Market & legal data of the tobacco alternative sector in America

20th November 2024: US - General: A class action has been filed in federal court against Swedish Match North America, subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and state antitrust laws. The complaint states that Swedish Match created a monopoly and “drove a competitor from the market until it was unable to compete in a meaningful way”, and then “agreed to an anticompetitive agreement with Philip Morris”. Among other requests, the complaint asks that the agreement between Swedish Match and Phillip Morris be declared unlawful.
18th November 2024: US - Ohio: Columbus city attorney Zach Klein is suing a tobacco retailer for alleged repeated under-age tobacco sales and sales of flavoured tobacco that violate city law. “This case exemplifies why it’s important for local health departments to monitor compliance with tobacco regulations,” said Klein. “This isn’t something we should ask law enforcement to spend limited resources on,” he added. Columbus is the capital of Ohio and has a population of more than 900,000.
15th November 2024: US - Federal: President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F Kennedy Jr. for the position of secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate, together with the rest of Trump’s nominations of high-ranking roles. The HHS oversees the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among other agencies. Both Trump and Kennedy have criticised the functioning of the FDA; Trump highlighted some aspects he’s critical of in the announcement on social media platform X.
13th November 2024: Peru: The bill regulating tobacco, vaping and other nicotine products, such as pouches, was published yesterday (12th November) in the State Bulletin and is now in force. It regulates the sale, advertising and public usage of heated tobacco and nicotine pouches. In the case of heated tobacco, it completely bans its advertising, while for nicotine pouches it is limited. It also establishes packaging requirements, such as health warnings and a prohibition on the description of flavours on the package or label that may seem attractive to under-18s.
8th November 2024: US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a renewal of modified risk granted orders to Swedish Match USA, for eight General Snus products, which allows the company to continue marketing these products with the following risk claim: “Using General Snus instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.” This is the first renewal of modified risk granted orders issued by the FDA. General Snus products, initially approved for US marketing in 2015 and designated as modified risk in 2019, required a renewal after five years. The modified risk granted orders issued by FDA are specific to these products and expire in 2032. The agency can, however, withdraw the orders if it determines that the products no longer “benefit the health of the population as a whole”, the FDA noted in a statement.
7th November 2024: Mexico: Philip Morris International (PMI) has been granted judicial protection by the Supreme Court to import its vaping and heated tobacco products into the country. In 2022, the government prohibited the importation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco through a presidential decree. However, the prohibition has been repeatedly declared unconstitutional by the courts, and companies – such as PMI – who appeal the decree are being granted permission to sell their products in the country.
6th November 2024: US - Federal: The US and international vapour industry will today be weighing the likely impact on the sector of Donald Trump’s election success. ECigIntelligence has recently reported on the evolution of Trump’s stance on vaping and his likely position following his re-election. While serving as the 45th president of the US, he initially said he wanted to take strong action against vaping and ban both disposable and flavoured e-cigarettes. However, the 2019 bill to propose a federal flavour ban, which failed, did not include disposables and sparked criticism from vaping advocates and adversaries alike.
4th November 2024: Panama: A spokesperson for Panamá Emprende – a part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that deals with commercial and industrial activity – told TobaccoIntelligence that the sale of heated tobacco products (HTPs) falls under the “tobacco category” of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC). However, the spokesperson did not clarify if tobacco legislation would apply, and TobaccoIntelligence is seeking further clarification. This follows a Supreme Court decision declaring law 315 – which prohibited the use, import, and sale of heated tobacco – unconstitutional.
31st October 2024: US - Colorado: The Denver City Council is studying the introduction of a flavour ban on the sale of tobacco products; this ban would prohibit all flavours, including menthol, in all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Currently, the proposal is still a presentation and needs further development to be introduced as a bill. Denver is the capital of Colorado and has a population of more than 700,000.
25th October 2024: US - Missouri: Yesterday (24th October), the Kansas City Council held off its docket an ordinance that would have banned the sale or distribution of tobacco and vapour products in all flavours except tobacco. This means that no further action will be taken unless a sponsor proposes the ban again. Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri, with a population of more than 500,000. It would have been the first local flavour ban in the state.
23rd October 2024: Argentina: Philip Morris International (PMI) is hoping that the Argentinian government, led by president Javier Milei after the elections in October 2023, reverses the ban on heated tobacco products (HTPs) and liberalises the national market, press reports. As forecasted in our Policy Radar, Milei’s pro-market and liberalist view could mean the reversal of the ban imposed by the Ministry of Health in March 2023. Two weeks ago, manager of PMI’s South-America cluster Demian Pintos said in an interview that the company is in talks with the government to explore the possibility of reversing the ban.
22nd October 2024: US - General: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published “Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024”, which analyses the data of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey, specifically examining tobacco product use between both middle and high school students. The most reported used tobacco product among all students was e-cigarettes (5.9%), followed by nicotine pouches (1.8%), while heated tobacco products were among the least used (0.8%). High school students' use of tobacco products decreased from 12.6% to 10.1% (specifically, e-cigarette use declined from 10% to 7.8%), while middle school students' use of tobacco products remained at 5.4% with no statistical impactful change from one year to the other.

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