Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

California Assembly Approves Flavor Ban

Photo: Borgwaldt Flavor
The California Assembly has approved a ban on the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes, in the state, reports The Los Angeles Times. The legislation does not make it illegal for someone to purchase, possess or use flavored products.
The bill’s author, state Senator Jerry Hill, said his measure seeks to address an increase in tobacco use by young people. A 2018 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 67 percent of high school students and 49 percent of middle school students who used tobacco products in the prior 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time, Hill noted.
In California, more than 85 percent of youth who use e-cigarettes use flavored products, and more than 85 percent of youth who use little cigars use flavored cigars, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CFTFK). California is home to more than 10 percent of the U.S. population.
More than half of U.S. youth smokers—including seven out of 10 black youth smokers—smoke menthol cigarettes as do 85 percent of all black smokers.
Supporters of the legislation blasted an advertising campaign from tobacco companies that claims the bill discriminates against black and Latino smokers, saying that the ads disingenuously portray the industry as an ally of communities of color.
Advocates for the bill responded with another ad that argues flavored tobacco products have been heavily marketed to communities of color and pose disproportionate health risks to black residents.
The state Senate, which overwhelmingly passed similar legislation in June, is expected to approve this version soon. California Governor Gavin Newsom has also expressed support for ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.
If he signs the bill into law, California will become the second U.S. state to ban the sale of flavored tobacco. Massachusetts banned flavored tobacco products on June 1.
August 27, 2020
Zimbabwe Auction Season Closes

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe’s tobacco auction season ends tomorrow while contract sales remain open until further notice, said the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
The golden leaf is being sold through auction and contract arrangements with the selling season traditionally beginning in March.
This year’s selling season began in April because of the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The delay required TIMB to make adequate preparations to curb the spread of the deadly disease.
So far, about 176 million kg of tobacco have gone under the hammer generating close to US$440 million.
Zimbabwe exports 98 percent of its tobacco leaf with tobacco receipts from the foreign markets expected to reach $1,2 billion this year, up from $904 million last year.
August 27, 2020
Smoore Thrives Amid Difficult Environment

Photo: Timothy Donahue
Smoore International Holdings, the world’s biggest maker of e-cigarettes, posted a 40 percent year-on-year jump in underlying net profit for the first half of 2020, to CNY1.3 billion ($188.8 million), reports The South China Morning Post. Revenue rose 18.5 percent to CNY3.88 billion.
The increase comes despite the challenges of the coronavirus, the U.S.-China trade war and tougher regulations.
Smoore, which recently listed in Hong Kong, held a 16.5 percent share of the $763 billion global vapor devices market last year, up from 10 percent in 2018, said Wang.
While only half its production capacity was used in the first six months, the company plans to double capacity by next year. Additional expansion will boost production by a further two-thirds by 2023.
Global e-cigarette sales are projected to see compound annual growth of 25 percent between last year and 2024 compared to 5.2 percent for traditional cigarettes, according to Frost & Sullivan.
China produces 90 percent of the world’s e-cigarettes, of which 90 percent are exported, according to Smoore’s listing prospectus. The industry is concentrated in Shenzhen, the country’s technology hub, which hosts more than 600 e-cigarette manufacturers.
The U.S. accounted for around half of Smoore’s sales, while 18.6 percent came from mainland China and 12.5 percent came from Japan and Europe each.
Since 2018, its U.S. customers have had to pay a 25 percent additional import tariff as part of the fallout from the trade spat between Washington and Beijing. The firm said the tariff has not stopped U.S. demand from growing since its products are “technologically superior.”
August 27, 2020
Fita Drops Appeal in Tobacco Ban Dispute

Photo: David Carillet – Dreamstime.com
The Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) has dropped its bid to appeal an earlier court ruling that upheld South Africa’s temporary ban on tobacco sales.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Fita chairman Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said the association will withdraw its pending appeal before the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
The move comes after Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma promised to consult the public should she at any stage seek to reinstate a temporary prohibition of the sale of tobacco and related products.
Fita had criticized the government for not seeking public input when it banned tobacco sales on March 27 as part of its coronavirus lockdown. South Africa lifted its ban mid-August, but the legal action was not immediately halted.
Both parties agreed to pay their own legal expenses incurred during the tobacco ban litigation.
August 27, 2020
Pyxus Emerges From Chapter 11

Pieter Sikkel
Photo: Pyxus International
Pyxus International has successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 with its debt reduced by more than $400 million and maturities extended. The company announced that the Amended Joint Prepackaged Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization of Pyxus International and its Affiliated Debtors confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Aug. 21, 2020, has become effective.
“Over the last two months, we have been keenly focused on enhancing the company’s financial flexibility, and the completion of our financial restructuring process is a significant step forward,” said Pieter Sikkel, Pyxus’ president and CEO. “We are now a stronger and more competitive company with a foundation that bolsters our position in targeted markets and enables us to drive long-term value for all of our stakeholders. I want to thank our exceptional team at Pyxus for their commitment and continued focus through this process. We are also grateful for the support of our vendors, suppliers, customers and partners, and we look forward to working together for years to come.”
Under the terms of the plan, Pyxus has completed a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring that includes but is not limited to extending the maturity of its existing first lien debt, eliminating $635 million in principal amount of existing second lien debt, while adding a $213 million exit term loan, which replaced the debtor-in-possession financing incurred in connection with the Chapter 11 cases, and a $75 million exit asset based revolving facility. The elimination of the second lien debt and access to new working capital lines of credit, including foreign credit facilities, substantially strengthens the company’s balance sheet.
A series of corporate transactions resulted in the company being a new corporation renamed Pyxus International, which through its subsidiaries continues to operate the company’s businesses, while the corporation formerly known as Pyxus International has changed its name to Old Holdco All outstanding shares of Old Holdco were canceled.
August 25, 2020
PMI Names New Senior Vice President External Affairs

Illustration: Skypixel | Dreamstime
Philip Morris International (PMI) has appointed Gregoire Verdeaux as senior vice president of external affairs effective Sept. 1, 2020. Verdeaux will report to the company’s CEO, Andre Calantzopoulos.
“Gregoire’s range of experiences—from working for national and EU parliaments and governments, the UN, WHO [World Health Organization] as well as private companies undergoing significant transformation—has given him a unique understanding of how political decisions are made,” said Calantzopoulos. “This makes him an ideal candidate to join us at PMI and help adapt the regulatory environment applicable to reduced-risk products as we continue our transformation to a smoke-free company.”
Verdeaux joins PMI from Hering Schuppener where he was a partner. Prior to that, he served as group international policy director at Vodafone. Prior to Vodafone, he served as European policy director at Electricite De France. He also served at the local level as deputy head of the cabinet of the French president, as administrator to the French senate and cabinet adviser to the minister of foreign affairs and to the European Commission. Additionally, he held the positions of director of strategy and finance at Unitaid for the WHO and manager in the United Nations Development Program.
Verdeaux holds degrees from Universite D’Auvergne, the University of Oklahoma and Sciences Po.
His appointment follows the previous announcement of long-serving executive Marc Firestone’s intention to retire from the dual roles of president of external affairs and general counsel and the appointment of Suzanne Rich Folsom as senior vice president and general counsel.
August 25, 2020
FDA Accepts Vaporesso’s PMTA

Photo: Bacho | Dreamstime
Vaporesso received an acceptance letter for its first round of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Aug. 20, 2020.
The acceptance letter came three days after the company submitted its PMTAs. The application received positive comments from the FDA on its preparation, according to the company’s U.S. scientific CRO agent.
“A successful acceptance has boosted the confidence of Smoore to keep investing in bringing more vaping products into PMTA in the future,” the company wrote in its press release. “Our commitment to vapers in the USA remains the same: We will make vaping as easy as possible, and we will consistently provide high-quality vaping experiences for vapers all over the world. So the first round of application accomplished by Smoore is merely the start with more products to come.”
August 25, 2020
Philippines-Thailand trade dispute reignites

Photo: hectorgalarza from Pixabay
The Philippines has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement body (DSB) to suspend the country’s concessions to Thailand for products such as motor vehicles exported to Manila.

Thailand has continued to avoid compliance with the WTO ruling that it must align its unfair tax treatment on Philippine cigarette exports, according to the Philippines.

“There are only two options under the reverse-consensus rule of DSU Article 22.6: the DSB granting authorization to suspend concessions or the DSB referring the matter to arbitration,” said the Philippines. “At this meeting of the DSB, the Philippines asks once again that the DSB grant the Philippines the authority it seeks.”

The Philippines sought retaliation against Thailand from the WTO to force the country to align its tax treatment on Philippine cigarettes in February 2020. The WTO first ruled favorably in 2011 and the Philippines won subsequent appeals from Thailand. The Philippines requested from the WTO a suspension of $594 million in trade concessions.
August 24, 2020
Australia Rejects Tobacco Heating Products

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia rejected an application from Philip Morris (PM) that would have allowed the sale of heated-tobacco products.

This follows the Australian government’s ban on the import of nicotine-based e-cigarettes. Health Minister Greg Hunt planned to implement the ban beginning July 1 of this year, but the ban has now been pushed back to the beginning of 2021 to allow those who have been using e-cigarettes with nicotine to quit smoking combustibles to get prescriptions and end their addiction.

The ban would make the import of vaporizer nicotine and e-cigarettes allowable only with a doctor’s prescription.

There were 82 submissions in the TGA decision that supported heated-tobacco products, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that PM’s tobacco-heating product “is expected to benefit the health of the population as a whole.” The TGA received submissions from the Lung Foundation, Cancer Council Australia, Australian Council on Health and Smoking, and the National Heart Foundation, though, that stated their concerns regarding public health risks of heated-tobacco products. The TGA ultimately decided there were “significant safety concerns with heated-tobacco products,” according to news.com.au.

“Study after study shows that scientifically substantiated smoke-free products that do not generate smoke, while not risk-free, are a much better alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes,” said Tammy Chan, Philip Morris managing director. “It’s time Australian authorities recognize that many adult smokers will continue to smoke cigarettes—the most harmful way of consuming nicotine—unless the government rethinks its tobacco control policy. Smoke-free products can play a role in reducing smoking rates.”

According to Chan, Australia’s stance on smoke-free products is at odds with other countries; heated-tobacco products are available in 50 other countries.
August 24, 2020
Reynolds Submits First Velo PMTA

Photo: RAI
Reynolds American Inc. submitted a group of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking orders authorizing the marketing of Velo dissolvable nicotine lozenges. A grant of these marketing orders would allow these products to remain on the market after the FDA’s Sept. 9, 2020, deadline for PMTAs.

Velo Lozenges—formerly sold under the Revel brand—were reintroduced under the Velo brand in 2020 by Reynolds subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company. Velo’s dissolvable oral nicotine lozenge products are available in hard and soft forms and four flavor variants, dark mint, mint, berry and crema. Velo Lozenges are manufactured using tobacco-derived nicotine.

The PMTAs for Velo Lozenges highlight key evidence demonstrating that the continued marketing of these products is appropriate for the protection of the public health. The applications include a range of scientific studies using established methodologies for the comparative assessment of tobacco products and associated health risks, including product analyses, information on human health risks and assessments showing the impact of Velo Lozenges on the health of the population as a whole—including users and nonusers of tobacco products.

“Velo is an award-winning brand bringing consistently innovative products to adult tobacco users, and a potential marketing order for PMTA submission would help to ensure adult tobacco consumers have access to FDA-regulated, consumer-acceptable product alternatives to combustible tobacco,” said James Figlar, Reynolds’ executive vice president and head of scientific and regulatory affairs.
August 24, 2020