Tag: New Zealand

New Zealand to Ban Disposables

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New Zealand will ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, increase fines for retailers caught selling to those under the age of 18 and better regulate retailers, reports Reuters.
Following a rollback of the planned generational tobacco ban, the government has stated that it is committed to reducing smoking, though it is taking a different approach, which includes more regulation of vaping.
“While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rapid rise in youth vaping has been a real concern for parents, teachers and health professionals,” said Casey Costello, associate minister of health.
“The coalition government is committed to tackling youth vaping and to continue to drive down smoking rates to achieve the smoke-free goal of less than 5 percent of the population smoking daily by 2025,” said Costello.
The new rules will include higher fines for retailers selling to underage individuals, a review of vape retailer licensing and a ban of all disposable vapes.
March 20, 2024
New Zealand to Scrap Generational Ban Today

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New Zealand was set to repeal its generational tobacco ban today, reports Reuters.
Scheduled to take effect from July, the measure would have banned sales of tobacco products to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009, required tobacco companies to lower the nicotine content of their products and reduced the number of tobacco retailers by 90 percent.
Conceived by New Zealand’s previous government, the ban was abandoned after elections in October 2023 brought to power a new coalition. By treating the repeal as a matter of urgency, the government can scrap the ban without seeking public comment.
New Zealand’s reversal has attracted fierce criticism from public health advocates, who claimed the new government was doing the tobacco industry’s bidding.
“This is major loss for public health and a huge win for the tobacco industry—whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” Boyd Swinburn, co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa in New Zealand, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Minister of Health Shane Reti has defended New Zealand’s plans to repeal the smoke-free legislation. He said his administration was committed to cutting smoking rates and referred to the potential of harm reduction tools such as vaping to help achieve the desired reductions.
February 27, 2024
Kiwi Ministers Asked to Disclose Tobacco Links

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Health activists have asked New Zealand’s government ministers do disclose any links to the tobacco industry, noting that the politicians’ rhetoric is strikingly similar to the industry’s key talking points, reports the New Zealand Herald.
The call comes follows the dramatic reversal of New Zealand’s generational tobacco ban legislation by the country’s recently installed coalition government. Last week, said Associate Health Minister Casey Costello drew fire for suggesting a temporary halt to tobacco tax increases in consideration of smokers’ socioeconomic backgrounds—an argument that has also been raised by tobacco allies on occasion.
In a briefing published Jan. 31 by the Public Health Communications Center, three University of Otago public health academics highlight links between government members of parliament and the industry and similarities between their public statements.
The paper points out that the government is a signatory to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires member states to engage with tobacco companies only for regulatory purposes, while recording and disclosing any interactions.
Janet Hoek, the co-director of smoke-free research group Aspire2025, stressed she and her colleagues were not accusing ministers of a conflict of interest. “Our call is simply for full transparency,” she was quoted as saying.
According to Hoek, there is little popular support for the government’s repeal of the smoke-free legislation, which would have reduced the number of retailers selling tobacco, reduced nicotine levels in cigarettes and banned sales to anyone born after 2009.
The paper lists the government’s past and current links to the industry, including two former NZ First staffers, David Broome and Apirana Dawson, who had gone on to work at tobacco giant Philip Morris International.
Under questioning in Parliament on Jan 30, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was not aware of any ministers receiving donations from anyone associated with the tobacco industry. He added he expected all ministers would comply with their obligations to report potential conflicts.
February 1, 2024
Kiwi Tax Freeze Proposal Gets Backlash

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A proposal to freeze tobacco excise taxes for three years has triggered a fierce backlash in New Zealand, according to Radio New Zealand.
Associate health minister Casey Costello came under heavy political fire after she suggested temporarily halting tobacco tax increases in consideration of smokers’ socioeconomic backgrounds. Smokers tend to earn lower wages than the population at large.
Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chairperson Boyd Swinburn said such a move would make tobacco products more accessible.
“This proposal from Costello to put a three-year freeze on this inflation-adjusted excise tax is essentially meaning that tobacco is going to get relatively cheaper over the next three years, because it won’t be keeping pace with the rest of inflation,” he said.
Swinburn called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to take action.
“The Health Coalition is calling for [Costello] to be replaced as an associate minister of health, given all these policies she’s come out with which are really supporting the tobacco industry’s position.”
Action on Smoking and Health Director Ben Youden said the Costello’s proposal did not make much sense.
“Given the finance minister has stated last year that tobacco tax is an important revenue, it seems odd that a freeze on excise tax would be on the table.”
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ chief executive Letitia Harding called Costello’s proposal “outrageous,” adding that it amounted to another win for the tobacco industry.
The current coalition government has been criticized for tobacco-friendly policies. One of the first actions upon taking power in late 2023 was to ditch the country’s controversial generational tobacco ban.
January 26, 2024
New Zealand Smoking at All-Time Low

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The smoking rate among New Zealand adults has dropped to an all-time low, reports the New Zealand Herald, citing data from a new Ministry of Health survey. The poll also revealed that one in 10 Kiwi adults vape daily, with rates highest among young people and Maori.
The annual New Zealand Health Survey recorded 6.8 percent of adults as being daily smokers, down from 8.6 percent last year.
Daily smoking also declined sharply among ethnic groups, with Maori’ rates dropping from 37.7 percent to 17.1 percent and Pacific peoples’ rates dropping from 22.6 percent to 6.4 percent.
Daily vaping among New Zealanders increased from 2.6 percent in 2017-2019 to 9.7 percent this year. Young people were most likely to vape daily (25.2) percent and young Maori had the highest rates (23.5 percent) among different ethnic groups.
Letitia Harding, chief executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ, described the doubling of daily vaping among teenagers as a public health crisis. “What we are witnessing is an epidemic that needs immediate attention to address such alarming statistics,” she was quoted as saying.
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), by contrast, credited vaping for helping drive down New Zealand’s smoking rates.
“New Zealand’s ambitious goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025 is well underway, with comprehensive tobacco control legislation, targeted interventions, and a focus on tobacco harm reduction products playing a crucial role”, said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas.
“This shift toward less harmful nicotine products is a key part of New Zealand’s world-leading approach to tobacco harm reduction”, said Loucas.
December 18, 2023
Skepticism About Smokeless

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Health experts are skeptical about the potential of snuff and smokeless tobacco as tools to help smokers quit reports The NZ Herald.
New Zealand’s newly elected government has backtracked on the previous government’s generational ban and agreed to “reform the regulation of vaping, smokeless tobacco and oral nicotine products.”
Vaping is currently used as a smoking cessation tool in the country while heated-tobacco products are not widely used and oral nicotine products are banned.
“Early information I have got around oral nicotine is that it was used highly successfully in Scandinavian countries,” said Associate Health Minister Casey Costello.
“I think Sweden was one of the first countries in Europe to reach below that 5 percent threshold. And how much oral nicotine products contributed to that—I’m really interested to understand how that worked.”
Tobacco control experts are not sold on the idea, though. “Chewing tobacco is likely to be a lot less harmful than smoking tobacco, but it’s not completely safe,” said Chris Bullen, a professor specializing in tobacco control at the University of Auckland. “And in my personal view, I don’t think introducing other products into the mix here in New Zealand is a good [idea].”
Bullen as well as Janet Hoek, professor at the University of Otago, said that using Sweden as an example is troublesome because snus is culturally significant in Sweden compared to New Zealand. Bullen also noted that snus is widely available in Sweden and has been purified to remove particularly harmful ingredients, factors that could be difficult to replicate.
Hoek also expressed concern that the new government’s policies closely align with the tobacco industry. “We know that tobacco companies and the groups that they give money to for a very long time have wanted a more liberal tobacco marketplace, so we need to watch that space carefully,” she said.
According to Hoek, stronger evidence exists for denicotinization, reducing retail outlets and creating a smoke-free generation. These measures are part of the legislation that was repealed.
The new government has agreed to increase penalties for those caught selling vapor products to individuals under the age of 18 and to consider requiring a license to sell vapor products.
December 14, 2023
‘Kiwi Standing Soiled by Age Ban U-Turn’

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The repeal of New Zealand’s generational tobacco ban has tarnished the country’s reputation as a leader in tobacco control, according to Chris Bullen, president of the international Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), reports Radio New Zealand.
In November, New Zealand’s new coalition government announced plans to scrap amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations that would have banned anyone from selling or supplying smoked tobacco products to people born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.
SRNT is the world’s largest scientific society that researches tobacco smoking and nicotine, and its membership includes more than 1,300 scientists from around 40 countries. According to Bullen, many of his international colleagues have expressed dismay about New Zealand’s about-turn.
Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told RNZ that reversing the smokefree laws to fix a tax cut funding problem was inexplicable.
“It just really speaks to the influence of the tobacco industry on our political leadership,” said Bullen.
Malaysia recently also dropped its generational tobacco ban plan, citing constitutional concerns, though critics blamed tobacco lobbying. Britain is reportedly backpedaling, as well, with reports suggesting it may settle for raising the smoking age to 21 instead.
Minister of Health Shane Reti has defended New Zealand’s plans to repeal the smokefree legislation. He said his administration was committed to cutting smoking rates and referred to the potential of harm reduction tools such as vaping to help achieve the desired reductions.
December 11, 2023
Young Kiwis Support Generational Ban: Study

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Most young New Zealanders support the law to progressively ban smoking, which was recently abandoned, reports RNZ, citing the results of an international study.
The new coalition government plans to repeal changes to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act that would have barred the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2009, among other measures.
A Canadian-based international study shows 79 percent of New Zealanders aged 16 to 29 favored the ban.
A similar share supported a reduction in the number of shops that could sell tobacco while 68 percent wanted manufacturers to have to take nicotine out of cigarettes.
The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project investigates attitudes to smoking across several countries. The most recent research was supposed to provide a baseline for New Zealand before the law came into effect.
“Our overseas colleagues are incredibly disappointed and devastated as we are because the tobacco research world has been really looking to New Zealand,” said co-author Jude Ball from Otago University.
By contrast, the Coalition of Asia Pacific Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) expressed its support for the decision to repeal the generational tobacco ban.
“CAPHRA applauds the government’s decision to prioritize harm reduction strategies,” said the group’s executive coordinator, Nancy Loucas. “We believe that vaping and other harm reduction tools can play a significant role in helping smokers quit, and we are pleased to see the government recognizing this.”
The organization said it also shares the government’s concerns about the potential for a black market to develop if the sale of tobacco is overly restricted.
“A regulated market is always preferable to an unregulated one, where product safety cannot be guaranteed,” Loucas added.
December 6, 2023
Health Advocates Slam Endgame Reversals

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Health advocates condemned moves in New Zealand and Malaysia to scrap legislation that would have banned tobacco sales to future generations.
Passed by the previous government, the New Zealand measure would have outlawed tobacco sales to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009. It also would have limited the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of tobacco retailers by 90 percent.
After New Zealand’s elections earlier this year, the country’s new center-right coalition announced it would repeal the generational tobacco ban.
“This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry – whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” Boyd Swinburn, co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA) in New Zealand, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
HCA pointed to academic research that found the laws could have saved some $1.3 billion in health system costs over 20 years, and reduced mortality rates.
In Malaysia meanwhile, lawmakers decided to remove a generational tobacco ban from proposed legislation after that country’s attorney general questioned the constitutionality of the endgame clause because it would create two sets of laws for two groups of citizens based on age.
Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, however, blamed the tobacco lobby for Malaysia’s U-turn.
“Don’t even think for a minute that GEG [generational endgame] was dropped because of some lame excuse of a legal argument proffered by the AG,” he was quoted as saying by The Star. “No, GEG was dropped because of the strong lobby from Big Tobacco.”
Despite the setback, Jamaluddin said the fight against tobacco would continue. “This is not over,” he said. “One day, public health will win.”
Even as New Zealand and Malaysia reversed their endgame clauses, England reiterated its commitment to its version of the plan. Asked whether Rishi Sunak would consider following New Zealand and Malaysia’s examples, a spokeswoman for the British prime minister said: “No, our position remains unchanged. This is an important long-term decision and step to deliver a smoke-free generation which remains critically important.”
November 28, 2023
New Zealand Ditches Generational Ban

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New Zealand’s new coalition government plans to scrap the country’s controversial generational tobacco ban, which would have prohibited tobacco products for people born after 2009, reports CodeBlue.
The coalition agreement signed on Nov. 24 by the National Party, the ACT and New Zealand First in the wake of the country’s general elections calls for a repeal of amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations, which took effect Jan. 1, 2023,
In addition to prohibiting anyone from selling or supplying smoked tobacco products to people born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, the amendments would have restricted the sale of smoked tobacco products to a limited number of approved retail outlets and extended the act’s regulatory powers over the composition of smoked tobacco products, such as nicotine levels.
While ditching the generational tobacco ban, the new government vowed to get tough on vaping by banning disposable e-cigarettes and increasing penalties for illegal sales to those aged under 18.
Health advocates criticized the reversal of the amendments. “Way to start being health minister—by caving into the tobacco industry,” New Zealand’s former Health Minister Ayesha Verrall wrote on X about her successor, Shane Reti. “Repealing smokefree laws will mean thousands of deaths.”
Smoker rights’ group Forest welcomed the repeal, and urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to follow suit by abandoning similar measures in the United Kingdom.
“The policy treats future generations of adults like kids and it won’t work. It will simply drive smokers into the hands of illegal traders and criminal gangs,” said Forest Director Simon Clark.
“The consequences of the policy, which would eventually allow a 40-year-old to legally buy cigarettes while denying that right to a 39-year-old, are absurd.
“Having stolen the idea from the previous New Zealand government, the prime minister should follow the example of the next New Zealand government and scrap this crazy idea.”
On the same day of the announcement in New Zealand, Malaysia approved revisions to the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 that decoupled that country’s planned generational end game ban from the tobacco and vape control bill.
November 24, 2023