Tag: United Kingdom

U.K. Retailers “Missed” in Menthol Buyback

Photo: Miriam Doerr | Dreamstime.com
U.K. retailers say tobacco companies have “missed” significant volumes of now-illicit menthol cigarettes during the initial returns phase following the country’s ban on such cigarettes.
The U.K. prohibited sales of menthol cigarettes on May 20, 2020. Prior to the ban, tobacco companies pledged to take back and credit retailers for any noncompliant stock remaining once the legislation came into force.
However, six retailers across England told Better Retailing that they still have menthol brands from Philip Morris Limited (PML) and British American Tobacco U.K., with some holding stock with a combined value worth several hundreds of pounds.
BAT U.K. said it carried out a significant menthol pack return exercise from September to December 2020. “Despite our best efforts, some of our retail partners appear to have been missed in this initial returns phase; we are sorry for any inconvenience caused,” a BAT spokesperson said, adding that a second returns phase would be introduced at the end of this year.
PML said it introduced a nationwide “buy-back” scheme from May to July 2020, which covered all plain packaging products with duty paid.
August 10, 2021
U.K. Mulls Higher Tobacco Buying Age

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Individuals under the age of 21 may be banned from buying cigarettes and flavored vapor products as part of a plan to curb smoking in the U.K., reports the Daily Mail.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is reportedly considering the change to help reach the government’s goal of becoming smoke-free by 2030.
“Smoking cuts lives short and costs the NHS billions—we will publish a plan later this year to set out how we will help the country become smoke-free by 2030,” said a Department of Health spokesperson.
Further advertising bans are also reportedly being considered. E-cigarettes are already banned from promotion on TV, radio, online and in print.
Raising the purchase age would be “very, very welcome news,” according to Mary Foy, chair of the Westminster All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking. “We know that generally adults don’t take up smoking. It’s children and young people who start and unfortunately get hooked, often for life. Studies show most adults regret ever starting in the first place.”

If you can have sex at 16, join the army and drive a car at 17, you should be allowed to buy tobacco at 18.
Simon Clark, director, Forest
Simon Clark, director of smokers’ group Forest, rejected the idea of raising the tobacco purchase age. “If you can have sex at 16, join the army and drive a car at 17, you should be allowed to buy tobacco at 18,” he said. “In the eyes of the law, you are an adult at 18. Treating young adults like children insults their intelligence. You certainly don’t have to be 21 to know that smoking is potentially harmful. It’s drummed into every child from an early age.”
“Outlawing the sale of tobacco to anyone under 21 won’t stop young people smoking,” he said. “It will simply drive tobacco underground, bypassing legitimate retailers and enriching criminals who won’t stop to ask for proof of age. Far from protecting younger consumers, it will expose many more to illicit and counterfeit tobacco, origin unknown. For some, it may even make smoking cool again.”
August 9, 2021
Covid Border Closures Yield Tax Windfall

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The U.K. treasury received a £1.35 billion ($1.88 billion) windfall last year as Covid-related border closures made cigarette smuggling nearly impossible, reports The Express.
The huge rise in duty has prompted tobacco manufacturers to push for tougher sanctions on those involved in the smuggling, production and distribution of illegal cigarettes.
“Covid stripped some illegal volumes into the market, and there was a revenue bounce for the Treasury as a result,” said Ian Howell, fiscal and regulatory affairs manager for Japan Tobacco International.
“It shows how we need to tackle illicit tobacco as every illegal product that is sold takes money away from the government and the increased revenue during lockdown shows the scale of it.”
HM Revenue and Customs estimates that the sale of illegal tobacco products has resulted in a tax revenue loss of more than £47 billion since 2000.
An HMRC spokesman said the agency would continue to work with authorities to tackle the illicit tobacco trade problem.
August 3, 2021
Groups Urge Ban on ‘Menthol Replacements’

Photo: Валерий Моисеев
Public Health England and other health groups have asked the U.K. government to prohibit the sale of “menthol replacement” cigarettes such as NewSuperking Green and Sterling New Dual, reports Express.
Despite a nationwide ban in the U.K. on the sale of menthol cigarettes, Japan Tobacco International has sold more than £1 billion ($1.33 billion) worth of cigarettes laced with menthol in the past year since the ban went into effect, according to critics.
JTI insists its brands comply with the law. “We no longer sell cigarettes with characterizing flavors (including flavored capsule cigarettes),” the company stated. “Cigarettes with a characterizing menthol flavor have been banned from May 20, 2020. We are confident all our products are fully compliant with U.K. law. Some JTI cigarettes and rolling tobacco sold in the U.K. do still contain very low levels of menthol. This is not prohibited under the law, provided the use of such flavorings does not produce a clearly noticeable smell or taste other than one of tobacco—which they do not.
“The launch by competitors of similar products in EU markets shows they, too, are confident that products with low levels of menthol are permitted by law. All the ingredient information for our new products was shared with the authorities at both U.K. and EU level via the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) prior to their being placed on the market, so there is full transparency throughout this process. We look forward to providing further information if requested by the authorities.”
Tobacco companies across Europe have been introducing alternatives to their discontinued menthol brands since the EU banned such tobacco products in May 2020. Last year, cigarette manufacturers came under scrutiny in Ireland for supposedly sidestepping the measure.
July 9, 2021
Push for Warnings on Individual Sticks

Photo: Mihail
Lord Young of Cookham has introduced into the U.K. House of Lords a bill that would require cigarette manufacturers to print health warnings on individual cigarettes. The warnings—written in red on individual cigarettes—would include messages such as “smoking kills” and “you don’t need me anymore.”
“This is cost-free, popular and more effective than health warnings on packets,” said Young, who is also vice chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health.
Young had proposed the same measures when he was a health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, but they were rejected under pressure of the tobacco industry, which claimed the ink on the cigarettes would cause cancer. “Plainly this is nonsense given that tobacco already contains 70 cancer-causing chemicals,” said Young.
Health groups welcomed the proposal. “Cigarettes not cigarette packs kill smokers, so obviously the sticks themselves are where health warnings are most needed,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), in a statement.
“Lord Young’s private member’s bill could finally put the warnings on cigarettes he first proposed four decades ago. His bill is supported by parliamentarians, leading health organizations and the public.
“All that is needed is the support of government and Britain can become the first nation in the world to put ‘Smoking Kills’ where it belongs—on the cigarette itself.”
Cigarettes not cigarette packs kill smokers, so obviously the sticks themselves are where health warnings are most needed.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive, ASH
According to ASH, public support for this measure is high. In a poll conducted by YouGov for the organization, 70 percent of those surveyed supported the proposal for health warnings to be printed on cigarette sticks, two-thirds of them strongly. Only 8 percent opposed the proposal with the remainder (22 percent) answering that they neither supported nor opposed the proposal or didn’t know.
“Too many young people are still taking up smoking,” said Cancer Research U.K. Director of Policy Emlyn Samuel. “Government anti-smoking campaigns and tax rises on cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco remain the most effective ways to stop young people starting smoking. However, we need to continue to explore innovative methods to deter them from using cigarettes to ensure that youth smoking rates continue to fall. Cancer Research U.K.-funded research shows that tactics like making the cigarettes themselves unappealing could be an effective way of doing this.”
Simon Clark from smokers’ campaign group Forest said the idea to put the warnings on cigarettes was “laughable.”
“Smokers are well aware of the health risks,” he said.
June 16, 2021
Broad Support for Vaping During Debate

Photo: Ana Gic from Pixabay
MPs from the U.K.’s two main political parties agree that vaping holds the key to Britain achieving its ambitious target to be a “smoke-free” nation by 2030, according to a report by the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKIVA).
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health presented its latest recommendations for a new Tobacco Control Plan (TCP) at Westminster yesterday.
Among its range of proposals to curb smoking prevalence in the U.K. were recommendations to expand the use of vaping based on the mounting “data and evidence” pointing to e-cigarettes’ efficacy in helping smokers to quit.
In a departure from most cross-party debates, there was universal consensus that vaping should be a central part of any plan for the U.K. to meet its smoke-free targets and save lives.
The first MP to bring vaping into the debate was Mary Glindon (Labour) who sits on the APPG on E-cigarettes.
She said, “The forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan presents an enormous opportunity to cement the U.K. as the global leader in tobacco harm reduction.
“Having left the EU, the government must alongside the post-implementation review of the Tobacco and Regulated Products Regulations (TRPR) set a clear direction for reducing smoking prevalence.
“To achieve its ambitions, the forthcoming control plan must champion less harmful alternatives to smoking combustible tobacco, in particular the growing body of evidence showing vaping to be the most effective alternative for adult smokers looking to quit smoking.
“In its Blueprint for Better Regulation, the U.K. Vaping Industry Association made recommendations to the Department for Health for consideration when reviewing TRPR, a process already under way.
“Those recommendations, many of which I support, could also be applied to the government’s TCP.
“One of those recommendations is effectively tackling increasing levels of misinformation and misperceptions about the relative harm of e-cigarettes versus tobacco.
“ASH data suggests millions of smokers could be dissuaded from switching to e-cigarettes because of incorrect views or confusion about vaping.
“To combat this, the UKVIA recommends that the Department of Health launch an effective communications strategy, including the introduction of approved health claims, and switch messages displayed on vape devices and e-liquid packaging.
“It also recommends that medical professionals at local stop-smoking services are supported with clinicians signposted to the latest clinical guidance and evidence about e-cigarettes.
“An evidence-based approach to smoking cessation must be adopted consistently by local services to support patients and their harm reduction journey—this is critical, considering the trials in NHS A&E departments.
“There should also be a review of regulations of nicotine in e-cigarettes to better understand the role nicotine plays in allowing e-cigarettes to be a satisfying alternative for adult smokers.
“For vaping to compete with combustible cigarettes and provide and alternative, it must provide a comparably satisfying nicotine experience.
“It is the toxic byproducts, not the nicotine, that are responsible for smoking-related deaths and diseases.
“Understanding alternatives and making clear distinctions between smoking and vaping are critical to our smoke-free ambitions.
“The APPG on Vaping made several recommendations on vaping in the workplace and in public places; these are endorsed by the UKVIA and if implemented would support adult smokers in their transition to less harmful alternatives and give those who already made the switch the best chance of sticking with it.”
To achieve its ambitions, the forthcoming control plan must champion less harmful alternatives to smoking combustible tobacco, in particular the growing body of evidence showing vaping to be the most effective alternative for adult smokers looking to quit smoking.
Mary Glindon (Labour)
David Jones (Conservative), Honorary Life Governor at Cancer Research U.K., said, “The key issue with smoking is, of course, the smoke. Any evidence-based policy to assist the U.K.’s 7 million smokers must put forward alternative products to combustible tobacco.
“Continuing to raise awareness of those products is also key. E-cigarettes and the use of other alternatives saves lives, and we should make sure that message reaches every smoker in Britain.
“E-cigarettes are hugely important in the fight against smoking, and I commend NHS England for promoting them to smokers. It’s based on evidence and has a proven positive effect on the health of the nation.”
Jones pointed out that, in 2017, more than 50,000 smokers who would have carried on stopped with the aid of a vaping product.
“The TCP should embrace new products and allow for more measures for companies to promote them,” he said. “And the plan should contemplate legislation for a robust regulatory framework for all the products we have on the market.”
Next to speak was Adam Afriyie (Conservative), also Chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology who sits on the APPG on Vaping.
“We’re in an era where we must be driven by data and evidence,” he said. “And it can’t be any clearer that when it comes to vaping devices, electronic nicotine-delivery devices and other technologies and ways nicotine can be used to help smokers to cease, that the data is only one way.
“It is so much safer to vape or use an electronic device than it is to smoke. Smoke is the killer. Tobacco is the killer.”
Afriyie urged the government to “not do what the EU has done and not do what the WHO seems to be doing by mangling the two issues (smoking and vaping) together.”
“Smoking is one thing,” he continued. “Smoking cessation devices that contain nicotine [are] a complete[ly] different thing. A completely different scale of harm and completely different scale of risk.
“Nobody really wants to smoke. It’s a good idea to remind people on an annual basis that there are alternatives, and not just nicotine patches but certainly to be looking at vaping devices.
“There is still ambiguity about whether or not vaping is a smoking cessation device or just another way of inhaling nicotine. The truth is, and this is clear from the evidence, it’s a smoking cessation device that woks and is twice as effective—if not higher than that—at helping smokers to cease smoking relative to the other treatments available.”
He concluded, “We are the first in the world at genomics, first in the world for the vaccine rollout, first in the world for fintech and financial services—let’s make this another one: Let’s be the first in the world to implement a TCP that clearly takes on board the wonderful innovations of vaping, e-cigarettes and all the other technologies and not mangle it together in a smoking directive.”
We are the first in the world at genomics, first in the world for the vaccine rollout, first in the world for fintech and financial services—let’s make this another one: Let’s be the first in the world to implement a TCP that clearly takes on board the wonderful innovations of vaping, e-cigarettes and all the other technologies and not mangle it together in a smoking directive.
Adam Afriyie (Conservative)
Labour MP Virendra Sharma told the committee that he came from “a family of nonsmokers” and that he himself does not smoke.
“I cannot see the appeal,” he said. “But clearly, people are addicted, and addiction needs treatment not moralizing. There are 3 million people who vape in Britain and nearly all are former smokers. That’s 3 million who choose a less harmful option. This is good news, but BAME communities and those with manual jobs and without university degrees are 2.5 times more likely to smoke than white, office working, university educated colleagues. This has to be addressed.
“In the Asian community, we need to offer alternatives to tobacco. There are terrible statistics about rates of oral cancers, and anything we can do to reduce these rates will save lives.”
Another Labour MP, Alex Norris, spoke next and emphasized the consensus nature of the debate.
“We are all here in the spirit of cross-party cooperation,” he said.
“E-cigarettes and vaping must be a feature of the TCP. I hope the minister and government generally, via its role in the WHO, push harder for stronger messages and clearer messages around the data and evidence at WHO level.
“I looked at the WHO website myself and could not fathom what it was trying to tell me. That makes it really hard for people thinking about alternatives to know what they’re supposed to do or not.
“Personally, I always rely on the Public Health England position from 2018 that vaping represents a 95 percent reduction in harm.
“The APPG’s report says that in 2017, vaping helped 50,000 people to stop smoking, and that concerns around children starting have not materialized.”
Bringing the debate to an end, Jo Churchill (Conservative), who is also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care at the Department of Health and Social Care, said, “Within our plan, we will recommit to the role of e-cigarette products. They certainly have a place in supporting smokers to quit, and we will ensure they remain accessible while protecting nonsmokers and young people.”
Speaking after the session, John Dunne, director general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association, said:
“It was a very proud moment for the UKVIA to be quoted so extensively during this important debate and at such a crucial moment in the U.K.’s journey toward harm reduction.
“It’s not often that you witness different political parties reaching a consensus in this way, but, it appears, the urgent need to reduce smoking rates in Britain and the vital role vaping can play in achieving [a] smoke-free 2030 are the issues where tribalism is put aside and common sense prevails.”
June 11, 2021
U.K. Urged to End Tobacco ‘Epidemic’
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The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health is urging the U.K. government to use the opportunity provided by Brexit to step up and take its place on the world stage as a global leader in tobacco control.
In its new report, Delivering a Smoke-Free 2030, the APPG makes several recommendations for the Tobacco Control Plan 2021, which the House of Commons was set to debate today.
The recommendations include:
Funding for tobacco control programs to be secured through a “polluter pays” amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill, forcing manufacturers to pay to deliver the end of smoking.
Targeted investment to provide additional support to help smokers quit in regions and communities where smoking does the most damage. This includes those in routine and manual jobs and the unemployed; those living in social housing; those with a mental health condition; and pregnant smokers.
Tougher tobacco regulations to protect children and young people from becoming smokers and help smokers quit, such as putting health warnings on cigarettes and raising the age of sale to 21.
“Our report sets out measures, which will put us on track to achieve the government’s ambition to end smoking by 2030, but they can’t be delivered without funding,” said MP Bob Blackman, chairman of the APPG, in a statement. “Tobacco manufacturers make extreme profits selling highly addictive, lethal products while government coffers are bare because of Covid-19. The manufacturers have the money; they should be made to pay to end the epidemic.”
APPG Vice Chair Mary Kelly Foy, who represents the City of Durham, said, “I’m an MP from the North East, the poorest region in the country where smoking rates have historically been high. That’s why, although we’ve made good progress in recent years, we still suffer disproportionately from disease, disability and death caused by smoking. The APPG report recommendations will sever the ‘iron chain’ linking smoking and disadvantage. They are essential if we are to build back fairer and level up communities like my own.”
“We all applauded when the government announced its ambition for a smoke-free 2030,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health. “But that was two years ago; the time has now come to deliver.”
June 10, 2021
MPs Urged to Champion Vaping During Debate
Photo: Gerry
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is asking Members of Parliament to champion the public health benefits of vaping as the Department of Health and Social Care looks to publish a new Tobacco Control Plan (TCP) later this year to support the government’s smoke-free 2030 ambition.
The U.K. House of Commons will debate the “Recommendations for the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan” on June 10.
According to the UKVIA, the upcoming debate is a huge opportunity to refocus efforts in ensuring that England achieves its aim of becoming smoke-free by 2030. The U.K. is estimated to have a smoking prevalence of 14.1 percent, and the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan is a chance to see this number decrease further, particularly in light of an uptake during the pandemic period, the association writes in template letter to local MPs.
The UKVIA letter urges MPs to make the following points during the debate:
The government must seize the opportunity presented by the U.K. having left the European Union. With the ongoing review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) and the forthcoming TCP, the government has the opportunity to diverge from EU law governing tobacco and nicotine policy to level up on health inequalities across the U.K. Independence allows for U.K. regulations to stay relevant, be easily adapted to changing consumer trends and any market and technological developments, with greater ease and less bureaucracy.
The government’s forthcoming TCP should be based on the significant and growing body of evidence showing vaping to be an effective alternative for smokers looking to quit and should cement the concept of harm reduction, placing the U.K. as the global leader in tobacco harm reduction. Vaping is twice as effective as other nicotine-replacement therapies, such as gum and patches. Research from University College London has found that e-cigarettes, in one year alone, helped an additional 50,000–70,000 smokers in England quit. Despite the overwhelming and growing evidence in support of e-cigarettes, perceptions of harm from vaping among smokers are increasingly incorrect and out of line with the evidence. This is despite ONS data from Great Britain showing that over half of smokers want to quit.
Misinformation and misperceptions about the relative risk of e-cigarettes must be challenged at every opportunity. To do so, the government must work with industry leaders to develop a series of policies that can help the vaping industry communicate directly with existing adult smokers. It is suggested that approved health claims and switching messages, alongside nicotine health warnings, should be available to vape manufacturers and retailers to communicate the facts about vaping. Such claims and messages could be used on both device and e-liquid packaging as well as on posters and leaflets. Similar proposals have been made by the governments of New Zealand and Canada.
In light of the University of East Anglia’s study to trial e-cigarettes in NHS A&E departments, greater support is also needed for medical practitioners. The new TCP should support medical professionals by ensuring that clinicians are signposted to the latest clinical evidence on e-cigarettes and that local stop-smoking clinics adopt a consistent approach to the advice given to smokers looking to switch to less harmful alternatives and/or quit smoking combustible cigarettes.
“Whilst on one hand the current regulations and the existing TCP have allowed the vaping industry in the U.K. to flourish, on the other, they have hindered the ability of the vaping sector to promote vaping as an effective way of switching to a less harmful alternative, thereby preventing the government achieving the aims set out in the Tobacco Control Plan,” the UKVIA wrote. “Parliamentarians should therefore be advocating for fair and proportionate policies and regulations of e-cigarettes to help reduce inequalities and improve public health.”
June 8, 2021
U.K.: Local Authorities Ban Outdoor Smoking

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Local authorities in England have started banning smoking in pavement pubs, cafes and restaurants as the government seeks to make England smoke-free in less than a decade, reports The Guardian.
The rise of outdoor eating during the Covid-19 pandemic has drawn renewed attention to outdoor smoking. A ban on smoking in public places indoors was credited with a big drop in tobacco use in the U.K. Health advocates worry that allowing smoking in outdoor cafes will renormalize the use of cigarettes after a meal or with a drink.
Last summer, lawmakers failed to push through an amendment to legislation in the House of Lords to make pavements smoke-free.
Now, Northumberland county council, Durham, North Tyneside, Newcastle and the City of Manchester have all banned smoking on stretches of the pavement where bars, restaurants and cafes are licensed to put out tables. Oxfordshire is also planning to ban smoking from outdoor restaurants.
Deborah Arnott, the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said the pavement bans were popular with most customers. “Our surveys show that two-thirds of the public want areas outside pubs and cafes to be smoke-free,” she said.

The paternalists’ argument that we must stop people smoking because it is deadlier than Covid is as specious and illogical as the lockdown skeptics’ counterclaim that the government should do nothing about Covid because it hasn’t banned smoking.
Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics, the Institute of Economic Affairs
Pro-smoking groups say local authorities should not interfere. “It’s no business of local councils if adults choose to smoke, and if they smoke outside during working hours, that’s a matter for them and their employer not the council,” Simon Clark, director of Forest, wrote in a statement.
England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, has warned that the impact of tobacco is worse than Covid. Smoking had probably killed more people than Covid in the same period, he said. Generally, tobacco is estimated to kill 90,000 people a year in the U.K.
Ireland, too, is reportedly considering a proposal that would eliminate “smoking areas” from outdoor public places such as pubs, offices and parks. “The Irish Heart Foundation has written to government urging that smoking is prohibited in all outdoor areas of pubs and restaurants as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted,” said Irish Heart Foundation Head of Advocacy Chris Macey.
“We are also campaigning for outdoor smoking bans in parks, playgrounds, college campuses and state-run facilities to safeguard health and further denormalize smoking.”
Christopher Snowdon, the head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the moves to ban outdoor smoking demonstrate “the warped judgment of public health officialdom.”
“The paternalists’ argument that we must stop people smoking because it is deadlier than Covid is as specious and illogical as the lockdown skeptics’ counterclaim that the government should do nothing about Covid because it hasn’t banned smoking. Both willfully ignore the issue of infection, which is what turns a health problem into a public health problem,” he wrote in The Telegraph.
“Battered by lockdowns, the hospitality industry is unlikely to welcome a policy that encourages its customers to stay at home,” Snowdon added.
June 4, 2021
New Checks on U.K. Track-and-Trace Codes

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Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has introduced new checks on the codes that are given to tobacco retailers to ensure that they are registered properly for the U.K. track-and-trace system, reports Talking Retail.
Businesses throughout the tobacco supply chain have an economic operator ID code for their business and a facility ID code for each site. Over the next eight weeks, any codes that are not recognized by the track-and-trace system will generate a warning, allowing businesses time to investigate by logging any issues with the ID Issuer website.
After June 27, messages containing codes that fail the new checks will generate an error message. Retailers that receive an error message must take action to correct the error before continuing to move tobacco products through the supply chain.
“We have worked extensively with HMRC to support retailers with the implementation of the tobacco track-and-trace system since its introduction in 2019, and we hope that this is another step toward only legitimate businesses being involved in the tobacco supply chain,” ACS’ chief executive, James Lowman, was quoted as saying.
“We welcome the eight-week grace period, which should give businesses time to investigate any issues with their codes.”
May 6, 2021