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Category: Top News

  • Airbox Fined for Illegal ‘Distance Selling’

    Airbox Fined for Illegal ‘Distance Selling’

    Image: Talaj

    Airbox of Slovakia has been fined HUF189 million ($527,283) for illegally selling electronic nicotine delivery devices online in Hungary, reports the Daily News Hungary. The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has blocked the company’s website.

    The GVH started proceedings against Airbox in February after it found that the company was likely misleading customers on its Hungarian-language website about the legality of its products in Hungary.

    Hungary law prohibits the online marketing and distance selling of flavored tobacco products and electronic smoking devices. The GVH found that Airbox had engaged in unfair commercial practices.

    Earlier, the GVH acted against two Slovak companies for illegally selling Elf Bar and other vaping products in Hungary.

  • New Zealand and Sweden Lauded for THR

    New Zealand and Sweden Lauded for THR

    We Are Innovation (WAI) released a video about Sweden and New Zealand reducing smoking rates through the consistent use of innovative alternatives. Titled “Smoke-Free Success: Sweden and New Zealand’s Experiences,” it highlights the role of safer nicotine products in decreasing smoking-related deaths and diseases.

    As WAI explains on its website, Sweden’s pragmatic approach to smoking reduction has been heralded as a global model. Historically, Sweden has had a significant population using snus, a smokeless tobacco product. This cultural acceptance of the product laid the groundwork for the introduction of oral nicotine pouches, providing smokers with safer alternatives to cigarettes.

    According to Anders Milton, former chair of the World Medical Association, 17 percent of Swedish men use snus daily while only 5.6 percent of Swedish men—the lowest rate globally—smoke. Sweden also boasts the lowest incidence of lung cancer in the European Union.

    In New Zealand, the legalization of vaping has led to a significant decline in smoking rates, dropping from 16 percent to 6.8 percent over eight years, according to WAI. This progress, the group says, positions New Zealand to achieve its smoke-free target by 2025.

    Marewa Glover, a behavioral scientist with over 31 years of experience in public health, believes that vaping has been transformative. According to her, it offers smokers a less harmful option and substantially reduces smoking rates.

    WAI contrasts the approach of Sweden and New Zealand to that of Australia, where restrictive policies on vaping have hindered anti-smoking efforts, according to the organization. Critics point out that ideological objections and vested interests have slowed progress toward harm reduction, with some groups favoring an abstinence-only approach rather than adopting alternative solutions like vaping. The abstinence-only approach does not work for everyone, and since cigarettes bring in a lot of tax, there are vested interests that benefit from that, according to WAI.

  • Tobacco Firms Settle MSA Dispute

    Tobacco Firms Settle MSA Dispute

    Image: mehaniq41

    Tobacco companies will pay Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a dispute about how much the cigarette manufacturers owe the state.

    The deal ends a dispute stemming from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in which tobacco companies agreed to pay states billions of dollars each year to offset medical expenses stemming from smoking.

    Claiming that some MSA signatories withheld “substantial funds,” the Massachusetts attorney general’s office sent disputes over hundreds of millions of dollars into arbitration.

    Monday’s announced deal resolves seven of those past disputes for 2005 through 2011, the office said, and will result in $600 million being paid to the commonwealth this year and “tens of millions” each year going forward.

    “The country’s major tobacco manufacturers have pushed smoking products to young people for decades—and this settlement is evidence of our ongoing commitment to hold these companies accountable for their actions that caused irreparable harm to public health and safety,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a statement.

  • Data Shows Potential of Vaping for Cessation

    Data Shows Potential of Vaping for Cessation

    Photo: Teo

    New data from Action on Smoking and Health U.K. (ASH U.K.) found more than half of ex-smokers in Great Britain who quit in the past five years—amounting to 2.7 million adults—used a vape in their last quit attempt.

    Further, it revealed the main motivations for vaping among current smokers included “cutting down on smoking,” “protect[ing] others from the risk of secondhand smoke” or “to help them quit.”

    ASH U.K. also reported that misperceptions around vaping are at an all-time high, with 50 percent of smokers wrongly believing vaping to be as or more harmful when compared with smoking.

    The new data also found that while current and ever use of vaping among young people has decreased between 2023 and 2024, under 18s are still accessing these age-gated products.

    “The latest figures from ASH U.K. once again highlight the stop-smoking credentials of vaping for adults and reinforce the instrumental role these products have and must continue to play in stubbing out the health burden of smoking for good,” said U.K. Vaping Industry Association Director General John Dunne in a statement.

    “That said, if vaping is to reach its full potential in supporting the smoke-free ambition, action must be taken to address growing misperceptions about the less harmful alternative, which are no doubt being exacerbated by mainstream media scare stories and some mixed messaging in the public health sphere. This could be achieved through the introduction of national public education campaigns, which arm adults with the best, science-backed information to help them quit.”

  • ‘Excessive Tax Hike Could Spur Illicit Trade’

    ‘Excessive Tax Hike Could Spur Illicit Trade’

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Indonesia’s above-inflation tax hike could fuel illicit trade and depress government revenue collections, according to Apindo, a leading employers association, reports Tempo.

    To discourage smoking, the government last year approved a 10 percent increase in excise taxes on cigarettes for 2023–2024.

    Despite the tax hike, the number of cigarette factories has increased significantly in Indonesia. Data from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise revealed a surge from 1,214 factories in early 2022 to 1,723 factories in June 2024.

    Meanwhile, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported a 28.62 percent smoking rate among Indonesians aged 15 and above in 2023. The largest number of smokers was reportedly in the 35–39 age group at 35.21 percent while the youth group (15–19 years) had a rate of 9.62 percent. The Health Ministry’s 2023 Indonesian Health Survey found 70 million active smokers, including 7.4 percent aged 10–18 years.

  • Officials Draw Fire Over Tobacco Donations

    Officials Draw Fire Over Tobacco Donations

    Image: nosyrevy/Carsten Reisinger

    The Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has drawn fire for allegedly accepting donations from Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), reports The Inquirer.

    According to critics, PMFTC donated three mobile clinics to the agency earlier this year for use in social welfare and disaster response operations.

    In a statement released Aug. 9, the advocacy group Parents Against Vape said the “acceptance and promotion” of the tobacco industry by government officials “raised serious ethical, legal and health-related issues.”

    “The actions of these government officials and the accompanying display of support could be construed as a blatant endorsement of an industry that is known for its detrimental health effects and are deeply troubling for several reasons,” said Parents Against Vape President Rebie Relator.

    The group called for “a thorough investigation” into the action of the officials of government agencies involved, saying it violated several laws and policies.

    In February this year, the DSWD’s legal service recommended declining the PMFTC donation, prompting Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian to ask the legal opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May.

    On June 6, the DOJ said it would be OK to accept the donations. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla maintained that the Civil Service Commission and Department of Health rules on donations cover only officials and employees and do not extend to government agencies and offices in general.

    Nonetheless, several former government officials criticized the DOJ and DSWD’s acceptance of tobacco donations, arguing that the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which the Philippines is a signatory, forbids government officials and employees from soliciting or accepting gifts, favors or donations from tobacco-related entities.

    “Civil service rules could not distinguish the agency actions from the actions of its officers or employees,” said Civil Service Commissioner Mary Ann Fernandez Mendoza. “Otherwise, who will be made accountable for violation of civil service rules if we accept the [DOJ] interpretation? It goes against the principle that public office is a public trust.”

  • Tobacconists Booming

    Tobacconists Booming

    Photo: Auremar

    Tobacconists in the Netherlands have seen their turnover jump by 40 percent since the government banned tobacco sales in supermarkets, reports Dutch News, citing NSO Retail, the trade association for entrepreneurs with tobacco shops.

    While the supermarket ban took effect July 1, NSO Retail, which represents some 1,600 tobacco stores, notes the increase in turnover at specialty stores has been going on for some time because leading supermarket chains Albert Heijn and Lidl had already stopped selling tobacco.

    According to research by TabakNee, a smoking-prevention research website, more than 100 new tobacco shops have opened in the Netherlands this year. “That’s more than in the whole of 2023,” a spokesperson was quoted a saying. “At the beginning of June, we had 230 new shops since the supermarket ban was announced at the end of 2020.”

    TabakNee says some entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the measure by opening tobacco shops near supermarkets.

    NSO Retail disputes that claim. According to the trade association, “net dozens” of tobacco shops have been added this year. “That is certainly not a spectacular increase when you know that more than 6,000 supermarkets have stopped selling tobacco,” it said.

    Petrol stations have also benefitted from the supermarket ban, according to industry organization Drive. Since the start of 2024, tobacco sales at its 1,300 affiliated petrol stations have increased by between 10 and 40 percent, according to the organization.

  • Finnish Teens Ditching Cigarettes

    Finnish Teens Ditching Cigarettes

    Image: sezerozger

    Finnish teens are drinking and smoking less but using more e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, reports the Helsinki Times, citing findings from a European survey

    The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) has been monitoring substance use among European students since 1995.

    Conducted every four years, the survey includes 16-year-olds across 23 to 39 European countries.

    The proportion of ninth graders who have never consumed alcohol has increased dramatically from 10 percent in 1995 to 35 percent in 2024.

    Only 6 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls smoked daily in 2024, down from around 20 percent at the beginning of the decade. However, vaping has been rising, with 40 percent of teens having tried e-cigarettes, up from 34 percent in 2019. Daily use is reported by 9 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls.

    The use of snus, a form of smokeless tobacco, has also dropped. In 2024, 26 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls had tried snus, with daily use at 7 percent for boys and 3 percent for girls.

    Teen use of nicotine pouches increased after Finland permitted the sale of modern oral products in 2023. By 2024, 31 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls had tried nicotine pouches, with 11 percent of boys and 3 percent of girls using them daily.

    Cannabis experimentation decreased slightly during the period studied, particularly among boys, with 11 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls having tried it in 2024.

    The full ESPAD report will be published in 2025.

  • New Vape Restrictions in Costa Rica

    New Vape Restrictions in Costa Rica

    Image: Zerophoto

    Costa Rica has banned vaping in public places such restaurants, offices and educational institutions, reports The Tico Times.

    The move follows a dramatic increase in vaping-related disorders. In 2023 alone, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund recorded 14 cases of vaping-related intoxication, including nine minors, with seven requiring hospitalization.

    Vaping has become increasingly popular among young people in recent years. Gabriela Rojas of the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA) warned that electronic cigarettes contain harmful chemicals.

    “The tobacco industry has cleverly marketed these products, using technology, attractive colors, and various flavors to target underage individuals,” said Zeanne Gonzalez, another IAFA official.

  • Sales Up at Haypp Group

    Sales Up at Haypp Group

    Photo: Haypp Group

    The Haypp Group, the world’s largest online retailer of nicotine pouches, reported net sales of SEK942.8 million ($89.66 million) for the second quarter of 2024, up 23 percent over the comparable 2023 period.

    Gross profit increased to SEK135.2 million, corresponding to a gross margin of 14.3 percent. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes rose to SEK34.4 million, mainly due to the higher gross margin, increased volume as well as efficiency gains, partially offset by continued investments into additional capabilities.

    The company’s nicotine pouch volume grew by 43 percent over the second quarter of 2023.

    “Haypp group continued to show a very strong performance in the second quarter with YoY Nicotine Pouch volume growth of 43 percent,” said Haypp Group CEO Gavin O’Dowd in a statement.

    “This is accelerating from prior quarters as the category continues to thrive in our growth markets due to the increasing appetite for risk reduced products. While the category experienced some turbulence in the USA during the quarter, we were well positioned and our volume grew around 70 percent. The investments in our business operations have continued to deliver value with an increase of 68 percent in our adjusted EBIT. This robust growth, over many years shows how robust our business is, irrespective of the economic environment.”

    The Haypp Group’s interim report is available here.