Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

  • Vapor Market Booming Despite Online Ban

    Vapor Market Booming Despite Online Ban

    Photo: Timothy Donahue

    China’s vapor market has mushroomed offline after the country banned online sales of e-cigarettes about a year ago, reports Bloomberg. Not even the coronavirus has stopped the expansion.

    RELX Technology, the country’s largest player, opened more than 1,000 stores in the first half of 2020, and said in January it planned to add 10,000 outlets within the next three years. Its rival, Yooz, has also boosted the number of stores.

    Shares in Smoore International Holdings, the world’s largest maker of vaping devices and components for brands, have more than quadrupled in value since the company’s July debut, making it one of Hong Kong’s best-performing initial public offerings of the year. RELX and Yooz are both clients of Smoore.

    Smoore founder Chen Zhiping’s net worth has surged to $14.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

    While the coronavirus outbreak affected Smoore’s production and operations in the first quarter of the year, it still managed to post a 19 percent increase in revenue to CNY3.9 billion ($592 million) for the first six months, with more than half of its sales coming from mainland China and Hong Kong.

    Smoore held one-sixth of the global market share for vaping products by revenue last year, and that pie is poised to grow further, according to Frost & Sullivan data it cited in its prospectus. The $36.7 billion global e-cigarette market will reach $111.5 billion by 2024, increasing at an annual compound rate of 25 percent, projections show.

    Mounting restrictions on vapor products globally, including a ban on certain e-cigarette flavor in the world’s largest vapor market, the United States, haven’t scared off investors. Stocks linked to China’s consumer sector have been particularly popular this year as the nation has been among the first to emerge from the pandemic.

  • Scandinavian Tobacco Raises 2020 Guidance

    Scandinavian Tobacco Raises 2020 Guidance

    Photo: STG

    Scandinavian Tobacco Group has raised its full-year guidance for 2020.

    According to the company, Covid-19-induced changes in consumer behavior led to higher-than-anticipated consumption of handmade cigars in the U.S. throughout 2020. U.S. demand increased further in the latter part of the year, both online and in stores.

    Between January and November 2020, STG’s net sales were 7 percent higher than previously expected.

    The higher U.S. volumes have positively impacted operational leverage and resulted in stronger profit margins and an increased organic growth in EBITDA.

    STG’s other business categories perform as expected.

    Overall, the fourth quarter results continue to be negatively impacted by the loading in previous quarters and very strong comparison numbers partly driven by a change in sales taxes in France in the fourth quarter of 2019.

    Meanwhile, an anticipated negative timing impact of payables in the fourth quarter did not materialize.

    For the full year 2020, STG anticipates a positive impact on the free cash flow before acquisitions of more than DKK200 million ($32.87 million). The company expects the increased demand for handmade cigars to continue into next year.

  • Australia to Require Prescription for Nicotine

    Australia to Require Prescription for Nicotine

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Australians importing liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes will need to have a prescription from Oct. 1, reports The Sydney Morning Herald, citing the country’s medical watchdog.

    The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said its decision balanced consumer demand for the product as a smoking cessation aid and the potential for nicotine e-cigarettes to lead to addiction.

    “A patient’s doctor is uniquely placed to give the support required for long-lasting smoking cessation,” the agency said, adding that it had not yet approved any vapor product as a smoking-cessation aid.

    In response to the TGA’s decision, the government will scrap contentious customs regulations, which included a fine of up to $200,000 for those illegally importing nicotine. The regulation was opposed by a large group of backbenchers, and due to kick in from the start of next year.

    The possession of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is illegal without a prescription in every state and territory, besides South Australia.

    Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was important to note that any doctor could prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes.

    “This is not widely understood, and it is an important matter of public information that over 30,000 GPs may currently, and in the future, prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes for smoking cessation,” he said.

    Critics say Australia’s prescription-only policy is hampered by the reluctance of many general practitioners to prescribe liquid nicotine and by a requirement to seek a special exemption for each patient.

  • Canada Calls for Lower Nicotine Concentrations

    Canada Calls for Lower Nicotine Concentrations

    Photo: Souleyephoto from Pixabay

    Health Canada wants to lower the nicotine limits for e-cigarettes to 20 mg/ml. The current limit is 66 mg/ml.

    Minister of Health Patty Hajdu announced a public consultation on Dec. 18, inviting Canadians to share their thoughts on the proposal by March. 4

    According to the government, the proposed changes build on existing measures to address the rise in youth vaping, including extensive public education campaigns and banning the advertising of vaping products in public spaces if the ads can be seen or heard by youth.

    Health Canada is also considering to further restrict flavors in vaping products. It wants to require the vapor industry to provide more information about its products, including on sales, ingredients and research and development activities.

    “Our work to protect Canadians from the harms of vaping products continues. These changes will help reduce the appeal of vaping products to youth,” said Hajdu in a statement.

    The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) welcomed the plans. “The proposed regulations requiring a maximum nicotine concentration for vaping products of 20 mg/mL are essential to reduce youth vaping and deserve strong support,” said CCS Senior Policy Analyst Rob Cunningham.

    The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) urged the government to balance youth protection with adult harm reduction. “It is without question that Canada must act to restrict nicotine concentrations to protect youth, but it should not be an all-or-nothing approach,” the association wrote in a press note.

    “Ontario has restricted high nicotine products to age-restricted environments, effectively eliminating all retail access points for youth. This policy has proven effective in mitigating youth use while balancing the needs of adult smokers. The CVA encourages the government of Canada to adopt this policy federally,” said Darryl Tempest, executive director of the CVA.

  • Illicit Cigarettes Seized Throughout Europe

    Illicit Cigarettes Seized Throughout Europe

    Photo: Lithuania Customs

    European law enforcement authorities seized 67 million cigarettes and 2.6 tons of tobacco worth €35.82 million ($43.62 million) last month, according to Europol. They arrested 17 suspects.

    The most significant seizures of the illegally traded cigarettes were made in Lithuania (28.75 million), the U.K. (9 million), Poland (6 million), Ireland (3.5 million), Romania (2.2 million), Sweden (500,000), Latvia (740,000) and Croatia (150,000). Eighty-eight percent of the cigarettes seized were produced in Belarus.

    Supported by Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office, the joint operation took place Nov. 2-13, 2020. Led by the customs departments of Lithuania and the U.K., the operation was facilitated by intelligence analysis of excise duty suspension abuse. The fraud scheme consisted of illegally diverting cigarettes from EU internal and external transit customs procedures to the black market without paying millions in taxes.

  • RJR must continue legal payments for old brands

    RJR must continue legal payments for old brands

    Photo: Okan Caliskan from Pixabay

    The Florida Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear an appeal by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in a lawsuit rooted in a landmark legal settlement between Florida and leading tobacco companies.

    The Supreme Court’s decision effectively let stand a July decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal that required R.J. Reynolds to make more than $100 million in disputed payments.

    The 1997 settlement forced tobacco companies to pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the state because of smoking-related health costs. In exchange for the payments, the companies received liability protections.

    But in the lawsuit, R.J. Reynolds contended that it should not have to make payments to the state related to four brands of cigarettes—Salem, Winston, Kool and Maverick—that it agreed to sell in 2014 to ITG Brands.

    Upholding a ruling by a Palm Beach County circuit judge, an appeals court pointed to a lack of changes in the 1997 settlement that would have freed R.J. Reynolds from making the payments.

  • Claim: Tobacco Profiting from Child Labor

    Claim: Tobacco Profiting from Child Labor

    Tobacco companies say they go to great lengths to keep their supply chains free of child labor.
    (Photo: Timothy Donahue)

    British American Tobacco (BAT) and Imperial Brands profited from child labor on tobacco farms in Malawi, according to a legal claim initiated after an investigation by The Guardian.

    The claim alleges “widespread use of unlawful child labor, unlawful forced labor and the systematic exposure of vulnerable and impoverished adults and children to extremely hazardous working conditions with minimal protection against industrial accidents, injuries and diseases.”

    The Guardian’s 2018 investigation reported that tobacco farmers were exposed to nicotine poisoning, toxic pesticides and harsh weather conditions during labor-intensive shifts in areas where up to 63 percent of children were engaged in child labor.

    Due to that investigation, several countries, including the U.S., suspended leaf imports from Malawi over the child labor allegations. U.S. Customs and Border Protection later cleared imports from Malawi by Limbe Leaf Tobacco Co. and Alliance One International after investigations determined that the tobacco imported by those companies was not harvested and produced with child labor.

    (Tobacco Reporter recently featured Alliance One’s actions to keep its supply chain free of child labor and forced labor in a feature article, titled, “Up to the Task.”)

    BAT and Imperial Brand declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

    “BAT takes human rights very seriously and expects all employees and suppliers to respect and uphold them. It would not be appropriate for us to comment on the specifics of this situation, given the possibility of future litigation,” a BAT spokesperson said. “We take the issue of child labor extremely seriously and strongly agree that children must never be exploited, exposed to danger or denied an education.”

    “We take the issue of child and forced labor very seriously and do not condone exploitative practices in our supply chains, as made clear in our code of conduct, which is published on our corporate website,” an Imperial Brands spokesperson said.

    “We actively seek to prevent exploitation through multi-stakeholder initiatives, including an industry-wide sustainable tobacco program, which is aligned to the U.N. guiding principles. We will defend any claim vigorously, and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

    Leigh Day, the law firm that filed the legal claim, said that more details of the claim will be filed in January 2021 with the monetary value to be set later.

  • Next Generation Labs Expands its TFN Brand

    Next Generation Labs Expands its TFN Brand

    Photo: Martinmark – Dreamstime.com

    Next Generation Labs, the developer of the patented pure synthetic nicotine sold under the TFN brand, has expanded sales and distribution of its S, R-S and R isomer synthetic nicotine products to vape, oral smokeless and tobacco product manufacturers internationally.

    “TFN non-tobacco derived synthetic nicotine has increasingly become the industry benchmark for both quality and consumer acceptance in many branded nicotine alternative products in the U.S. market, select European countries, and in emerging novel-nicotine markets in Asia,” Next Generation Labs noted in a press statement

    “We are actively developing customized formulations of TFN S, R-S and R isomer nicotine for vaping products, nicotine portion pouch and novel reduced risk products such as herbal non-tobacco-alternatives and heat-not-burn products,” the company stated.

    In association with strategic partners in key markets, Next Generation Labs has also recently expanded availability of its isomeric TFN nicotine formulations direct to customers, or via certified compounding and formulating companies, both in bulk diluted freebase nicotine, or in nicotine salt formulations specific to individual market or brand owner requirements.

    In China, Next Generation Labs is working closely with vape device manufacturers, such as ITSUWA, to deliver authorized TFN formulations into vape devices for sales worldwide. In the USA, America Juice Co, has become a key formulator and shipper of customized TFN liquids to Chinese manufacturers of vape products. In India, Dholakia is formulating TFN nicotine into manufactured white label nicotine portion pouch products for customers in the USA and Europe. In South Korea, the EU and U.K., Next Generation Labs is direct shipping nicotine to formulators who onward sell to brand owners in their respective markets.

     

  • UKVIA Highlights Achievements in Review

    UKVIA Highlights Achievements in Review

    John Dunne

    The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has published its latest annual review highlighting the progression and achievements of the association and the industry during the past 12 months. It also looks at the key priorities for the new year, particularly the opportunity to shape the Tobacco & Related Products Regulations following Britain’s exit from the EU.

    The review covers the efforts by the UKVIA to address the misinformation that continues to mislead consumers about vaping, the success of VApril 2020 despite the coronavirus, the 76 percent increase year-on-year in membership, the work that the association is doing with its international counterparts to protect the interests of the sector and progress being by the different committees, including policy and regulatory, youth access prevention, standards and marketing

    In his foreword, UKVIA Director General John Dunne applauds members and the wider industry for rising to the challenge of the pandemic. “The vaping industry is disruptive at its core, and it has an enormous capacity for adapting to that disruption,” he said in a statement. “The industry can be proud of what it’s achieved during the last year despite the disruption and challenges it has had to face up to.”

  • 22nd Century Patent for Cannabis Technology

    22nd Century Patent for Cannabis Technology

    Photo: cytis from Pixabay

    22nd Century Group has been granted a new U.S. patent related to the control of cannabinoid and terpene production in plants. This new intellectual property exclusively provides 22nd Century with unique and powerful tools to alter the cannabinoid biosynthesis pathway in hemp/cannabis plants.

    “We are delighted to receive this patent, which is the result of work carried out by our own scientists. This important, new technology will allow us to genetically modify hemp/cannabis plants to modulate their cannabinoid and terpene profiles in order to tailor these plants’ therapeutic qualities and enhance the consumer’s hemp/cannabis experience,” said Juan Sanchez Tamburrino, vice president of research & development at 22nd Century Group in a statement.

    “Our patent application describes eight promoters, which are essentially molecular on/off switches, covering all of the major steps in the cannabinoid biosynthesis pathway. Typically, developing hemp/cannabis plants with new cannabinoid or terpene profiles could take 10 to 20 years using traditional breeding methods.

    “Now, with the combined technologies and know-how of 22nd Century and KeyGene, we expect to shorten the development timeline to create new, differentiated, hemp/cannabis plant lines in just four to five years. Doing so will provide the company and its potential licensees and customers with significant competitive advantage as hemp/cannabis continues to penetrate the life science, consumer product, and pharmaceutical markets.”

    “At 22nd Century Group, we take a scientific and solutions-oriented approach to advancing ground-breaking, plant-based technology. We are excited to secure this patent, and we believe that it demonstrates our unique and leading role in plant science innovation within the $100 billion global hemp/cannabis market,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group.

    The new patent, published as U.S. Patent No. 10,787,674 B2 and entitled “Trichome specific promoters for the manipulation of cannabinoids and other compounds in glandular trichomes,” enables 22nd Century to develop and deliver new hemp/cannabis plants that are designed to produce cannabinoids more efficiently.

    The company can potentially increase the yield of plants, stabilize the level of cannabinoids that are produced, and create custom cannabinoid profiles optimized for specific therapeutic uses. 22nd Century will also be able to potentially modulate the terpene levels within the plant—increasing them to deliver new strains of cannabis for the adult-use/recreational market and reducing them to remove the odor and taste for improved application in foods and beverages.

    Cannabinoids, such as CBD, CBC, and CBG, are valuable compounds that hold great promise for the development of new medicines and other therapeutic applications. Cannabis sativa is the only plant species that produces significant amounts of these compounds including more than one hundred different cannabinoids in varying quantities.

    In nature, cannabis plants restrict production of these potentially toxic compounds to the trichomes which are tiny hair-like stems and globes that grow on the surface of the plant. To successfully manipulate cannabinoids, the company’s new technology activates molecular promoters, “on/off switches,” specifically and only in the plant’s trichomes where the majority of cannabinoids are produced.

    These regulatory sequences dynamically enhance or restrict gene expression levels, controlling the expression of genetic information that leads to the production of cannabinoids.