as saying that during the tobacco harvest season, some small farms in the state hired children as young as seven because the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs child labor, made exceptions for small farms.
The Act allows big farms to hire children as young as 12.
According to a 2013 study conducted by Human Rights Watch, growers say they need the extra labor during the harvest season, while children from rural North Carolina say they must work to help support their families.
However, Castillo said loose federal regulations and tobacco industry policies had made the children vulnerable to the health risks from nicotine and pesticide exposure.
“Either your neighbor owns a farm, or a relative owns a farm,” Castillo was quoted as saying. “Tobacco obviously is part of that heritage, and kids have been working in it, farmers will tell you, for generations.”
The federal Government has acknowledged the health risks of tobacco farming, but it is still legal for children aged 12, with parental permission, to work on a tobacco farm of any size.
And there was no minimum age for children to work on small tobacco farms or family farms.
Tobacco is North Carolina’s most valuable crop, generating about $725 million in 2017.
