Regulatory briefing
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Colombia President resists call to increase heated tobacco tax… - Ukraine Tobacco law-breakers can be reported online or by app…
- Saudi Arabia Legal age raised to 21…
- Lithuania Bill to enable shutdown of online tobacco ads and sales…
- Italy Heated tobacco duties and prices updated…
- Europe Antitrust enforcer ‘sees no issues’ with PMI bid for Swedish Match&# (...)
- Malaysia Select committee finds birthdate sales ban is not unconstitutional…
- Europe Economic council will raise no objection to heated tobacco flavour ban…
- United States Court rejects PMI claim over Iqos import ban…
- Denmark Tobacco plan unlikely to be approved before elections…
- Bulgaria Election results could affect heated tobacco tax…
- Latvia Elections unlikely to affect tobacco framework…
European citizens’ petition for a tobacco-free generation by 2030 seeks signatures
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 16th September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Organisers of a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) need 1m signatures across seven EU member states by next summer for the European Commission to respond to their request for measures leading to Europe’s first tobacco-free generation ...
Iceland’s new regulations for pouches include 2% cap on nicotine content
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 14th September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A cap of 20 mg/g will be applied to nicotine pouches in Iceland following an amendment to the law on e-cigarettes and refills that brings pouches under its remit ...
Uncertainty mixed with optimism in tobacco sector ahead of Italian elections
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 12th September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Uncertainty remains high in the Italian tobacco-alternatives industry, but there is a feeling of cautious optimism as the country approaches election day on 25th September ...
Colombia hopes for millions in taxes on heated tobacco and combustibles
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 8th September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
New taxes in Colombia on heated tobacco, vapour products and combustible cigarettes are expected to bring in as much as COP1tn ($227.3m) annually, making their approval the top agenda item for president Gustavo Petro, according to legislators promoting...
The pros and cons of a menthol tobacco ban raise strong feelings on both sides
Written by Tiziana Cauli || 5th September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A proposed US ban on menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars, which would also apply to heated tobacco products – currently regulated as conventional cigarettes – has stirred up strong passions either way ...
Choice of Delnevo to head US FDA tobacco science committee is warmly received
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 1st September 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Cristine Delnevo, the new chair of the US FDA's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), has been hailed as an “objective, thoughtful scientist” with an understanding of research into harm reduction ...
US FDA earns bouquets and brickbats with warning on flavoured gummies
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 31st August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s warning over flavoured nicotine gummies has been welcomed by public health organisations, while it has not gone down well with representatives of the vaping industry ...
While other countries have gone with a flavour ban, menthol is still big in Japan
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 29th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Japan currently has no intention of following the US and Europe with a ban on menthol-flavoured tobacco products ...
Early election could put paid to Malaysia’s ‘Generational End Game’ for nicotine
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 25th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Malaysia’s latest attempt to put an end to nicotine use among the younger generation is likely to be delayed, or even derailed, with an early election expected to stall the new bill ...
Czech Republic could be facing nicotine cap and other restrictions on pouches
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 24th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Czech Republic Ministry of Health is preparing to introduce restrictions on the strength, marketing and production of nicotine pouches ...
Hawaii’s Democratic governor explains why he said no to anti-flavour legislation
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 23rd August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Democratic governor of Hawaii appeared to take a step out of line with the US party’s common position when he vetoed a bill that would have introduced a ban on flavoured tobacco products ...
US FDA issues first warning on flavoured nicotine gummies that ‘could kill a child’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 23rd August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning letter to a Florida-based manufacturer for marketing flavoured nicotine gummies – the first such warning over this type of product ...
Lack of solid science stokes fears and doubts over safety of nicotine pouches
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 16th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
While nicotine pouches are growing in popularity fast, the state of science on their safety remains threadbare ...
Clampdown and tax on tobacco products may never reach Spanish parliament
Written by Tiziana Cauli || 11th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The fate of two laws feared by Spain’s tobacco and vaping industries is in doubt due to a tight political calendar and uncertainty over future regulation at EU level ...
Welsh strategy for a smoke-free future leaves out the question of alternatives
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 4th August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Heated tobacco and the possible legalisation of snus are not specifically addressed in a new tobacco control strategy for the devolved UK region of Wales ...
Revenue, not harm reduction, the driving force behind Romania’s increased taxes
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 2nd August 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Romania increased taxes on conventional cigarettes, heated tobacco and vaping products on 1st August, purely in an attempt to secure additional tax revenue ...
Fury in the Philippines as new president lets novel tobacco bill lapse into law
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 28th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Calls for the president to veto the Philippines Vape Regulation Bill – and a change of government – failed to derail the bill, which also regulates heated tobacco and other novel tobacco products ...
‘Misleading and irresponsible’ – UK ASA rules on ads for cigarette flavour additive
Written by Freddie Dawson || 26th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A new way to add flavours to conventional cigarettes has gained publicity after being criticised by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ...
Banner ads booked by algorithm are not exempt from ban, Danish paper told
Written by Freddie Dawson || 25th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
It is a publisher’s responsibility to ensure tobacco ads do not appear on a newspaper website through automated or algorithmic banner ad purchases, according to a ruling by the Danish Consumer Ombudsman ...
Lockdown tobacco ban infringed human rights, says South Africa’s Supreme Court
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 21st July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A rule banning tobacco products during the Covid lockdown in South Africa was strongly criticised by the country’s Supreme Court of Appeal, which deemed it to be unconstitutional ...
US FDA chief Califf places ‘stressed’ and ‘challenged’ CTP under external review
Written by Freddie Dawson || 20th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf has authorised an external review of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), citing a “series of challenges that have...stressed the agency’s operations” ...
EC sets out to assess big response to call for evidence towards new tobacco plan
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 18th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
More than 24,000 responses were received to a European Commission call for evidence on plans for the legal framework that will shape the future revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and Tobacco Advertising Directive ...
EU heated tobacco flavour ban possibly delayed to extend scrutiny period
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 15th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A ban on flavoured heated tobacco products in the EU may be delayed after the Permanent Representatives Committee recommended that the Council of the European Union extend the scrutiny period by two months ...
Health chiefs say Brazil’s heated tobacco ban should stay, and be given added teeth
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 12th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Heated tobacco products and all other electronic smoking alternatives, such as e-cigarettes, will almost certainly remain banned in Brazil following a unanimous vote by the board of Anvisa, the country’s health agency ...
Huge disparities in access to stop-smoking services across England
Written by Freddie Dawson || 8th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Public health in the north of England continues to be ignored in favour of supporting more affluent and Tory-leaning areas in the south and Midlands, according to a new survey ...
Collapse of Bulgarian government won’t bring any change in heated tobacco tax
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 6th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Tax rates on heated tobacco products in Bulgaria will not change following the resignation of prime minister Kiril Petkov and his cabinet after they lost a vote of confidence ...
Snus ‘better than WHO policy’ at cutting smoking deaths, says study author
Written by Freddie Dawson || 4th July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The author of a new study linking snus with smoking cessation has called on the World Health Organization “to move from rejecting tobacco harm reduction to promoting it” ...
European heated tobacco users about to lose taste with latest flavour prohibition
Written by Laura Garay Gómez || 1st July 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A flavour ban for heated tobacco products has been confirmed following the EU Commission’s publishing of a delegated directive amending the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU, commonly known as the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) ...
US bid to reduce nicotine in combustibles remains very light on dates and details
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 28th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Details remain sketchy as to how and when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s plan to impose nicotine restrictions on cigarettes is to be implemented ...
Iceland awards nicotine pouches the rubber stamp of their own regulations
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Nicotine pouches in Iceland are to be subject to their own specific rules for the first time – but they do not include a threatened flavour ban ...
Sweden extends cigarette regulations to cover tobacco-free nicotine products
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 22nd June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Limits similar to those already found on tobacco products such as cigarettes and snus will now also apply to tobacco-free nicotine products after Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, voted to modify legislation ...
UK’s Khan report pleases vape advocates, all but ignores other tobacco alternatives
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 16th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Recognition of the role vaping can play in the future of public health in England has been welcomed – but there is some disappointment that the positive approach does not extend to other alternatives to smoking ...
Health Canada proposes going bigger and bolder on tobacco health warnings
Written by Marija Obradovic || 14th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Health Canada has put forward a plan for new packaging restrictions for tobacco products, including rotating health-related messages, as well as bigger health warnings on heated tobacco ...
Hong Kong ‘could miss its goal of cutting smoking’ due to new tobacco restrictions
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 13th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
New regulations that came into force at the end of April will make it hard for Hong Kong to achieve its 2025 smoking reduction targets, one concerned harm reduction association claims ...
Netherlands wants to control and limit popularity of novel tobacco products
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 10th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Dutch authorities want to bring in a range of regulations intended to limit the popularity of novel tobacco products such as nicotine pouches ...
Released Khan report advises strict measures in UK for 2030 smoke-free goal
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 9th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The UK government must take further action to promote vaping products and accelerate the path to prescribed e-cigarettes if it wants to achieve its 2030 smoke-free ambition for England, according to an independent tobacco review ...
Czechia embraces harm reduction and plans to regulate nicotine pouches
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 6th June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Czech Republic is set to become the main EU proponent of tobacco harm-reduction policy following a change in philosophy among leaders, and is planning to implement a new decree for nicotine pouches in the near future as...
Health, environment damage: alternative tobacco products are not the solution
Written by Freddie Dawson || 3rd June 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Next-generation tobacco products are not the solution to damage caused by the tobacco industry to both public health and the environment, according to speakers at a World Health Organization (WHO) conference ...
New CTP chief King expected to ‘hit the ground running’ on tobacco control
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has appointed epidemiologist Brian King as head of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) – an appointment that has not gone down well among advocates of tobacco alternatives ...
Planned rewrite of EU battery rules could have a major impact on HnB devices
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 23rd May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Heat-not-burn (HnB) hardware could be in for a big shake-up in the EU over the next few years, with the environmental impact of batteries squarely in the firing line ...
Call for UK to promote snus and nicotine pouches to reach smoke-free 2030 goal
Written by Lorraine Mullaney || 20th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The UK government is likely to miss its 2030 smoke-free ambition for England because the government is not supporting the full range of reduced-risk products, namely snus and nicotine pouches, according to an advocate for snus and vaping ...
Tobacco companies face €36m fine for restricting competition in Belgium
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 18th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
On 13th April 2022 the Belgian Competition Authority’s decision-making body, the Competition College, imposed fines totalling €36m on four major cigarette manufacturers for practices that restricted competition ...
EU ban on flavours in heated tobacco seen as likely to be adopted ‘soon’
Written by Freddie Dawson || 9th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The EU Commission told TobaccoIntelligence that progress on the process to institute the prohibition on flavours was underway and that the latest step is expected to be finalised “soon” ...
US FDA proposes banning menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars
Written by Tiziana Cauli || 6th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The FDA is looking to ban menthol-flavoured cigarettes and all characterising flavours other than tobacco in cigars – a move that would also likely eliminate the possibility of flavours in products such as heated tobacco ...
BAT leads legal challenge to Denmark’s latest tobacco control initiative
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 4th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A group of tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco (BAT) and its subsidiaries Nicoventures and House of Prince, have sued the Danish government over legislation which came into force in 2021 ...
Reynolds awaits reply on appeal of Los Angeles County flavour ban decision
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 22nd April 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A reply from Los Angeles County lawyers is expected soon, after RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and two other tobacco companies asked a federal appellate court to review its earlier affirmation of the county’s ban on flavoured tobacco sales...
Synthetic nicotine – a manufactured scare story with nothing to be afraid of
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 31st March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
While synthetic nicotine has become the focus of much controversy, demonised as a public health risk, its currently poor reputation derives more from bureaucracy than from the substance itself ...
UK government will ‘consider’ putting nicotine pouches under tobacco rules
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 29th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its post-implementation review of the country’s tobacco legislation ...