North America: Market data & legal analysis of the nicotine sector

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.
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.
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.
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.
21st October 2024: US - General: Philip Morris International (PMI) today confirmed it is launching its Iqos tobacco heating product in Austin, Texas, as has been expected for some time. Current nicotine users who are over the age of 21 and live in designated areas of Austin will be given the opportunity to join a waiting list to be among the first to try Iqos once the product becomes available. Further information can be found in our news analysis.
16th October 2024: US - General: British American Tobacco (BAT) plans to launch a version of its Velo nicotine pouches using synthetic nicotine in the US, Reuters reports. David Waterfield, president of the company's US subsidiary Reynolds American, said BAT's new Velo product, Velo Plus, due to launch in 2025 and offering more nicotine strengths, contained synthetic nicotine – one of the first clear examples of synthetic nicotine use by a Big Tobacco company. He also mentioned that BAT plans to explore further opportunities in the synthetic nicotine market.
15th October 2024: US - Federal: The American Medical Association (AMA), together with other health groups, has added individual parties as plaintiffs to its lawsuit against federal agencies the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Tobacco Products, together with some individual officers of these agencies. The lawsuit aims to prompt the FDA to issue a final rule that would ban menthol cigarettes. Newly added plaintiffs are “African American adult[s] addicted to menthol cigarettes, or else formerly addicted to menthol cigarettes”. The reason for amending the complaint is procedural, due to a recent US Supreme Court ruling, which established when advocacy groups or medical associations wouldn’t have standing to sue. The health organisations added individuals as plaintiffs to make sure standing isn’t a procedural issue and the case is not dismissed.
10th October 2024: US - Missouri: Today, the Kansas City Council will consider an ordinance that would ban the sale and distribution of flavoured tobacco products. The ordinance would ban all flavours except tobacco in all tobacco and vapour products. Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri, with a population of more than 500,000. If passed, this would be the first local flavour ban in the state.
7th October 2024: Canada: Convenience store firms Mac’s Convenience Stores, Couche-Tard, and Parkland have filed appeals with federal courts to overturn federal regulations that restrict the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies. The appellants argue that the new restrictions are unfair and unconstitutional, and they believe these regulations will increase demand for illegal products.

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