Regulatory briefing
Here you can find all of our news briefings and updates covering all regulatory matters from around the globe. Topics include new heated tobacco laws, amendments to current policy, tax changes, bans on specific products and country-specific updates to regulation, plus more.
Why does Switzerland lag behind its neighbours on tobacco control issues?
Written by Freddie Dawson || 7th January 2022 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Switzerland faces two referendum votes crucial to the future of tobacco product advertising in the country ...
Switzerland to vote on two competing proposals over tobacco advertising rules
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 7th January 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Swiss voters will face two crucial referendums over the next few weeks on the future of tobacco product advertising in the country. The country, which ranks near the bottom of the Tobacco Control Scale in Europe rating for...
Health experts accuse US FDA of taking ‘backward step’ over VLN cigarettes
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 29th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The US FDA’s marketing authorisation of two low-nicotine cigarettes as modified risk tobacco products – including a menthol cigarette – has not gone down well with public health associations or all harm reduction experts ...
‘It doesn’t make sense’ – public health expert criticises Taipei’s HnB ban
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 27th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
A new blanket ban in Taiwan’s capital on the sale and import of tobacco-alternative products is heavy-handed and nonsensical, an expert in the city’s medical university says ...
A boost for very-low-nicotine cigarettes as US FDA grants modified risk order
Written by Barnaby Page || 23rd December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The prospect of very-low-nicotine cigarettes becoming the next alternative product on the US market has come a significant step closer, with the FDA issuing modified risk orders for two products from 22nd Century Group ...
New Zealand’s cunning birthdate-based scheme to wipe out smoking for good
Written by Aidan Semmens || 22nd December 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
New Zealand has designated a cohort of young people – those who will be 14 or younger when the government’s proposed law comes into effect – who will never be old enough to smoke ...
Italian Senators consider amendments to modify HnB excise duties from 2022
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 17th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Italian senators from different political parties have tabled a number of amendments to the Budget Bill 2022 aiming to modify the excise tax rates on heated tobacco products ...
US Senate committee ditches nicotine tax from Biden’s Build Back Better Bill
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 14th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The US Senate Finance Committee has made “targeted improvements” to president Joe Biden’s $2tn social spending package – including removing the proposal of a federal tax on tobacco alternatives ...
MEPs approve cancer report supporting tighter flavour restrictions
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 10th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The European Parliament’s Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) gave the green light to a cancer report that urges the Commission to assess a ban on characterising flavours in heated tobacco ...
MEPs call on European Commission to ban flavours in heated tobacco products
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 3rd December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The final report of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) is expected to ask the Commission to implement a blanket ban on “all characteristic flavours” in heated tobacco and novel tobacco products ...
How will TPD3 deal with newly emerged products? Our survey offers a few clues
Written by Barnaby Page || 2nd December 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Sooner or later the EU will have a new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), and one of the big questions will be how it treats new product categories which barely existed at the time of TPD2 ...
China brings ‘new tobacco products’ under its tobacco monopoly umbrella
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 30th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The State Council of China has approved an addition to the Tobacco Monopoly Law, clarifying what has been a grey area surrounding the regulation and categorisation of tobacco-alternative products ...
What caused a scrap in the Philippines government over tobacco alternatives?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th November 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Conflict between public health and political-economic interests seems to be the main reason behind an internal dispute between the Philippine delegation to COP9 and officials at the country’s Department of Health ...
US House gives green light to new tax on nicotine pouches in Biden’s spending bill
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 22nd November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The US House of Representatives has passed by 220 votes to 213 president Joe Biden’s $1.75tn social spending bill, including a new federal tax on nicotine pouches ...
UK Tobacco Control Plan ‘must tackle misinformation’ about alternatives
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 18th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
UK MPs have called on the government to ensure that the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan will be taken as an opportunity to tackle misinformation around tobacco alternatives and to encourage switching ...
Califf may hit the ground running – but which way will he go on nicotine?
Written by Barnaby Page || 18th November 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Robert Califf's expected return to head the US FDA has excited plenty of attention in the world of e-cigarettes, but there’s been much less talk about the likely impact on heated tobacco, pouches and other novel nicotine products...
COP9 parties agree on ‘need to regulate’ heated tobacco products
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 12th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The all-online COP9 finished without major decision, but with calls for serious attention to be given to novel and emerging tobacco products at COP10 in 2023 ...
Concern grows over influencers’ social media promotion of tobacco products
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th November 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
The misleading advertising of tobacco alternatives on social media has become a critical concern of public health groups and some governments around the world ...
WHO accused of ‘counterproductive, irrational’ policy on alternatives
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 8th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Experts have urged the parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to embrace a “more assertive” stance on smoke-free alternatives ...
Switzerland moves ahead with bill to regulate heated and oral tobacco
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 4th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The Swiss Federal Assembly has adopted a longstanding bill that will implement new restrictions on tobacco-alternative products, including specific regulations on packaging and promotion ...
Three possible reasons for WHO decision to keep alternatives out of tobacco talks
Written by Barnaby Page || 4th November 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Why won’t the World Health Organization (WHO) talk about tobacco alternatives? It’s never been shy before about putting forward its extreme scepticism ...
EU criticises WHO over ‘unprecedented’ delay in talks on tobacco alternatives
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 29th October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
European countries have publicly expressed disagreement with the World Health Organization (WHO)’s decision to postpone discussions of novel tobacco products, keeping them out of the upcoming COP9 ...
Is plain packaging of snus working in Norway? Official body raises the question
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 27th October 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) found that plain packaging did not produce a decline in men’s snus use in Norway, with “inconclusive results” on both smoking and women’s snus use ...
Hong Kong cracks down on heated tobacco with import and sales ban
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 25th October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Hong Kong’s lawmakers have passed a bill banning the import and sale of tobacco-alternative products, including heated tobacco ...
Decision on e-cigs shines some light on US FDA’s likely approach to alternatives
Written by Barnaby Page || 21st October 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
While the decision to give marketing authorisation to some RJ Reynolds relates specifically to e-cigarette products, it’s highly likely that much the same priorities will govern official thinking on other alternative products ...
Patents for HnB and smokeless tobacco products on the rise, research finds
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 18th October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Patents for tobacco alternatives have been booming in recent times as tobacco companies position themselves as contributors to a smoke-free world ...
Kyrgyzstan brings HnB under national ban on tobacco use in public places
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 12th October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The use of tobacco products – including heat-not-burn (HnB) devices – in public places becomes illegal in Kyrgyzstan tomorrow, 13th October, after the country’s president signed a new law ...
What e-cigarette process tells us about the US FDA’s thinking on tobacco
Written by Barnaby Page || 7th October 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Some light is now dawning on some truths long since suspected about the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approach to tobacco-alternative products of all kinds through its cumbersome evaluation of e-cigarettes ...
MEPs want tighter flavour restrictions and ‘proportionate’ tax to beat cancer
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 5th October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
MEPs have tabled a set of proposals to amend a draft report by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA), calling on the European Commission to implement a flavour ban on all tobacco products ...
Survey backs EU-wide tax harmony on heated tobacco and oral nicotine
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 28th September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
New figures from the European Commission reveal broad support for harmonised tax rules for tobacco-alternative products ahead of the revision of a directive on the structure and rates of excise duties on tobacco ...
New junior health minister takes charge of UK policy on tobacco alternatives
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 24th September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The appointment of Maggie Throup as UK public health minister comes at a potentially critical time for tobacco alternatives, with many hoping she will continue the harm reduction approach of her predecessor ...
Why have WHO FCTC COP9 novel tobacco discussions been postponed to 2023?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 21st September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to postpone a discussion on novel tobacco products to a face-to-face event in 2023 – a decision experts are linking to a lack of consensus on what approach to take ...
European cancer report ‘should include reference to reduced-harm products’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 14th September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Three Italian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are hoping to introduce the concept of harm reduction into a strategy report by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA), but the idea has not yet been officially endorsed...
Time’s up for the US FDA to make up its mind – now where do PMTAs stand?
Written by Barnaby Page || 9th September 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
As the US Food and Drug Administration's deadline to pass or reject e-cigarette premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) arrives, where does it leave the market and what might it mean for tobacco alternatives? ...
Nations miss the deadline to implement EU’s directive on single-use plastics
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 6th September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Few countries hit the deadline for implementing the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUP) to reduce the environmental impact of certain plastics – including those in heated tobacco filters – TobaccoIntelligence has found ...
Congress committees ready to slash Biden’s suggested FDA budget figure
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 31st August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Both the House and Senate are intent on increasing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) budget for next year, but the figure is likely to be far short of the $6.5bn initially requested by president Joe Biden...
HnB facing ‘passive smoking’ clampdown as German state considers new rules
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 30th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The German state of Hesse is targeting heated tobacco along with e-cigarettes in a new legislative initiative to update the current regulations covering smoking ...
Knee-jerk response as US AGs leap aboard the anti-flavours bandwagon
Written by Barnaby Page || 26th August 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
Are we really in the midst of a “pandemic” of oral nicotine use by young people, and if so is the answer a flavour ban? 31 US attorneys general have some answering of their own to do ...
US state attorneys warn of ‘the next Juul’ and urge FDA to act on oral nicotine
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 24th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
A group of 31 US state attorneys general have accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of failing to impose rules setting “acceptable levels of nicotine” for oral nicotine products and called for a flavour ban ...
Is Mexico’s thaw on heated tobacco influenced by attitudes of the US FDA?
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 18th August 2021 || Blog , Regulatory briefing |
A recent step forward on HnB taken by the FDA could be behind the shift of the Mexican government toward allowing the sale of these smoke-free devices ...
Localities and regions take a harsher approach towards HnB in Taiwan
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 16th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The most populous city in Taiwan has recently joined eight regions in implementing new legislation restricting the use and sale of e-cigs and heated tobacco ...
PMTAs deadline looms: the future of the remaining 1.5m product applications
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 11th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
After the recent announcement that the FDA rejected 4.5m from the total 6m PMTAs filed, experts believe that this decision means a clear path for enforcement ...
Russia prepares proposal to ban pouches across the Eurasian economic region
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 9th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The Russian Health Ministry recently finalised a draft agreement on restricting tobacco-free white pouches across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) territory ...
Montenegro’s plan to increase heated tobacco tax misses its proposed due date
Written by Marija Obradovic || 3rd August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Two months after prime minister Zdravko Krivokapić submitted a proposal to increase the tax on heated tobacco each year, the Parliament of Montenegro has still not considered it and will not now do so before the autumn ...
WHO report hits out at ‘same old tactics’ promoting ‘new and emerging products’
Written by Aidan Semmens || 27th July 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its eighth report on “the global tobacco epidemic”, which places a new emphasis on “new and emerging products” ...
MPs urge UK government to be ambitious in aiming for a ‘smoke-free’ England
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 27th July 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
MPs have called on the UK government to present “ambitious plans”, involving novel tobacco alternatives, if they want a smoke-free country by 2030 – a target many public health experts consider unreachable ...
U-turn in Mexico as HnB import ban is scrapped after less than 18 months
Written by TobaccoIntelligence || 26th July 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has issued a decree lifting the import and export ban on heated tobacco devices and consumables, less than 18 months after the prohibition was approved ...
Stricter or looser: battle lies ahead over nature of new EU tobacco product rules
Written by David Palacios Rubio || 22nd July 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
An intense period of negotiations on a revision of EU regulation of tobacco-alternative products is coming, following the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) implementation report presented by the European Commission ...