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China Tobacco industry modernisation and supervision discussed at Beijing conference ...
Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa passes excise act without tax hike on oral tobacco ...
United Arab Emirates Ajman Police launch “Your Life is Purer Without Smoking” initiative ...
Italy ADM updates list of nicotine pouches authorised for sale ...
Bulgaria Bill to ban under-age sales of herbal heated sticks heads to first vote ...
New Zealand Health minister defends HTP tax cuts, will meet quit-smoking providers ...
Philippines Bill to introduce track-and-trace stamps heads to second reading ...
Kazakhstan Order issued to change warning notices in tobacco retailers ...
Vietnam Health ministry proposes tobacco tax, which could apply to heated tobacco ...
Brazil Bill introduced to criminalise the manufacture, import and sale of heated tobacc ...
Indonesia Heated tobacco tax due to increase in 2025 ...
Georgia Possible tobacco production licence fee supported in second reading ...

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Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in the United States

Global business and regulatory news covering the alternative tobacco industry

25th July 2024

BAT’s numbers buoyed up by modern oral segment, with significant growth in US

23rd July 2024

PMI’s Zyn and Iqos see robust growth, despite supply issues and EU flavour ban

18th July 2024

GINN and Labstat partner to establish standards for novel nicotine products

More News analysis

Daily regulatory updates of the tobacco alternative sector. It includes weekly podcasts and monthly compilations

16th July 2024: US - General: Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced it will invest $600m to open a manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colorado. Regular production is expected to start in 2026. “PMI and its US affiliates are accelerating their mission to move adults who smoke away from cigarettes in the US,” said Stacey Kennedy, president of Americas Region and CEO of PMI US, “by investing in new US manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing demand for nicotine options that are scientifically substantiated as better alternatives.”
8th July 2024: US - Minnesota: Attorney general (AG) Keith Ellison has announced that he has filed a motion moving to enforce the 1998 settlement agreement with tobacco manufacturers, which detailed that tobacco companies’ marketing would be restricted and manufacturers would have to pay the state annually. The motion asks the court to order the manufacturers to pay $58m, which includes underpayments due from each annual payment since 2008 as well as interest.
1st July 2024: US - Federal: The US Supreme Court has overruled the 1984 Chevron decision. One of the key principles of the Chevron doctrine is that an agency’s interpretation (provided it is reasonable) would not be overruled by a court. In the decision that overturned Chevron, chief justice John Roberts said: “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the APA (Administrative Procedure Act) requires.” This may have an impact on the tobacco and nicotine industry as it may open the door for the courts to potentially overrule Food and Drug Administration decisions.
1st July 2024: US - Maryland: Effective today, the sales and use tax for electronic smoking devices, including vaping liquid in a container of more than 5 ml, rises from 12% to 20%. The sales and use tax for vaping liquid in a container of 5 ml or less remains unchanged at 60%, while the cigarette tax changes as follows: from $3.75 per package to $5 per package for packs of 20; and for packs of more than 20, from $0.175 per cigarette in the package to $0.25. Finally, the Other Tobacco Products tax (excluding pipe tobacco and cigars) rises from 53% of the wholesale price of the tobacco products to 60%.
1st July 2024: US - California: A new tax rate on tobacco products comes into force today. The tax will change from 56.32% of the wholesale cost to 52.92%, and runs until 30th June 2025.
27th June 2024: US - Federal: Altria Group has announced the submission of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its On! Plus oral nicotine pouch products. The PMTAs were submitted by Altria’s wholly owned subsidiary Helix Innovations. “We believe that these PMTAs demonstrate that responsibly marketed On! Plus pouches can provide a compelling alternative in the marketplace,” said Paige Magness, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Altria Client Services. In the first quarter of 2024, On! reported shipment volume grew 32% versus the prior year and the brand achieved a 7.1% retail share of the total US oral tobacco category. Further details on the subject can be found in our news report.
19th June 2024: US - District of Columbia: Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced that online sales of Zyn nicotine pouches have been suspended by manufacturer Swedish Match North America (SMNA) after the company received a subpoena from the attorney general of the District of Columbia (DC) requesting information about flavoured Zyn product sales in DC. A flavour ban prohibiting the sale of all flavoured tobacco and nicotine products took effect in 2022 in DC. PMI said that SMNA would comply with the subpoena, and that PMI’s preliminary investigation “indicates that there have been sales of flavored nicotine pouch products in DC, predominantly related to certain online sales platforms and some independent retailers”. The company also said it is “conducting a full review of its sales and supply chain arrangements in DC and other US localities where flavor bans may apply”. Recently, Health Canada issued a recall of Zyn nicotine pouches for being sold without market authorisation.
6th June 2024: US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that on 26th June the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) will convene for one open session, during which the committee will discuss the renewal of a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) order, submitted by Swedish Match USA for General Snus products. The meeting will be open to the public. The background material will be published no later than two business days before the session and will be available on the FDA’s Swedish Match Modified Risk Tobacco Products page. Before making a final determination on an MRTP application, the FDA takes into consideration all information available to the agency, including public comments and recommendations from the TPSAC.
6th June 2024: US - New Jersey: S3372 has been introduced. This bill would prohibit delivering electronic smoking devices and other tobacco products to a residence without first obtaining the signature of an individual who is at least 21.
30th May 2024: US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and independent researchers have stated that nicotine alternatives in vaping products, such as 6-methyl nicotine, may have more potential for addiction than nicotine itself, Reuters reports. While chemically similar to nicotine, synthetic substances are not subject to the US federal tobacco regulations, allowing manufacturers to sell e-cigarettes and alternative nicotine products with nicotine analogues without seeking FDA authorisation. In response to questions from Reuters, the FDA said it was reviewing the available data on nicotine alternatives to inform potential actions. The agency said it was considering the use of such synthetic compounds from an “agency-wide perspective” and would use all of its resources to protect youth from these products. In a letter to the FDA, Altria stressed the emerging use of 6-methyl nicotine in vapes, and asked the agency if “products containing 6-methyl nicotine, differing from nicotine by a methyl group, subject to the PMTA [premarket tobacco product application] requirement and the other provisions of the US Tobacco Control Act (TCA), or are they indeed ‘PMTA exempt’?”
29th May 2024: US - California: The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) has published a notice with a new tax rate for tobacco products, which will apply from 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025. Currently, the tax on tobacco products is 56.32% of the wholesale cost and will be changed to 52.92%. “Tobacco products” are defined to include any nicotine-containing products, including synthetic nicotine.
29th May 2024: US - Louisiana: House Bill 621 has passed both the House and the Senate and has been sent to the governor for signature. This bill creates a vapour product and alternative nicotine product directory. The directory will include products that have either received marketing authorisation or that were on the US market on or before 8th August 2016 and for which a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on or before 9th September 2020. For the latter, either the PMTA must be under review or, if the FDA has issued a marketing denial order (MDO), the MDO has been issued a stay order or an injunction pending review of the appeal, or else been appealed and is still pending. The bill would become effective once signed by the governor.

Full-length in-depth reports with detailed data and analysis for individual markets around the world

10th May 2023

A journey analysis of vaping and nicotine pouch usage: a UK-US comparison

1st March 2023

US: consumer survey – a journey analysis of tobacco alternative usage

31st October 2022

Nicotine pouch consumers – a UK/US comparison

More Market reports

Regulatory reports

Detailed legal reports outlining industry regulation, analysis of the laws, and compliance requirements

8th July 2024

A regulatory look at nicotine analogues in the US market

20th June 2024

US: heated tobacco and herbal heated product regulation, June 2024

18th June 2024

US: oral tobacco and nicotine pouch regulation, June 2024

More Regulatory reports

Market data outputs, statistics and forecasts in interactive and downloadable format

26th July 2024

Heated tobacco pricing tracker

27th June 2024

Nicotine pouch market sizes

12th June 2024

Heated tobacco markets database

More Market data

Regulatory data

Up-to-date information about current regulations around the world

19th July 2024

TobaccoIntelligence compliance calendar

11th July 2024

Global regulatory tracker: tobacco-free pouches, June

4th July 2024

Regulatory database: global alerts round-up, June

More Regulatory data

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