United Kingdom: Market data & legal analysis of the nicotine sector

19th April 2024: UK: Answering a written question on the impacts of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, parliamentary under-secretary for health and social care Andrea Leadsom said yesterday (18th April) that further consultation will take place before introducing any regulations and that the intention is to hold the consultation before the dissolution of the parliament for the next elections.
17th April 2024: UK: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was approved yesterday (16th April) in the House of Commons (lower parliamentary chamber) on a second reading, with 379 votes in favour and 65 votes against. All present Labour members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favour, alongside most of the Conservative MPs. A group of more than 50 Conservative MPs led the resistance against the bill, showing the division within the Conservative party over prime minister Rishi Sunak’s policy. Most of the criticism from the opposing group of MPs – which include five ministers and former prime minister Liz Truss – mainly concerns the generational ban on tobacco products that the bill proposes, arguing that the bill goes against Conservative values. The bill’s call for evidence has been launched, and will now undergo the Public Bill Committee’s scrutiny until 23rd May 2024.
21st March 2024: UK: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was presented yesterday, 20th March. The generational tobacco ban includes tobacco products, implying that heated tobacco would be subject to this restriction if adopted. It also gives powers to national authorities to regulate nicotine products – namely nicotine pouches – packaging and flavours of tobacco products.
6th March 2024: UK: The government has started a consultation on introducing a one-off tobacco duty increase that would amount to £2 per 50 g of tobacco from 1st October 2026. As the planned vaping tax would start to be applicable at the same time, the duty is intended to help maintain the current financial incentive for people to choose vaping over smoking. Although heated tobacco is not specifically mentioned, TobaccoIntelligence believes it will be affected – given that it has been a taxable category for some time. On the other hand, herbal heated products haven’t been tackled, while a few of the consultation questions refer to nicotine pouches in the context of the potential market-share redistribution as a consequence of the vaping tax.
30th January 2024: UK: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently being finalised and will be introduced in this parliamentary session, according to junior health secretary Andrea Leadsom. Yesterday (29th January), a response to the "Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping" consultation was published, confirming that the upcoming bill will regulate nicotine pouches and ban sales of all tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1st January 2009. "The scope of the measures will be any legal product containing tobacco (smoked and smokeless)", reads the response and concludes that there is clear evidence of toxicity generated from heated tobacco in laboratory studies.
29th January 2024: UK: Yesterday (28th September), the government announced plans to ban sales of nicotine pouches to minors and sales of tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1st January 2009. The bill is yet to be published, which is why it is still unclear if the generational ban will cover heated tobacco. The Northern Ireland Health Department has stated it will make the necessary preparations to allow incoming ministers and the Northern Ireland Assembly to take a decision on introducing the regulations.
23rd January 2024: UK: The response to the "creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping" consultation will be published in the coming weeks, ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, said junior health secretary Andrea Leadsom.
23rd January 2024: UK: The Doncaster (South Yorkshire) Police and Trading Standards officers inspected eight premises and seized 1,549 illegal e-cigarettes, as well as nicotine pouches and traditional tobacco products, all worth nearly £14,000.
19th January 2024: UK: Yesterday (18th January), MPs debated the upcoming COP10 – the tenth Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – starting on 5th February in Panama. Conservative MP Andrew Lewer criticised the government for not having set out the approach to COP10 in detail and questioned the UK funding of the FCTC, given that its policies are directly contradicting the UK's. MPs also expressed concerns over the possibility that traditional tobacco rules are extended to reduced-risk products (vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches) and questioned China's influence over the WHO. Labour MP Virendra Sharma said COP10 should not seek to make it harder for smokers to move into vaping: "We want COP10 to work, but it needs leadership based on evidence-led policy".
12th January 2024: UK: At a debate on a smoke-free future yesterday (11th January), chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on smoking and health, Bob Blackman, said a "polluter pays" levy could be implemented by capping tobacco wholesale prices, and hence profits, to bring the profit margins in line with the 10% average for other manufacturers. A polluter pays levy could ensure that the excess profits were turned into government revenues, raising an estimated £700m a year. Junior health secretary Andrea Leadsom stated that the Treasury has looked at this option in detail, but so far has decided against it.
30th November 2023: UK: A new tax rate on heated tobacco of £325.53 per kg is now applicable.

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