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  • El Septimo Displaying New Line with $25M Humidors

    El Septimo Displaying New Line with $25M Humidors

    With the annual PCA Trade Show less than two weeks away, many companies are looking to make a splash at one of the cigar industry’s biggest events. El Septimo is doing just that, as it announced it will be displaying three custom-built, El Septimo Fabergé Egg Cigar Humidors, each valued at $25 million. Each humidor contains more than 475 carats of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, but they are not for sale.

    The spectacle is to promote El Septimo’s release of its Doble Gran Reserva. The Doble Gran Reserva is a 6 x 52 toro that uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The company says that all of the tobacco used is aged between seven and 10 years.

    Each cigar will have an MSRP of $125, and production is limited to 1,000 boxes of 14 cigars. 

  • PMI Earns Real Estate Award for Colorado Zyn Project

    PMI Earns Real Estate Award for Colorado Zyn Project

    Philip Morris International’s (PMI) purchase and planned development of 150 acres of land in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2024 earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market. According to the seller, Opus Development Co., the site acquisition by PMI’s United States-based affiliate, Kairus, Inc., was one of the largest direct land sales to a user and set a record price per square foot based on land area. PMI plans to invest $600 million into building a manufacturing hub for Zyn nicotine pouches.

    “PMI and its U.S. affiliates are accelerating their mission to move adults who smoke away from cigarettes by investing in new manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing demand for nicotine options that are scientifically substantiated as better alternatives,” PMI Americas President and U.S. CEO Stacey Kennedy said in a statement unveiling the company’s development plans. “We believe Colorado is like-minded in its commitment to innovation, economic opportunity and public health, and we’re eager to work with the state and its talented workforce as we expand our U.S. manufacturing presence.”

    The project is expected to generate more than $1 billion in economic contributions for the Denver-area suburb by the time it is fully operational in 2026, and will host at least 500 full-time employees, and generate upward of $550 million annually in economic benefits statewide.

  • Senate Confirms New FDA Commissioner

    Senate Confirms New FDA Commissioner

    Last week the U.S. Senate confirmed former Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by a 56-44 vote. During his confirmation hearing, Makary said his goals for the agency were “more cures and meaningful treatments for Americans,” and offered several insights as to how he would achieve those goals throughout the hearing.  

    In the past, Makary has been critical of the FDA, in 2021 calling for “fresh leadership at the FDA to change the culture at the agency and promote scientific advancement, not hinder it.” Reporting to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Makary’s leadership of the FDA also includes its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). However, it’s not yet clear how he will approach CTP’s looming issues of reviewing premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), the illicit vape market, and other tobacco-related issues.

    Much of the confirmation hearing centered around past problems, including those with Covid-19 vaccines, the pharmaceutical industry, and various other issues that have often gained headlines of late, but he did not commit to specifics in that venue.

    “I have no preconceived plans on mifepristone policy except to take a hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists at the FDA who have reviewed the data,” he said at his hearing. “We now have a generational opportunity in American healthcare. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s focus on healthy foods has galvanized a grassroots movement in America. Childhood obesity is not a willpower problem, and the rise of early-onset Alzheimer’s is not a genetic cause. We should be, and we will, be addressing food as it impacts our health.”

    When asked about the backlog of cases the FDA has across all departments, Makary did not rule out leveraging artificial intelligence and making other regulatory changes to streamline the drug review process. He suggested FDA reviewers could use AI “to help reviewers in the review process—not to replace human reviews, but to improve efficiency.”

    National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) Executive Director David Spross told CSP on Friday that “NATO looks forward to working with Dr. Makary and the team at FDA on tobacco and nicotine product regulatory issues, including for the FDA is to support tobacco harm reduction policies by authorizing more PMTA vapor and nicotine pouch product applications that provide adult smokers with more choices.”

    Spross added that there is a “need for more transparency from the agency by providing retailers more information on illicit products, specifically in the vapor and nicotine pouch categories.”

    Makary is a surgical oncologist and health policy researcher who has spent more than 20 years at Johns Hopkins.

    “I am pleased to congratulate Dr. Makary on his new role as FDA commissioner,” said Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels. “We are fortunate to have one of our senior faculty members at the School of Medicine undertake this critical service to the nation.

    “An accomplished clinician and widely published health policy researcher, Dr. Makary has had a storied career at Johns Hopkins that reflects the research and clinical acumen and openness to different ideas and approaches undergirded by academic freedom that are the hallmark of our great institution,” said Daniels.

    Makary founded the Johns Hopkins Center for Surgical Trials and Outcomes Research and co-developed a surgical safety checklist used in operating rooms worldwide. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and three New York Times bestselling books on healthcare.

    Senate also confirmed Jay Bhattacharya as the new director of the National Institutes on Health.

  • PMI Launches IQOS in Texas

    PMI Launches IQOS in Texas

    Philip Morris International began selling its IQOS heated tobacco device in Austin, Texas, today (March 27), an executive told Reuters, kicking off efforts to build a market for the world’s top-selling heated tobacco device in the United States.

    PMI said that after a successful pilot program, it was offering IQOS to smoking-age Austin residents and would host demonstrations and guided trials for adults to showcase the product. The device is being offered for $60 with the accompanying tobacco sticks available for $8, said Francisca Rahardja, vice president and chief marketing officer of inhalables at PMI U.S.

    Rahardja said PMI was offering IQOS at a lower price versus some other markets in part to reflect the fact it was trying to build up appetite among new consumers. PMI hopes to capture a 10% share of U.S. tobacco and heated tobacco unit volume by 2030 and build a substantial base of new users in the world’s top market for smoking alternatives.

    PMI previously said it would launch IQOS in four cities in two U.S. states, but so far only the Austin launch has been announced. It is pursuing a limited U.S. roll-out of an older version of the IQOS device while waiting for authorization from the FDA to sell the latest iteration, dubbed ILUMA, in the country.

  • Imperial Vows to Grow Profits 3-5% Over Next Five Years

    Imperial Vows to Grow Profits 3-5% Over Next Five Years

    Today (March 26), Imperial Brands said it will grow annual operating profits by 3-5% and launch a share buyback every year until 2030 as it prepares to set out its growth strategy at a capital markets day.

    The company has enjoyed a rebound in sales and returns after retreating to focus on core markets and its tobacco business following an earlier foray into vapes that saw it lose market share. It outlined a new five-year strategy, signaling a continuation of that focus but also an effort to build scale in smoking alternatives, including its e-cigarette brand blu, nicotine pouch brand Zone and heated tobacco device Pulze.

    Over the years to 2030, that plan would deliver up to 5% operating profit growth a year, led by smoking alternatives, and an annual share buyback, with free cash flows of up to £3 billion ($3.9 billion) per year, it said in a statement.

    “The strategy builds on the firm foundations of our current plan, which has created a better business delivering a stronger, more consistent operational and financial performance, and excellent returns for shareholders,” chief executive Stefan Bomhard said.

  • Sweden Wants Others to Follow its Harm-Reduction Success

    Sweden Wants Others to Follow its Harm-Reduction Success

    Sweden is boasting about its success with tobacco harm-reduction and is encouraging our countries to follow suit. Only 4.5% of Swedish-born adults smoke cigarettes which, according to the government, is owed to its policies that push safer alternatives like snus, nicotine pouches, and vapes.

    “Swedes have participated in a long-running harm reduction experiment, providing undeniable proof that replacing smoking with smokeless nicotine dramatically reduces smoking-related disease, disability and premature deaths – a net gain for public health, while reducing expenditure,” said Dr. Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden. “With harm reduction now policy in Sweden, every public health decision will reflect this approach. Other countries should adopt Sweden’s model without further delay.”

    Sweden’s Parliament formally adopted harm-reduction as a policy in December 2024, saying “Tobacco policy must consider the varying harmful effects of different products. Cigarettes pose a greater health hazard than smokeless nicotine… This must be reflected in taxation and policy goals.”

    Sweden has already applied risk-based taxation by lowering excise tax on snus while increasing it on cigarettes.

  • Utah E-Cigarette Bill Gets Favorable Ruling

    Utah E-Cigarette Bill Gets Favorable Ruling

    Utah’s Electronic Cigarettes Amendments bill, which was signed into law last March, can finally be enacted after U.S. District Judge David Barlow’s ruling. One of the main questions in the litigation centered around the state’s inspection programs, which Barlow said were not central to the case.

    The bill bans the sale of tobacco products the Food and Drug Administration has not approved or is still pending approval. It also bans all sales of flavored e-cigarettes. After it passed, the Utah Vapor Business Association and The Smoke House filed a joint lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction on the legislation. But, in his ruling Barlow said the bill could still achieve its purpose without keeping the inspection program. Under the bill, the inspection program would have allowed state health departments to review at random.

    Barlow said the bill “says nothing about the frequency of any such inspections. It does not say that they are to occur on a temporal basis, like annually or quarterly. It does not even say that they are to occur regularly. It simply says they ‘may’ occur. In short, the inspection program seemingly leaves it in inspectors’ hands entirely as to whether any inspections occur.” The judge further said the Legislature would have passed the bill regardless of whether an inspection program was in place, adding that “these provisions are operable without the inspection program, as they provide a comprehensive program for regulating electronic cigarettes and punishing retailers that sell banned products.”

  • Bulgarian Cigarette Prices Set to Rise for Second Time in 2025 

    Bulgarian Cigarette Prices Set to Rise for Second Time in 2025 

    Starting on May 1, the price of cigarettes in Bulgaria will rise by 40 to 50 stotinki (22 to 28 cents) per pack. This increase follows the latest adjustments to excise duties on tobacco products, which were approved as part of the 2025 budget.

    The new excise duty rates mark the second price hike this year, following a similar increase earlier when excise rates were raised by nearly 6%. This earlier rise was part of a planned, gradual increase that had been set in place since late 2022, when a four-year schedule was introduced. However, the government accelerated the schedule, deciding that the 2026 rates would be applied a year earlier.

    The Bulgarian Tobacco Industry Association clarified that there was no truth to recent rumors about a price surge of 2.50 leva ($1.38) per pack starting in April as several groups warned that the new excise duty directive would lead to a significant price hike. The Bulgarian Tobacco Industry Association refuted these claims, stating that the proposed changes to the excise duty directive, which would have raised the minimum rate to 180 euros per 1,000 cigarettes, had not been implemented. They noted, however, that the European Commission is expected to increase the minimum tobacco product excise duties more substantially in the coming years.

    According to the Ministry of Finance, the current excise structure will see a phased increase. As of January 1, 2025, the minimum excise duty for every 1,000 cigarettes was raised to 202 leva ($111). This will rise to 210 leva ($115.50) per 1,000 cigarettes starting in May, with a further increase of 12 leva each year until 2029. Similar increases are expected for other tobacco products and those containing tobacco substitutes.

  • Lebanon to Adopt WHO FCTC Policies 

    Lebanon to Adopt WHO FCTC Policies 

    Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health joined with leaders from the World Health Organization to announce the “Tobacco Control Investment Case Study in Lebanon,” which says the country could avert more than $400 million in economic losses and save up to 40,000 lives over the next 15 years by implementing several key tobacco control policies recommended by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

    “Today, we are presented with strong evidence showing that tobacco control is not only a health priority but also a sound economic investment,” Minister of Public Health of Lebanon, Dr. Rakan Nassereldine, said. “This study quantifies what we have long known: tobacco use is devastating to individual health, increasing the burden of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses. But beyond the human suffering, tobacco also imposes an enormous cost on our healthcare system, weakens productivity, and drains resources that Lebanon can no longer afford to lose.”

    Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, a WHO Representative in Lebanon, emphasized that the national tobacco control law targeting to implement the various aspects of the WHO FCTC is an important public health measure that aims at improving people’s health, preventing harm to non-smokers’ health, and reducing the economic burden of smoking at the national level. He indicated that Lebanon stands as one of the top countries in the region for high smoking prevalence, highlighting an urgent need for decisive action in tobacco control.  “Integrating tobacco control into national economic recovery and growth plans and policies, will be critical in helping Lebanon achieve its economic goal” he said.

    Among the policies being recommended are increasing tax rates on tobacco, creating smoke-free public places and workplaces, requiring graphic health warnings on tobacco product packaging, strengthening public awareness of tobacco control issues, and promoting the cessation of tobacco use.

  • House Reps Calling for Crackdown on Illicit Chinese E-Cigs

    House Reps Calling for Crackdown on Illicit Chinese E-Cigs

    Three U.S. representatives are calling on the Trump administration to crack down on the sale of illegal vape products.

    According to CSP Daily News, U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota), Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Michigan) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Sara Brenner urging the Trump Administration to take action on the influx of unauthorized Chinese-made e-cigarettes and vapes sold in America.

    “The large-scale smuggling of these illicit vaping products —accounting for more than half of all vapes sold in the United States—undermines American public health priorities and contributes to a significant increase in youth vaping,” the letter said. “The Chinese Communist Party is fueling this crisis. The CCP has banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes within its own borders yet continues to export these same products worldwide. If these products are deemed unsafe for their own citizens, we must question their efforts to smuggle and sell these products in the United States.”

    In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FDA created a federal multi-agency task force to combat the illegal distribution and sale of e-cigarettes. The congressmen said in the letter that this task force was an “important” step forward, but more must be done.

    “It is time to go even further and utilize all enforcement tools at our disposal,” the letter said. “Seizing these products is also an essential step, which currently occurs far too infrequently.”