Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

Tobacco Tax Collections up in Germany

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Germany taxes $34.7 billion worth of tobacco products reports Xinhua, citing the country’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This is an increase of 5 percent year-on-year.
The quantity of fine-cut rolling tobacco taxed last year increased by 10.6 percent. The quantity of pipe tobacco taxed rose 44.3 percent.
Covid-19 lockdowns and border closures played a role in the growth of fine-cut cigarettes. “In search of an alternative to the lower priced cigarettes from abroad, consumers probably increasingly turned to fine-cut to roll their own cigarettes,” stated.
Cigarette sales fell by 1.1 percent to 73.8 billion pieces. Taxed retail sales values for cigarettes rose 43.5 percent.
January 21, 2021
Egypt Raises Cigarette Prices

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Egypt plans to increase cigarettes prices by EGP0.25 per pack in July 2021, reports The Daily News.
The proceeds of the increase will contribute to funding for the Universal Healthcare Insurance program. When the program was launched in July 2018, the government increased cigarette prices by EGP0.75 per pack to raise funding.
Under the program’s regulations, an additional EGP0.25 per pack will be added every three years until the total tax reaches EGP1.50/ per pack.
Domestic market leader Eastern Co. said it expects the rises to be enforced as per schedule.
The company is expected deliver a strong performance in fiscal year 2020-2021, on the back of higher production capacity and utilization rates. The company recently upgraded its production facilities, increasing the production capacity from 200 million cigarettes per day to 250 million cigarettes per day.
Eastern’s performance is further boosted by the reduction in the retailer’s margin on cigarettes through indirect price increases, from EGP0.10 per pack to EGP 0.025 per pack in December 2020.
The appreciation of the Egyptian pound will likely also enhance Eastern’s performance as it relies entirely on imports for raw tobacco, which make up more than 80 percent of raw materials.
January 20, 2021
New Info on PMTA and SE Requirements

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 20 finalized two foundational rules for the premarket review of new tobacco products. These final rules provide additional information on the minimum requirements for the content, format and review of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) and substantial equivalence (SE) reports. PMTA and SE are two of the pathways through which a manufacturer can seek marketing authorization for a new tobacco product from the FDA.
Stephen Hahn
“The finalization of these foundational rules is an important milestone in the FDA’s regulation of tobacco products. The rules enable greater transparency and efficiency of the FDA’s critical task of reviewing applications for tobacco products before new products can be sold in the United States and they describe information that any company must provide if they seek to market a new tobacco product in this country, fulfilling the promise of the Tobacco Control Act,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn.
Mitch Zeller
“These final rules, together with our commitment to ongoing enforcement action against e-cigarettes and other tobacco products that illegally target youth, will help us continue to protect the public from the dangers of tobacco-related disease and death,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “These final rules will provide greater clarity and efficiency as we ensure that tobacco products are put through an appropriate series of regulatory gates so that products can be marketed only if they meet the standards under the law.”
Both of these final rules are effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
More information about the two foundational rules is available on the FDA website.
January 20, 2021
Raising Awareness of Black-Market Vapor

Photo: Timothy S. Donahue
The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPRC) in the U.S. have released an innovative toolkit as part of their nationwide campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of black-market vapor products and empower law enforcement and adult community leaders to prevent and enforce against these illicit activities.
The IPRC and NCPC launched this public-private partnership, with the support of Juul Labs, in October 2019, seeking to raise awareness on the consequences of illicit vapor products, with the objective of delivering tools and resources to communities grappling with this critical issue across the country. Now, the IPRC and NCPC have expanded upon this initiative by providing law enforcement and other key stakeholders with a toolkit that will aid in their efforts to educate and mobilize their communities against this dangerous illicit trade.
The toolkit is a comprehensive resource that details the various forms of illicit vapor products, such counterfeit, compatible and diverted products, and teaches the community how to spot such products. It also contains broader educational resources, along with strategies on how best to elevate these vital messages through social media, community events and meetings, and in cooperation with local businesses.
According to Juul, Illicit vapor products present a number of public health, economic and security consequences. Critically, they undermine underage-prevention measures because of their ease of access and may present additional health and safety risks for adult consumers given that they often are produced in unsanitary conditions without manufacturing and quality controls and lack ingredient testing and product characterization. They also may contain harmful chemicals not present in other, authentic products.
As part of this campaign, and with the support of IPRC, NCPC will leverage its vast, nationwide network to get this toolkit into the hands of law enforcement, trade partners, and other adult community leaders.
“It is imperative that we continue to partner across stakeholders, including law enforcement, to address the illicit market of vapor products,” Juul wrote in a statement. “Supporting public-private partnerships like the IPRC/NCPC initiative is one way we can actively fight back against illicit trade of vapor products. By empowering stakeholders through awareness and education, we can address the illicit trade of vapor products and foster a more responsible marketplace for the category.”
January 20, 2021
RLX Seeks up to $1.17 Billion From Offering

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RLX Technology is looking to raise as much as $1.17 billion from a U.S. initial public offering, reports Bloomberg.
The Chinese vapor company, known for its RELX-branded devices in China, had earlier considered Hong Kong as a listing venue, but it ultimately opted for the U.S.
Founded in 2018, RLX is China’s largest e-cigarette maker. The vaping industry has boomed in China even as the country banned online sales of e-cigarettes just over a year ago.
China is the world’s largest potential vaping market, with an estimated 286.7 million adult smokers in 2019, RLX said in its prospectus. But vaping products only have a 1.2 percent penetration rate, compared with 32.4 percent in the U.S.
RLX’s revenues increased to CNY2.2 billion ($340 million) in the first nine months of 2020 from CNY1.14 billion a year earlier. It started turning a profit in 2019 and recorded net income of CNY109 million in the nine months to Sept. 2020.
The company plans to price the IPO on Jan. 20 after the U.S. market closes, according to a term sheet. Citigroup and China Renaissance are joint bookrunners for the offering.
Earlier reports suggested the company planned to raise up to $100 million in its IPO.
January 19, 2021
BAT Names New Operations Director

Zafar Khan (Photo: BAT)
Zafar Khan will succeed Alan Davy as director of operations at British American Tobacco (BAT) and will be appointed to the management board effective Feb., 1. Kahn started with BAT in Pakistan 24 years ago. Through his career he has acquired extensive global operations and supply chain experience, including regional operations director, Asia Pacific and Middle East and group head of plan, service and logistics.
Davy will step down from the management board on Jan. 31, and will leave the BAT Group on May 31 to pursue new challenges and spend more time with his family. Davy joined BAT in 1988 and has been with the group for 32 years, eight years of which as a member of the management board.
“I would like to thank Alan for the enormous contribution he has made to the group throughout his 32-year career at BAT,” said said BAT CEO Jack Bowles, in a statement. “Alan’s transformation of operations into a dynamic, multi-category function has been a key component of our ‘A Better Tomorrow’ strategy. Most recently, the group’s ability to navigate the challenges presented by Covid-19 is testament to the efficient, agile and globally integrated supply chain he has created. We wish him and his family all the very best for the future.
“BAT has around 13 million consumers of our non-combustible products and Zafar’s experience of expanding our capabilities and embedding an end-to-end supply chain for our new category products makes him the natural choice as director, operations, to accelerate the delivery of our ‘A Better Tomorrow strategy.’
“We are very proud of the depth and breadth of our management talent at BAT. By carefully developing careers on a global stage, we are, once again, able to ensure a well thought through and orderly internal succession to a key leadership role. Alan and I are confident that Zafar is the right leader, at the right time for the opportunities ahead. I wish Zafar the very best in his new role.”
January 19, 2021
Malunga Named CEO Tobacco Commission

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Joseph Chidanti Malunga has been hired as the new chief executive officer of the Tobacco Commission, reports Malawi24.
Malunga replaces Kayisi Sadala, whose contract has expired.
Malunga was previously spokesperson for United Transformation Movement (UTM), a political party, and a lecturer at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
He served as legislator for Nsanje South West from 2014 to 2019.
The Tobacco Commission regulates the production and marketing of tobacco in Malawi.
January 19, 2021
BAT Cleared in Corruption Probe

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Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed its investigation into potential corruption at British American Tobacco (BAT), citing lack of evidence, reports The Daily Mail.
In 2017, the fraud team launched an investigation over allegations that BAT paid bribes in east Africa to undermine anti-smoking policy.
On Friday, the SFO confirmed that the results of its investigation and review “did not meet the evidential test for prosecution.”
BAT welcomed the SFO’s announcement. “BAT is pleased that the SFO has closed its investigation and that the SFO is taking no further action in respect of this matter,” the firm wrote in a statement to shareholders.
Paul Hopkins, who worked for BAT in Kenya for 13 years, told BBC’s Panorama in 2015 he had begun paying bribes after being told it was the cost of doing business in Africa. “The truth is that we do not and will not tolerate corruption, no matter where it takes place,” BAT told Panorama at the time.
In April, BAT said it was also under investigation in the U.S. for a possible breach of sanctions.
The London-based firm said it was cooperating with the Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces economic sanctions.
January 18, 2021
States Fail to Invest in Tobacco Prevention

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U.S. States are failing to invest proceeds from the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) into tobacco prevention funds, according to a new report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Truth Initiative shows
“This year (fiscal year 2021), the states will collect $26.9 billion from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes,” the CTFK wrote in a statement. “But they will spend a paltry 2.4 percent—just $656 million—on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The total is an 11 percent decrease from last year and less than a fifth (19.8 percent) of the total funding recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
Alaska (89.7 percent), Maine (87.4 percent) and Utah (79.4 percent) are the only states to provide at least three-quarters of the CDC-recommended funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
Tobacco companies spend more than $13 to market tobacco products for every $1 the states invest to reduce tobacco use, according to the CTFK. According to the most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission (for 2018), the major cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year on marketing.

January 18, 2021
Swisher Announces Executive VPs

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Swisher has named Joe Augustus, Chris Casey and Lee Creasman executive vice presidents. They will continue to report to John J. Miller, president. Glenn Goodroe was also named executive vice president and will continue to report to Lou Caldropoli, chief operations officer.
Augustus, previously senior vice president of global affairs, will continue to lead corporate global affairs, international sales and distribution and will now also oversee Swisher’s inclusion, diversity and transformation program and Swisher’s corporate citizenship initiatives. Alexandria Deal, manager of diversity, inclusion and transformation, will now report to Augustus.
Casey, previously senior vice president and general counsel, leads the company’s legal and regulatory departments and the corporate secretary’s office.
Creasman, previously senior vice president of human resources, is responsible for leading the talent strategy for Swisher, including recruiting, the HRIS system and organizational development.
Goodroe, previously senior vice president of operations, is responsible for manufacturing, operations and supply chain. He is a member of the senior leadership team reporting to Lou Caldropoli, chief operations officer.
“The new level of executive vice president, along with the recent announcement of John Haley as chief growth officer and the 2017 announcement of Lou Caldropoli as chief operations officer, strengthens our senior leadership team for the execution of future growth plans,” said John Miller, president of Swisher, in a statement.
January 18, 2021