News analysis for professionals in the alternative tobacco sector

A boost for very-low-nicotine cigarettes as US FDA grants modified risk order

Written by Barnaby Page | 23rd December 2021

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

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

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 ...

F1 moves on from tobacco promotion as PMI and Ferrari go their separate ways

Written by Aidan Semmens | 16th December 2021

It’s the end of an era as tobacco sponsorship of Formula One racing comes to an end – again. Or does it and is it? ...

Main players keep up the heat as HnB continues its strong growth in Japan

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 15th December 2021

Japan’s heated tobacco sector is continuing to grow strongly and to take market share from traditional cigarettes, with the main players releasing new devices and revamping their heat-not-burn (HnB) divisions ...

US Senate committee ditches nicotine tax from Biden’s Build Back Better Bill

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 14th December 2021

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

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

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

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

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 ...

Poland draws closer to raising HnB tax by 2022, with further annual increases

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 26th November 2021

A proposal in Poland to increase excise duties applying to innovative tobacco products, including heated tobacco, was passed by the parliament (Sejm) and is now waiting for the decision of the Senate ...

What caused a scrap in the Philippines government over tobacco alternatives?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 24th November 2021

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

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

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

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...

Early signs look promising for Imperial Brands' European heated tobacco trials

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 16th November 2021

Tobacco giant Imperial Brands has told investors that the ongoing trials of its Pulze heated tobacco device and iD consumables in Central and Eastern Europe were “progressing well” ...

COP9 parties agree on 'need to regulate' heated tobacco products

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 12th November 2021

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

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

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

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

Why won’t the World Health Organization (WHO) talk about tobacco alternatives? It’s never been shy before about putting forward its extreme scepticism ...

JTI to focus energy on the 'encouraging' performance of Ploom X in Japan

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd November 2021

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has posted positive figures for the first nine months of the year, with a good performance from its reduced-risk products in its domestic market ...

Altria sees revenue decline in Q3, but its oral portfolio is on the rise

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 29th October 2021

Altria posted a 4.7% revenue decline in the third quarter of the year, mainly driven by the continuing poor performance of its smokable segment but neutralised by the growth of its oral products in the...

EU criticises WHO over 'unprecedented' delay in talks on tobacco alternatives

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 29th October 2021

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 ...

Sales up, profit down as Swedish Match pins high hopes on a smoke-free future

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 28th October 2021

Swedish Match has reported 9% growth in global sales in the first nine months of 2021, driven by its smoke-free portfolio in the US and Scandinavia, but profit and market share have not lived up...

Is plain packaging of snus working in Norway? Official body raises the question

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 27th October 2021

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

Hong Kong’s lawmakers have passed a bill banning the import and sale of tobacco-alternative products, including heated tobacco ...

US FDA authorises sale of oral tobacco products taken off the market in 2019

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st October 2021

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued marketing authorisation for four mint-flavoured oral tobacco products that were withdrawn from the US market in 2019 ...

Decision on e-cigs shines some light on US FDA's likely approach to alternatives

Written by Barnaby Page | 21st October 2021

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 ...

PMI’s heated tobacco business on the up despite warnings of disruption in US

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 20th October 2021

Philip Morris International (PMI)’s net revenues were up by 9.1% in the third quarter of 2021 thanks to the growth of its heated tobacco segment ...

Patents for HnB and smokeless tobacco products on the rise, research finds

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 18th October 2021

Patents for tobacco alternatives have been booming in recent times as tobacco companies position themselves as contributors to a smoke-free world ...

'Utopian' - but is a global consensus on smoke-free alternatives a realistic goal?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 14th October 2021

A global consensus between industry, scientists and regulators around the role of tobacco alternatives in smoking cessation could be reached in the long term, but experts believe achieving more cooperation is a major challenge ...

Kyrgyzstan brings HnB under national ban on tobacco use in public places

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 12th October 2021

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

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

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 ...

US International Trade Commission bans imports of PMI’s Iqos HeatSticks

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 1st October 2021

PMI and its distributor Altria Group must stop importing Iqos consumables in the US, according to a ruling issued by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ...

Is Big Tobacco growing environmentally friendly – or is it merely greenwash?

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 29th September 2021

Tobacco corporations seem to be accelerating their commitment towards more sustainable businesses, investing in projects to reduce environmental harm caused by tobacco-alternative devices ...

Survey backs EU-wide tax harmony on heated tobacco and oral nicotine

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 28th September 2021

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 ...

WHO FCTC members urged to change attitude towards tobacco alternatives

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 27th September 2021

Industry representatives have called for a change of heart within the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to improve the governance and evolution of the global industry ...

New junior health minister takes charge of UK policy on tobacco alternatives

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 24th September 2021

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 ...

False beliefs about tobacco alternatives are themselves a public health problem

Written by Barnaby Page | 23rd September 2021

“Misinformation poses a real threat to progress” in a major area of public health concern, we’re told – and this time it’s about the dangers of tobacco-alternative products ...

Why have WHO FCTC COP9 novel tobacco discussions been postponed to 2023?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st September 2021

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...

Healthy business? PMI completes its takeover of Vectura and Fertin Pharma

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 16th September 2021

Philip Morris International (PMI) has concluded its controversial £1.1bn takeover of UK health firm Vectura, along with that of the Danish oral-products manufacturer Fertin Pharma ...

Swedish Match is ready to shake up the industry by getting out of combustibles

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 15th September 2021

Swedish Match has announced that the company is to become 100% smoke-free by next year with the separation of its cigar business in the US, a decision that is likely to have an impact in...

European cancer report 'should include reference to reduced-harm products'

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 14th September 2021

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...

Time's up for the US FDA to make up its mind – now where do PMTAs stand?

Written by Barnaby Page | 9th September 2021

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

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 ...

US nicotine pouch sales have grown 300 times in five years: so what’s next?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd September 2021

Sales of nicotine pouches in the US have risen 300 times higher over the five years since they entered the US market in 2016, according to figures released by the US Centers for Disease Control...

Congress committees ready to slash Biden's suggested FDA budget figure

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 31st August 2021

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...

HnB facing 'passive smoking' clampdown as German state considers new rules

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 30th August 2021

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 ...

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