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JTI Malaysia Appoints Juliana Mohd Yahaya

Image: peach_adobe

Japan Tobacco International Malaysia appointed Juliana Mohd Yahaya as managing director effective Oct. 1, according to The Edge Malaysia.
Yahaya will take the place of Khoo Bee Leng, who will retire after 30 years with the company.
“[Yahaya] brings a wealth of experience to the role, having assumed various leadership positions at Japan Tobacco International’s (JTI) global center as well as in markets,” said JTI Malaysia.
Yahaya joined JTI Malaysia in 2000, and she has held various roles in marketing and sales. She also worked at JTI’s Geneva headquarters and in leadership roles across Asia and Europe. Yahaya has been leading the Belgium and Luxembourg markets since 2020.
“JTI Malaysia would also like to take this opportunity to thank Khoo Bee Leng for her dedicated service and leadership, and we wish her a happy retirement,” the company said. Leng started in the role of managing director on Jan. 1, 2021.

October 3, 2023
Flavor Bans Boost Combustible Sales

Image: DoraZett

A new study has found that flavor bans boost sales of traditional combustible cigarettes. The study, E-Cigarette Flavor Restrictions’ Effects on Tobacco Product Sales, concluded that restrictions on the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products could lead to significant increases in traditional cigarette sales.
Given that combustible cigarettes are widely recognized as more harmful than vaping, the study’s findings raise pressing questions about the public health implications of such policies, according to a release from the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA). The group “urges Canadian governments to review the study’s findings and ensure that vapor product regulations are in line with harm reduction and Canada’s Drugs and Substances Strategy.”
Key highlights from the study include:
Substitution to cigarettes: For every 1 fewer 0.7 mL pod sold due to flavor restrictions, there’s an increase of 15 additional cigarettes purchased.
Rise in cigarette sales over time: While the short-term effects are less clear, the long-term correlation between vaping flavor policies and a surge in cigarette sales is robust. This surge occurs especially when such policies have been in place for a year or more.
Young population at risk: The relation between vaping flavor restrictions and increased cigarette sales isn’t limited to a particular age group. Alarmingly, there’s also a surge in sales for cigarette brands popular among underage youth.
The research firmly underscores the unintended consequences of restricting flavored product sales, according to the CVA. While the research indicated that these policies do achieve their goal of reducing flavored product use, they inadvertently boost the sales of traditional cigarettes across all age groups.
Given the stark difference in health risks between cigarettes and vaping, the study contends that the overall health benefits of such policies may be minimal or even potentially harmful in the broader perspective.

October 3, 2023
The Therapeutic Track

Photo: goodmanphoto

Key considerations for designing vapes as medical devices

By Pete Lomas

To further support the transition from smoking to reduced-risk nicotine products, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is encouraging next-generation nicotine product manufacturers to consider the marketing authorization application (MAA) route to market. Nicotine products, such as vape devices, authorized via this regulatory pathway can be marketed as smoking cessation tools and prescribed by healthcare professionals.
This article discusses how manufacturers can design vapes to improve their chances of MAA approval, giving a particular focus to delivered dose uniformity (DDU), which is a critical parameter for any authorized medical inhalation device.
Medicinal vapes will be classified in a similar way as conventional pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs), meaning they must meet similar criteria for approval. One key criteria is DDU, a measure used to ensure patients are getting the same amount of drug delivery both within and between devices.
Achieving DDU is challenging in vapes for several reasons. Most consumer vapes rely on traditional coil and wick technology. The wick is saturated with e-liquid, and when the coil heats up, the wick releases vapor for the user to inhale. Coil-based and wick-based vapes are prone to inconsistency caused by a variety of issues, such as variation in battery life, power delivery and temperature, to highlight a few.
The MHRA recognizes that vapes are fundamentally different from pMDIs and has made some concessions related to DDU. However, manufacturers must achieve nine out of 10 doses within 25 percent of the mean and all doses within 35 percent of the mean. In addition, the mean of 10 puffs must fall within 15 percent of the label claim. To have the best chance of MAA approval, manufacturers should design vapes well within these limits. Manufacturers can achieve this by adapting existing vape designs or by turning to novel technology.

Adapting Existing Technology

Several areas of product development influence DDU, including airflow, e-liquid properties, test methods, e-liquid delivery, packaging, production and power delivery. Ceramic heating elements are one example of a way manufacturers are changing their designs to improve DDU. Ceramic elements improve the consistency of power delivery while more accurately controlling the wicking rate via engineering of the wick’s pore size.
Another way a design can be adapted is with the introduction of thermocontrols that regulate power delivery and therefore the temperature of the coil. Thermocontrols help ensure the same amount of vapor is being released with each inhale by setting a temperature limit that applies to the wick no matter the battery level of the device. Vape manufacturers can also consider the influence of the airflow path on DDU, such as tightening manufacturing tolerances.

Photo: makcoud

Emerging Technologies

Alternatively, vape manufacturers can make use of emerging electronic nicotine-delivery system technologies to improve dosage consistency. Better control of droplet size can be achieved with devices based on piezo ceramic meshes, a similar technology to that used in medical nebulizers. E-cigarette devices based on piezo technology use mechanical forces, in the form of ultrasonic waves, to convert the e-liquid into vapor in a process known as atomization. The droplet size and dosage can be predefined through the mesh dimensions, allowing for uniformity in the vapor.
Another emerging technology is microfluidic liquid delivery. This technology uses the surface tension of the liquid to transport it along micro channels for “wicking” and is a more engineered solution than conventional wicks.

Regulatory Insight

Businesses with products undergoing the premarket tobacco product application process can reuse this data to reduce the number of new studies required for an MAA. However, MAA applicants should expect the process to be extended. Working with a scientific and regulatory compliance partner that can support you through the process, from product design to regulatory approval, can increase your chances of success.

Pete Lomas is a managing consultant at Broughton, a global scientific consultancy-based contract research organization serving customers operating in the pharmaceuticals, next-generation nicotine-delivery products and cannabinoids industries. Among other services, the company offers support with the MAA pathway. For more information, visit www.broughton-group.com/maa-regulatory-support-and-submission-service.

October 2, 2023
PMI Launches Tobacco-Free Heat Stick

Image: Reuters

Philip Morris International unveiled a zero-tobacco stick for use with its heat-not-burn device IQOS, which may help the company avoid tax and other regulations that affect its tobacco products in some markets, according to Reuters.
The new sticks, called LEVIA, do not contain tobacco but rather a “nontobacco substrate” infused with nicotine. It offers flavors including tobacco, menthol with blueberry and peppermint.
LEVIA may avoid the heavy taxes or other controls imposed on other tobacco products, according to CEO Jacek Olczak. He said it “may not be subject to flavor regulations in some jurisdictions” and that it “doesn’t fit” in existing fiscal categories.
A PMI spokesperson declined to comment on when and where LEVIA would launch or what substance replaces the tobacco.

October 2, 2023
UKVIA Launches Vape Recycling Info Hub

Image: jpgon

The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has announced that it is launching a new web-based information hub, as well as a special Sustainable Vaping Week campaign during October, designed to get vapers, the vaping industry and those outlets that sell vapes to act now for the benefit of the environment.
While the sector is making progress in limiting its impact on the environment, including the development of more recyclable product innovations and the introduction of collection schemes, a recent report by Material Focus highlights that some 5 million single use vapes are thrown away each week, according to a UKVIA release.
The new resource hub and week-long campaign will provide vapers with information on the dos and don’ts of recycling single use vapes as well as access to locations where they can dispose of their devices in an environmentally considerate way. Retailers and other outlets, such as pubs and clubs, will also be able to download educational resources to educate their customers about recycling single use vapes across the week and throughout the year.
There will also be guidance provided for those responsible for producing, importing, distributing and selling vape devices to ensure they are operating legally at all times when it comes to meeting environmental regulations and are working closely and effectively with reputable waste management companies.
“There have been calls for the banning of single use vapes in part due to their environmental impact,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA. “However, a ban is not the answer—firstly disposable vapes are proven to be hugely effective in getting smokers to switch from their habits to considerably less harmful vapes, due to their ease of use, convenience and low entry price points. They are the main reason why smoking is currently at record low levels across the U.K. In addition, through the collective efforts of a range of stakeholders, we can reverse the current impact on the environment arising from vapers throwing them away.
“The initiatives we are announcing will play a key role in this process by educating vapers about how they can play a critical role in being environmentally considerate when disposing of their vapes. They will also give much needed guidance to the vaping industry and other sectors, such as hospitality and general retail, about what they need to be doing to support the collection of vape waste, thereby enabling significantly higher recycling rates than we are currently seeing for these devices.”
The Sustainable Vaping Week will take place beginning Oct. 16, following International E-Waste Day on Oct. 14. The resource hub will become a permanent source of information on vaping and the environment.
The UKVIA will be providing a range of content for all of its members and the wider industry to promote and share via their offline and online retail stores as well as through their communications channels to educate vapers about how they can make a positive difference to the environment as a result of changing their throwaway behaviors.

October 2, 2023
Malawi Extends Tobacco Farmer Registration

Image: Tobacco Commission

Malawi’s Tobacco Commission has extended tobacco farmer registration and licensing to Oct. 31, 2023, according to The Nyasa Times. The end date was originally scheduled for Sept. 30, 2023.
“We have decided to extend the exercise by one month, giving enough period to them [stakeholders and growers] without charging any fee or penalty to them,” said Tobacco Commission CEO Joseph Chidanti Malunga.
The Tobacco Commission wants farmers to produce as much tobacco crop as possible because there is more demand for higher volumes from traditional and international buyers.
It is illegal in Malawi for farmers to grow tobacco without being licensed.

October 2, 2023
Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory?
Will the European Union enable or obstruct the market-based demise of the cigarette?

By Clive Bates

There are so many genuinely terrible ways to regulate combustible tobacco and smoke-free nicotine products that achieving one of the less terrible ways is a triumph. Unlike the United States, the European Union hasn’t imposed gigantic regulatory burdens that choke the life out of all but the largest companies, relentlessly favoring tobacco majors over their smaller rivals. Unlike Australia, the EU pulled back from regulating vapes as if they were medicines. Australia was once a leader in tobacco control, but now it has become a chaotic fiasco of sluggish declines in smoking and a massive black market. Despite the prohibition campaigns of the World Health Organization, the EU has resisted most forms of prohibition, though with the inexplicable exception of snus. To state the obvious, prohibition doesn’t cause banned products to disappear; it merely removes law-abiding suppliers and hands the residual market to criminals and unregulated informal traders.
In contrast, the EU has developed a range of measures to address tobacco and nicotine risks that are not especially disproportionate or discriminatory, reasonably precautionary and not particularly prone to harmful unintended consequences. As a result, the EU has a diverse range of lawfully available safer alternatives to smoking and, therefore, the regulatory basis for tobacco harm reduction for the member states that wish to pursue it. By international standards, it is a modest success.
European elections will be held in June 2024, and a new legislative program will emerge a few months later, with the most intensive legislative activity expected in 2025. So, the question is where next? I am sorry to report that the Brussels hive mind of bureaucrats, politicians and interest groups is on course to turn a modest success into a conspicuous failure, putting millions of lives at risk.

The EU’s Public Health Aims are Focused on Reducing Disease

There is a renewed impetus behind EU tobacco policy. In 2021, the EU launched its plan for addressing cancer, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. In 2022, it launched a separate plan for addressing noncommunicable diseases other than cancer, known as Healthier Together. Both place considerable emphasis on tobacco, and both stress the “tobacco-free generation” objective to reduce tobacco use to less than 5 percent of adults by 2040 compared to around 25 percent today.

Regulatory Instruments

To deliver this agenda, the EU has three main instruments to regulate tobacco and related products, such as e-cigarettes. These are in the form of “directives,” or legally binding agreements that member states will implement in domestic legislation that complies with the terms of the directive.
The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD: 2014/40/EU) governs standards for products, packaging, warnings and several aspects of commerce in tobacco products. This directive also provides for the regulation of e-cigarettes, including advertising and promotion of these safer alternatives. The TPD is under active review following an evaluation of the legislative framework for tobacco control, and a new European Commission (EC) proposal is expected late in 2024.
The Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD: 2003/33/EC) bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship with a potential cross-border reach. Member states control fixed advertising, such as billboards. The TAD will likely be revised alongside the TPD to create a unified approach to tobacco and related products, such as e-cigarettes.
The Tobacco Excise Directive (TED: 2011/64/EU) provides a framework for harmonizing tobacco tax design. Member states generally set the levels of excise duty but are subject to minimum levels set in the directive. The TED has been subject to a lengthy review process since 2016. Taxation matters are sensitive with the member states, and each has a veto on any proposals. Controversy struck on Dec. 7, 2022, when new proposals were pulled from publication, as several Eastern European nations noticed that it would create large increases in tobacco prices for them.
The EU, as a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, will also form a common position to take into the November negotiations at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Panama. By endorsing the positions of the WHO, the EU will build momentum for further regulation aligned with the WHO approach.
The EU also has a range of softer instruments, such as the nonbinding 2009 Council Recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments (2009/C 296/02). In July 2022, the EC issued a call for evidence for a proposal for an updated recommendation that would apply to heated-tobacco products and e-cigarettes.

The Outlook is Bleak

It is never easy to see the big picture in the EU through the relentless blizzard of initiatives, consultations, reports, working groups and statements. However, some disturbing developments are emerging.
First, the major error of strategy. The EC sees the newer tobacco and nicotine products (heated tobacco, pouches, e-cigarettes) as a threat rather than as an opportunity to reduce cancer and NCDs. There is no sign that it recognizes or is interested in exploiting the radically different risks to health posed by smoked and smoke-free products. It should be treating tobacco products differently and proportionately according to risk. However, it is moving in the opposite direction toward treating all tobacco and nicotine products as if they were cigarettes. The effect will be to protect the cigarette trade, promote smoking, slow the decline of serious diseases and nurture the criminalization of supply and workarounds.
Second, instead of reversing the absurd and indefensible ban on snus, rumors suggest that the EC may even try to extend this ban to nicotine pouches. Snus has already reduced adult smoking in Sweden to close to the EU’s 2040 tobacco-free target of 5 percent, with measurable improvements in cancer and cardiovascular outcomes. Encouraging “free movement” of pouches would build on the snus proof-of-concept and help to reduce smoking across the EU. Regulation of purity and total nicotine density in pouches makes sense. However, a ban will simply deny users a significant harm reduction opportunity and create an influx of illicit high-strength pouches.
Third, there are moves to extend the ban on characterizing flavors in combustible tobacco products to all nicotine products. The EC has already done this for heated-tobacco products and could extend severe ingredient restrictions to vaping products. The government of the Netherlands, in alliance with the public health agency RIVM, has adopted a “whitelist” approach of permitting a few ingredients used chiefly to make artificial tobacco flavors. If adopted by the EU, this system would radically constrain the legal vaping market in which consumers are drawn to the diversity and ever-changing range of flavors as an alternative to smoking. At a December 2022 conference presentation in Paris, an RIVM official, Reinskje Talhout, presented on the Netherlands’ approach. After 33 pages of detailed analysis showing how to create a (short) list of permitted ingredients, she included the following slide on “Possible unintended consequences.”
The challenge is well summarized on this slide. Yet the advocates of broad flavor bans have no response. They have largely ignored the malign market and behavioral dynamics that they are likely to unleash.
Fourth, changes in the excise regime will dull the consumer economic incentives to switch from high-risk cigarettes to low-risk, noncombustible products. The minimum tax levels envisaged in leaked proposals are far greater than would be implied by the difference in risk compared to cigarettes. If the excise regime were more proportionate to the risk, the tax take would be outweighed by the costs of tax administration, and it would barely be worth raising excise duties. Member states should insist on their right to set zero minimum taxes on noncombustibles as it is their right to pursue tobacco harm reduction domestically. There would also be a scope for setting maximum tax levels for safer products to maintain a material difference in taxation between the highest-risk products and lowest-risk products.
Fifth, the EC plans to make it harder for European citizens to learn of safer alternatives to smoking by imposing further controls on advertising and promotion and possibly to willfully mislead consumers with packaging and warnings that implicitly exaggerate the risks of low-risk alternatives to smoking. Again, the regulatory tactic is to treat all products as if they are as harmful as cigarettes when what is required is more nuanced risk communication. If the EU follows the direction of the WHO, it will risk drifting into inappropriate restrictions on free speech and legitimate opinion.
The question for me is why? What fearful autocratic reflex causes the EC to suppress pro-health innovation and see opportunity as a threat? There is an opportunity here for the free movement of goods and services within a well-functioning internal market to deliver a high level of health and consumer protection. The internal market, if allowed to function as intended, could end the cigarette era and epidemic of smoking-related disease. Yet its most ardent champion, the EC, appears unwilling to let the internal market crush the cigarette trade through the power of consumer preference, competition and creative destruction. What a pity.

Clive Bates is the director of Counterfactual Consulting and the former director of Action on Smoking and Health (U.K.).
October 1, 2023
Star Power
Image: mitrija

When smoking gets better press than vaping

By Cheryl K. Olson

Celebrity news sites have reported sightings of Sasha Obama, the daughter of the former president, smoking cigarettes. There she is, puffing with friends outside a glamourous Los Angeles party. And here, exhaling while exiting a luxury wellness spa. She makes no apparent attempt to evade the photographers.
No longer taboo, cigarettes are increasingly seen dangling from the lips of celebrities, on the streets and on-screen. Once-ubiquitous mentions of vaping as trendy and cool have gone up in smoke. Cigarettes, by contrast, appear to be inching back toward social acceptability. Worse, this may be coming at the expense of the vastly less harmful alternative nicotine product.
Let’s review some recent examples of this shift in celebrity cigarette media coverage and perceptions and some potential implications for normal humans.

‘Cigfluencers’

A recent New York Times article, “A Viral Cigarette Brand? In 2023?,” details, and arguably promotes, efforts to get a small cigarette brand called Hestia into the mouths of influential New Yorkers. It mentions that the product is illegal to sell at retail in that state and legal in only four others. The goal of this campaign, it says, is to turn the brand “into a kind of cult status object for those still willing to risk the many dangers of smoking.”
Billboards selling cigarette brands may be illegal, but “cigfluencing” by bloggers and podcasters with names like Meg Superstar Princess appears to be A-OK. So is handing out Hestias at exclusive events. The receding cool of vaping seems to help fuel the promotion of Hestias as naughty-chic.
“Paradoxically, a boom in vaping over the last few years has made burning an actual paper-wrapped, plant-and-chemical-filled cigarette practically taboo,” says the New York Times article. “And for that reason, among people like Meg Superstar Princess, it’s making a comeback. (‘God Hates Vapes,’ a recent post on the Hestia Instagram account, proclaimed.)”

‘She Looks Fabulous’

Twenty years ago, a clutch of studies found that seeing smoking in movies encouraged teens to initiate cigarette use. Smoking in films and television declined but never faded completely. Recently, depictions of smoking are reportedly surging on youth-oriented media.
Viewers noted and even mocked chain smoking by the protagonist, played by Lily-Rose Depp, of a new HBO series. “You would think The Idol was a cigarette commercial the way Jocelyn [Depp] couldn’t do anything without smoking,” one watcher tweeted on social media platform X.
Depp, aged 24, apparently also smokes in real life. She left the Cannes premiere of The Idol in vintage Chanel, accessorized with cat-eye sunglasses and a lit cigarette.
“The smoking is a conscious decision. She looks fabulous, unfortunately,” a nightlife reporter told The Guardian newspaper. The article, titled “Celebrities are Smoking Again,” states that “many Gen Z stars are holding old Hollywood’s once beloved props,” eschewing green juices and yoga mats. A paparazzo states that for years, stars asked him to delete snaps showing them smoking. No longer.
Raising the issue of e-cigarette use, the article says it “may lack the star power of cigarettes.” The nightlife reporter is quoted as saying, “I’m not sure it ever looked cool to vape, but it definitely doesn’t look cool now” and that culturally, “vaping has entered its death phase.”
The Guardian separately reported on an August 2023 New York THNK1994 pop-up museum exhibit, which called itself The Museum of Smoking. It was described as “a tongue-in-cheek love letter to a terrible, but admittedly captivating, habit.”
Covering “iconic moments in smoking history,” the exhibit featured celebrity photos and memorabilia from the 1990s onward. There were also video installations, original art and gift shop “merch” inspired by them. An example of merch: The Mary Kate and Ash Tray, bearing a cartoon of puffing Olsen twins.
The glib tone of the exhibit was exemplified by this program note: “Do not start smoking. Do not start vaping either. But if it’s too late and you’re already here, then welcome, isn’t it gorgeous?”
Oddly, this trend of romanticizing cigarettes in media is being used to raise further concerns about vaping. A July article in Bustle quotes Truth Initiative CEO Robin Koval on this point. Since youth smoking rates are down, the logic goes, smoking in media becomes a tobacco industry ploy to hook replacement “smokers” on e-cigarettes.
Koval mentions a study by the Truth Initiative linking high exposure to tobacco imagery in television shows to increased youth initiation of vaping. Over 99 percent of the 444 “tobacco incidents” identified in their sample of programs featured combustible cigarettes. Just nine featured vaping, and eight of those came from a single series (Fuller House).
It’s notable that the study connected television viewing in 2018 to increased vaping in 2019, the year youth e-cigarette use peaked before declining. No significant association was found between TV tobacco imagery exposure and starting to smoke cigarettes.

News Coverage Imbalance

Of course, there’s more to press coverage than celebrity news. Another thing making vaping uncool is the steady drip of media reports on purported health risks of e-cigarettes. A search for the term “cigarette” in Google News for August and September brings up many more stories about the dangers of e-cigarettes than on the risks of smoking. This sample of intimidating headlines is typical:
“Vapour from Vapes May Paralyse our Immune Cells”;
“Vape Tongue: E-Cigs Lead to People Losing Sense of Taste”;
“E-Cigarettes Reduce Testicle Size and Sperm Count—New Study”;
“Possible Link Between E-Cigarette Use and Increased Risk of Stroke”;
“Vaping Found To Be the Biggest Risk Factor for Teenage Tobacco Smoking.”
Cigarette dangers are literally old news; relatively few new studies are generated and covered. Most of these vaping stories come from press releases that summarize and promote academic research. News stories based on press releases are a primary way the general public learns about advances in science and medicine. Such stories unfortunately tend to amplify the errors or weaknesses of their original sources. High risk of bias and methodological issues in vaping research have been noted in recent expert reviews.
Setting aside issues with particular studies and the larger field … the sheer quantity of negative press about vaping versus smoking gives the impression that e-cigarettes are at least as dangerous, and perhaps more so, than cigarettes. And research shows that’s exactly what the public has come to believe.

Far From the Influencers

Most of us are not trendy urban influencers and do not hang out with them. How might these views trickle down to local media and affect everyday people?
Skip Murray, a tobacco harm reduction specialist at the Minnesota Smoke Free Alliance, works in a tourist-dependent area of the Midwestern U.S. ringed by scenic lakes. I asked her how smoking and vaping are viewed today in her community.
While driving to work, “I never hear anything on the radio about smoking,” Murray says, “just about vaping and how it’s bad. In the ads and in comments that the DJs make when they do their morning talk thing.”
As she parks her car and watches people walking by, she sees more smoking than vaping. “And it makes me really sad,” she adds.
Murray’s office doorway has a small, protected alcove and is located next to a bar. “Every morning when I come to my office, the first thing I do is sweep up the cigarette butts outside my door, left by the bar patrons getting out of the wind while they have a smoke,” she says.
Murray has observed increased negative media coverage of pollution caused by vaping. Despite this, she has yet to sweep up any e-cigarette-related debris: “Not a Juul pod, a coil or a used disposable vape.”

A Silver Lining?

If vaping is no longer cool and edgy, could there be a silver(-haired) lining? Perhaps a bit of boring could save lives. I’m thinking of retirement-age folks who smoked and took part in a recent qualitative study I led. We asked what had attracted them to a simple “cigalike” vape.
A woman in her 70s told us, “I think those ones that are big and put out clouds of smoke are ridiculous.” A man in his 60s said, “I smoked cigarettes a long time. This thing looked like a cigarette, so voila! I got them and stayed with them.”
Older people trialing and switching to vapes would be a huge win for public health. Leave the cigarettes to the influencers!
But seriously, let’s hope for a quick end to this dangerous trend.
I leave you with this much more entertaining recent headline from The Onion: “Nation’s Older Sister’s Friends Announce Plan to Split Single Cigarette Among 9 of Them.”
Cheryl K. Olson is a California-based public health researcher who specializes in behavioral health issues and consults on tobacco product behaviors via McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors. She spent 15 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.
October 1, 2023
Spreading the Risk

Mercedes Vazquez

Protecting farmer livelihoods as demand for leaf tobacco changes.

By George Gay

Somebody once observed that while nobody knows what comes next, everybody does it. This notion came to mind recently when I was asked to write a story about efforts being made to diversify tobacco farmers’ income streams as demand for leaf stagnates, a story that had to be based on predictions about what comes next in respect of demand for tobacco.
The question about future demand might seem simple to answer, but for every argument I came up with for a likely global demise of leaf demand, I was able to come up with another suggesting an increasing demand. It did not help that when I started my research, I came across stories about four producer countries on three continents that were aiming to increase their productions next season, though whether from high points or low points I could not be sure. I must admit, too, that next season is not the future, but neither can I ignore it. I am mindful of something the International Tobacco Growers’ Association’s Mercedes Vazquez told me: that the long term was nowadays no more than a year—a telling observation summing up the insecurity many tobacco growers live with daily, even as critical suppliers to a wealthy industry.
But, whatever happens, everybody will have to do what comes next and, as things stand, a lot of people seem to be betting leaf demand will stagnate and fall. So what is to be done? How can we protect, and hopefully even improve, the livelihoods of the millions of people and their families who currently produce tobacco and rely upon the income it earns, some of whom currently live in poverty? After all, it is easy to talk about global demand or lack of it, but many of the solutions will, of necessity, come down to the level of individual farmers. Certainly, my first impression from talking to people was that this is a devilishly difficult subject, partly because of its diversity. Tobacco comes in a variety of types and styles while its production is geographically widespread under a range of conditions, some of them changing, and subject to different government regulations. It is carried out by commercial farmers and smallholders, who are given varying amounts of support and who sell their tobacco either over auction floors or via contract arrangements, each of which is open to good or bad practices.

Seeking Alternatives

Notwithstanding this diversity, however, the overall impression I was given was that there was no need to panic, though, for various reasons not necessarily solely to do with falling demand, the urgency in certain countries is higher than that in others. If leaf demand is going to fall, it is not going to fall precipitously in most markets. But that is not to say there is room for complacency, especially in those countries where tobacco contributes substantially to their foreign exchange earnings.
On the other hand, perhaps there is reason to panic. Another impression I was given was that there are few, previously unexploited, viable options available to farmers who want to stay in business while quitting tobacco production substantially or completely. It is also the case that identifying viable alternatives takes time, investment, research, market development and the cooperation of a wide range of stakeholders, not all of them holding the same stakes.
It must be remembered that tobacco growers tend to be canny operators who didn’t come down with the last shower of rain. Many of them already largely know which other crops work on their land and which do not because, partly in order to preserve their soils in good condition, they practice crop rotation, and in order to supplement their incomes or help feed their families, they keep a weather eye out for what their neighbors are doing and what the various markets are telling them.
Of course, they can always use some help. And the greater the need for tobacco growers to expand the number of crops they grow or to diversify into other activities, the more important it is that such diversifications are coordinated, at least at the regional level, more likely at the national level, and perhaps internationally. If all the world’s tobacco growers suddenly switched to producing groundnuts, the market for this product would go, well, nuts. Admittedly, that is unlikely to happen because diversifications will be governed by local conditions such as weather, soils, farmer skills, established markets, the availability of inputs and irrigation water, regulations, etc. Nevertheless, there is a need for coordination through organizations and companies with skills in this area.

Long-Term Viability

One such company is Alliance One International, whose vice president of global agronomy, Helio Moura, had, in part, the following to say in an emailed response to questions. “At Alliance One, we are focused on the long-term viability of our business and the sustainability—in all aspects—of the farmers with whom we contract. Our company has an ESG [environmental, social and governance] target to improve 100 percent of our contracted farmers’ livelihoods through good agricultural practices and opportunities for crop diversification and have introduced a number of crops to our grower base, including but not limited to maize in South America and groundnuts in Africa.
“Agricultural production of any kind has challenges. Farmers today are navigating climate change, succession planning, inflation and more. The reality is, a large portion of tobacco growers are smallholder farmers, growing on 10 ha or less of land. They rely on their tobacco crop as their base or supplemental income, making tobacco a significant part of many of the economies in the countries where we operate.
“To promote positive outcomes for our growers, we implement a variety of measures, including research and development initiatives, ongoing grower education and strategic partnerships, to best position contracted farmers to cultivate high-quality, high-yield complementary crops ….”
Meanwhile, Paulo Saath, vice president of Global Supply Chain Leaf at Japan Tobacco International, which sources tobacco from 34 countries and collaborates with about 62,000 farmers, had this to say: “One of the most effective strategies to overcome the challenges rural communities face, primarily poverty, is agricultural development.
“JTI’s Agricultural Labor Practices program aims to enhance the work environment of farmers by creating fairer working conditions, improve their well-being as well as their families’ and help them generate stable tobacco revenue. In Malawi, where tobacco is one of the most profitable value chains, since we vertically integrated our operations in 2009, contracted farmers have seen their average yields increase by around 140 percent, from 800 kg per hectare to 1,950 kg [per hectare] in 2023.
“We have set out Minimum Agronomic Standards by which our contracted growers are encouraged to rotate tobacco with complementary crops such as maize, groundnuts, soya as well as livestock and [are] provided with seeds and fertilizers. This helps them supplement their tobacco income, guarantee food security, entrench Good Agricultural Practices by improving soil health, and build climate change resilience ….
“In Malawi, we have a team of agronomy technicians who routinely visit our directly contracted growers, providing technical advice on how to improve the tobacco yield and quality and also building farm management capabilities (including financial planning, agroforestry, soil management, and human and labor rights).”

Evidenced-Based Initiatives

Candida Nakhumwa
One thing that strikes me about these comments is that while there is much emphasis on improving and diversifying income streams, there is no mention of a stagnation or decline in demand for tobacco. So is it really the case that such a stagnation or decline is happening or is on the horizon? Not perhaps if you talk to the Malawi Tobacco Commission, which earlier this year said it was hoping this season’s leaf prices would motivate growers to produce more tobacco during the next season.
More tobacco? Perhaps not a good idea, according to a report by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW), at least in the case of smallholder Malawian growers. This is what the FSFW had to say in the key takeaways section of its March 2022 Malawi Country Report: “Smallholder farmers occupy the lowest-valued component of the tobacco value chain. As the most vulnerable link in the value chain, farmers are frequently forced to grow tobacco at their own expense, literally and figuratively. Contract farming arrangements with major tobacco buyers often leave many smallholder farmers in poverty and some in perpetual debt. Their surrounding environment suffers as a result of deforestation and soil degradation. The collective impact of growing tobacco on the lived experiences of smallholder farmers and their families thus underscores the need to find alternative crops or livelihoods.”
I must say, however, that I was told by Candida Nakhumwa, vice president and Malawi country director of the FSFW, that the FSFW’s involvement in Malawi was also about addressing a decline in tobacco demand, which she put at 5 percent a year in respect of burley, the tobacco crop largely produced by the smallholder farmers with which the FSFW mainly interacts. Nakhumwa said that in Malawi, with a rural population of about 80 percent, addressing this decline had to be looked at as urgent. But, at the same time, it had to be looked at thoroughly, which, from what she told me, it is apparently doing, through a wide range of evidence-based initiatives.
The FSFW’s program concentrates on identifying alternative crops and researching their viability in an effort to diversify away from tobacco dependence. It supports farmers in increasing their productivity and production of nontobacco crops, which traditionally has been low, through the introduction of improved technologies in the form, for instance, of better seeds, plant nutrition, crop protection, irrigation and good agricultural practices.
The program also seeks to develop systems around new crops and activities that are supported by research and extension services and that have available structured and competitive markets. And this was not easy to achieve, Nakhumwa said, adding that, nevertheless, the FSFW had already made “tremendous progress.” Some farmers had totally transitioned away from tobacco to alternatives, such as groundnuts and soyabeans, and in doing so had increased their incomes, she said.
That is Malawi, of course, which has been fortunate in attracting the attention of the FSFW. Elsewhere, efforts are probably less structured.

Farmer Involvement

Nakhumwa emphasized time and again that all aspects of the FSFW’s wide-ranging research and efforts were centered on the farmers, who, after all, were the ones driving the economy. And it was farmer participation, or rather the lack of it, that was very much on the mind of Vazquez, who made the point that farmers were often left out of discussions around developments affecting their futures. What I took away from speaking and corresponding with Vazquez was that whereas the ITGA and farmers in general were willing to discuss tobacco growers transitioning out of tobacco, those advocating such moves had to be cognizant of the fact that, like it or not, tobacco often provided the best chance for farmers to support their families and wider communities. Given this, transitioning, unless carefully thought through, could be devastating. It had to be remembered that no crops or business activities were risk-free. No market was immune from exploitation by those intent on doing so.
Of course, there are any number of reasons why some growers and countries will continue to grow tobacco and some will not and why some will reduce production and some will not. For instance, there will be a move away from tobacco production because younger generations are often reluctant to take up farming. And there are the pending EU regulations that, from next year, will investigate supply chain issues, such as deforestation and child labor.
The ITGA says it supports balanced regulation aimed at maintaining good governance in supply chains and addressing social and environmental issues. But it points out that addressing these issues in relation to smallholder farmers means firstly tackling poverty, the root cause of these issues, with decent incomes. As was made clear at the most recent ITGA regional meeting, grower sustainability needs to start with grower viability.
In fact, I don’t think it’s unfair to ask why smallholder tobacco growers should live in poverty when they are stakeholders—and surely vital stakeholders—in a wealthy industry. That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.

George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

October 1, 2023
Reinventing for Sustainability

Photo: Filtrona

Industry suppliers are helping tobacco companies reduce the environmental impact of their operations.

By Stefanie Rossel

Globally, consumers and regulators are pushing for more sustainable products, including tobacco products. For the environment, tobacco production is a damaging business. In 2014, cigarette manufacturing was responsible for 84 million tons, or 0.2 percent, of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. As part of their harm reduction strategy, tobacco companies have been working to lower not only the health risks of their products but also the environmental impact of their operations. Leading players are aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and “net-zero across” their value chains by 2050.
To make tobacco products more environmentally friendly, there are two main levers: cigarette filters and cigarette packaging. Worldwide, 98 percent of cigarette filters consist of cellulose acetate (CA), a polymer that takes up to 10 years to degrade in the environment. Cigarette butts are among the most littered items on earth. The films and tear tapes used for cigarette packaging are made from polypropylene, a petroleum-based plastic.
To support their clients in reducing their environmental footprints, industry suppliers have been rethinking traditional, nonsustainable components and developing greener solutions, thereby also considering the effects these new solutions might have on production processes and the supply chain. Close cooperation with other suppliers and partners plays a vital role in this process.
“We are all on the journey together,” says Robert Pye, CEO of Singapore-based specialty filter manufacturer Filtrona. “We are working closely together with the larger players at the front end of the market and also with suppliers who offer interesting solutions for base materials. Where we come into play is the design of the filter. We use our scientific services to examine the smoke chemistry in these products, to understand the phenols, taste and nicotine that’s delivered.”
Filtrona says it has seen significantly increased interest in its sustainable filter products, such as its ECO range of fiber-based, biodegradable filter products. In the European Union, this is partly a result of the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD), which entered into force in 2021 and bans the sale of single-use plastic-containing items such as plates, cutlery, straws and cotton bud sticks as well as food containers and expanded polystyrene cups. The law exempts cigarette filters. However, starting in December, it will oblige tobacco manufacturers to cover the costs of consumer awareness campaigns and extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes tackling the cleanup, transport and treatment of litter. The EU is expected to ban filters in the long term.

Greener Solutions

To support its ECO product line, Filtrona opened a center of excellence in Budapest this summer, which will increase the company’s production capacity and speed-to-market of sustainable filter solutions. The center combines Filtrona’s extensive experience in manufacturing nonwoven filters with advanced, high-speed production technology and the latest testing methods to produce sustainable filters for various tobacco product applications, including cigarettes, heated-tobacco products (HTPs), cigarillos, cigars, roll-your-own and make-your-own cigarettes. The center enables tobacco companies to develop and manufacture a portfolio of sustainable tobacco products. “The facility can manufacture products at volumes varied in many special nonwoven products,” says Pye. “It’s important to us that we have one location that meets the needs of what is in the SUPD roadmap. We want to make sure we’re ahead of the curve in terms of capability and investment. We already invested several million dollars in this site to implement sustainable machinery from the leading manufacturers and will continue to invest in the future.”
With the launch of its Evolute fiber-based filtering media in June 2022, SWM, too, is offering nonplastic alternatives to CA filters. Evolute products can be used for all tobacco products that require filters, including filter tips, roll-your-own tobacco, tubes, cigarillos and conventional cigarettes. “Our solutions are ready to use and show a very good performance on the makers,” explains Alice Jaussaud, product manager for Evolute filtering media at SWM. The company already has a natural fiber filter solution on the market and is working on the next generation of sustainable and alternative filter solutions. “We are working on a day-to-day basis with key industry stakeholders,” she adds. “We create cooperations with the whole value chain to offer our customers more than a simple raw material solution but a raw material that fits their needs. We work closely with our customers to support them in their transition, to ensure high runnability performance on the maker and to develop the ideal filter design to provide the full solution.”

Scarcity as Driver

Persisting supply shortages in acetate tow and rising CA prices have recently driven the need for solutions that are not based on polymer, says Pye. They have also caused California-based biodegradable cigarette filter manufacturer Greenbutts to be “inundated with inquiries from every corner of the globe,” according to Chief Strategy Officer Luis Sanches. “We are responding quickly to each potential client with prototypes, quotations and fulfilled orders,” he says.
The company has developed a patented substrate and filters made of all-natural, food-grade fibers, such as abaca fiber, cotton flock and industrial hemp as well as a starch-based binder. The product is sold in bulk or as ready-made rods of filters and filter tips. Partnering with Boegli-Gravures, Greenbutts introduced and accelerated the Greenbossing technology, which resulted in a second-generation solution that significantly enhances the sensorial filtration technology for both low-tar and high-tar products, according to Sanches.
Greenbutts is working closely with all key OEMs to ensure its substrate is fully qualified and ready to roll out the transition from CA to Greenbutts, he says. “As part of our innovation strategy, there is a need to ensure the newly filed IPs are fully adaptable and successfully integrated in a wide range of existing and next-generation filter makers.”
Greenbutts partners with an Italian tobacco equipment manufacturer, Montrade, from which it recently acquired a machine with multiple filter manufacturing capabilities. “This will enable Greenbutts to increase the production specification offerings beyond mono-acetate filter replacement,” says Sanches. “The different formats and new machine features will enlarge our product portfolio choices in a much larger geography.”

A Paper Tsunami

Montrade has developed several solutions for the manufacture of sustainable filters, among them a new version of its paper crimper with rod former, which uses 15 percent to 20 percent less paper than traditional crimpers, according to Sales Director Antonella Giannini. “Thus, a very homogeneous and stable filter can be created with no variation in pressure drop and superb quality,” she says. “The retention of paper is much higher than that of CA, which means that tar and nicotine will be reduced—if you use less paper, you will get less of the typical taste of a paper filter. For better machinability in the downstream process, we have increased the hardness.”
Giannini confirms that the market is moving toward sustainable solutions. “It is a constant trend increase, and we expect it will accelerate further in 2024,” she says. “I call it ‘paper tsunami,’ and we are ready to face it. In the last six months, we have delivered many lines, and we have acquired many orders for sustainable filter makers and many paper-crimping modules. It is important to say that we offer not only complete crimping machines but also a crimping module for easy and fast connection to any existing rod maker machine, like KDF. We offer the option to upgrade the existing fleet of rod makers to meet the future scenario of sustainable filters.”
The priority, she adds, is to retain the smoking experience. “It is not an easy task, but there are teams of engineers and scientists that are ambitious to win; I am sure they will,” she says.
Pye is equally confident in the ability of his specialists. “With the ECO range, what we have learned from our developments with different customers and their own developments is that we can reproduce all the same complexities of filters that we produce in CA—tubes, carbon, flavor capsule, varying different pressure drops or changing taste profiles,” he says. “We have the building blocks to have a successful product range within the area of sustainable filter solutions.”
Despite the availability of products and manufacturing equipment, the transition to more environmentally friendly filters will take time. Supply chains must be organized, and capacity must be built. As Pye points out, even in an advanced market like Western Europe, this will be quite challenging. Key considerations are consumer acceptance, scalability and cost, with consumer acceptance taking precedence, according to Sanches.

Demand Growing Outside the EU

Demand for sustainable filter solutions will receive another boost once all EU member states have transposed the EPR scheme into national rules, according to Jaussaud. Like Pye, she observes growing demand also outside Europe, for instance in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the end, regulation will be the biggest influencer of sustainable filter solutions, says Pye. The Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, scheduled to take place in November in Panama City, will also address the problems posed by single-use plastics. “It is likely that many countries across the globe will adopt the guidelines and transpose them into country-specific laws and respective enforcement,” says Sanches.
Giannini believes that transition will start accelerating in 2025. China, the world’s largest cigarette market, is likely to take much longer than Europe to turn to sustainable filters, she says, in part because it is a conservative market with a significant domestic acetate tow industry.
While acknowledging the role of regulation, Jaussaud says there are other factors as well. “We clearly see a growing interest from the tobacco industry to move to sustainable solutions,” she says. “However, it’s a big change, so it takes time to make the transition concrete. It’s a long journey, but it has already started.”
The push for sustainable filters has yet to become evident in heated-tobacco products, according to Pye. “In reality, there is a shift toward more acetate tow-based products,” he says. “But it’s just a matter of time.” HTPs are an important segment for Filtrona, for which it also provides a range of sustainable products. The company recently conducted a sample testing at a large HTP manufacturer, which is currently in the review process. It has also invested in its testing facility in Surabaya, Indonesia, to ensure it has all requirements to test HTPs, especially their thermal characteristics.
Jaussaud emphasizes that SWM’s Evolute range is suitable for all the tobacco filter segments, including HTPs. “We have trials going on in this field,” she says. “It will not necessarily take longer for HTPs to adopt sustainable filter solutions—the customers behind HTPs want sustainable solutions as much as cigarette smokers. We would like to support converting all filter segments, not only combustible cigarettes.”
Greenbutts is also evaluating HTPs. “According to the latest assessments, our substrate is unfolding as a viable replacement for CA components in THPs [tobacco-heating products],” says Sanches.

A Sustainable Shell

In addition to filters, cigarette packaging, too, offers considerable potential for more sustainable solutions. Filtrona recently introduced Rippatape Halo, a patent-pending paper-based tear tape that provides a sustainable offering for the easy opening of paper and board packaging. “Tear tapes are a niche in the market, but we also offer sustainable solutions in this area,” explains Pye. “It is challenging because the type of product must have a number of characteristics, such as strength and opening performance. Halo Rippatape follows the characteristics of our Rippatape range, so it’s very close. The product has been on the market for six months now, and we’re starting to see some broad-based interest. But if a tobacco product is wrapped with fossil-based plastic, there’s of course not much point in an eco-tear tape solution.”
Innovia Films, a global producer of differentiated specialty biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), is also offering sustainable packaging solutions. In 2018, it introduced Encore, a range of recyclable films. One of the films in the range incorporates a bio-based raw material that reduces the use of fossil-based packaging and the carbon footprint, and another aids the circular economy by using a chemically recycled polymer.
The Encore films are certified ISCC PLUS, a global sustainability certification system. According to the Innovia, the sustainable films have the same properties as the equivalent fossil-based BOPP film, including high clarity and gloss, high stiffness and printability.
To reduce carbon emissions and product waste, conserve resources and move to a circular economy, Innovia has been using Lifecycle Analysis to measure the benefit of product changes. “If packaging does not provide a functional benefit, it should be removed, regardless of the material selected,” says Alicia Crane, product manager at Innovia. “If it adds additional barrier benefits to increase shelf life and reduce waste and thus carbon emissions and product tracking, every effort should be made to reduce the weight of the packaging material required and make sure that it can be recycled into as near a closed-loop application as possible.”

Photo: Innovia

Make it Circular

For organic products, one of the packaging’s key functions is to provide a barrier against undesired elements. On top of requiring oxygen and flavor barriers like most food products, tobacco products traditionally have required a tropical vapor barrier, and the material must meet regulatory requirements. Depending on formulation and coating, the Encore range provides good moisture barrier and excellent functionality on high-speed machines, according to Innovia. In addition, the films require little energy and carbon during production, and they are able to be recycled effectively many times without suffering a degradation of their properties.
The variant based on a bio-based material is bio-circular, according to Crane: “Using ISCC PLUS-certified resins and the mass-balance approach, second-generation feedstock waste from other industries, such as tall oil or used cooking oil, can be used as alternative raw material sources to produce polypropylene resins. Because these raw materials go in at the primary stage of the production process, the ultimate films produced have exactly the same fingerprint as standard films, and all physical and mechanical properties are identical. The film importantly has food contact status. Because of the move from fossil-based sourcing, the material has a reduced carbon impact, which, depending on the percentage switched, can result in carbon-neutral film, cradle to gate.”
The circular product, which follows the same ISCC guidance and mass balance approach, employs raw materials that come from recycled mixed waste plastic by using chemical recycled processing. Tobacco films can be made with up to 90 percent recycled content. The film has the exact same physical and mechanical properties and food contact status, says Crane. “The consumer readily understands that higher levels of recycled materials mean less waste is being disposed of and more valued resources are kept in the economy,” she says. “The demand for recycled content has been significant, being more than the new investment in chemical recycling facilities has been able to deliver. This demand will only increase with new regulations coming into place. Bio circular does not see the same level of pull at present; perhaps the regulation on carbon emissions is behind that on packaging waste.”
Mechanical recycled content, which goes directly into the product, is enjoying considerable interest, she adds. It is another tool to retain valued resources and help build a circular economy.

Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

October 1, 2023