International - TobaccoIntelligence

26th July 2024: China: The National Tobacco Half-Year Work Conference was held in Beijing on 23rd and 24th July, press reports. In the meeting, authorities emphasised advancing the modernisation of the country’s tobacco industry and continuously strengthening the supervision of internal retail monopolies and of new, tobacco-related activities.
26th July 2024: Pakistan: The government of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has passed the Excise Act of 2024. The act did not adopt the proposal for increasing the tax on oral tobacco (naswar), press reports. Currently, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government applies a cess of PKR2.50 ($0.009) per kg to naswar/snuff.
26th July 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ajman Police has launched an initiative called “Your Life is Purer Without Smoking” to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and to curb the illegal trade of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco.
24th July 2024: New Zealand: After opposition parties criticised health minister Casey Costello’s decision to cut the excise tax on heated tobacco products (HTPs) by 50%, the minister said in a parliamentary enquiry that the government is committed to achieving Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 (less than 5% of smokers) and ensuring there are “tools available to achieve the target audience quitting smoking”. She added that “the main audience for this change are the quit-smoking providers, all of whom I will be meeting with over the next month to discuss the best way to continue to reduce smoking rates and achieve our smoke-free 2025 target”.
24th July 2024: Philippines: The House Ways and Means Committee approved a substitute to bill 10329, which requires tobacco and vaping companies to implement a digital track-and-trace system to prevent illicit trade. According to the press, the new version of the bill includes novel tobacco products. All products would need to have a stamp affixed, allowing authorities to determine where and when the product was manufactured. The bill will now go to its second reading in the House of Representatives.
24th July 2024: Kazakhstan: The health minister has issued an order to change the text of the warning displayed in places where tobacco products are sold, media reports. The following notice must be displayed in places that sell tobacco products, including heated tobacco and heated tobacco devices: “The sale of tobacco products, including products with heated tobacco, hookah tobacco, hookah mixture, systems for heating tobacco, to persons under the age of twenty-one is prohibited.” The order reportedly comes into force on 30th August.
22nd July 2024: Vietnam: Following the introduction of a draft law on special consumption tax to increase the tax on tobacco products, the Ministry of Finance has proposed, according to the press, two options for the tax, which may also apply to heated tobacco and e-cigarettes if regulated. The tax would cover “other forms, other preparations from tobacco plants for smoking, inhaling, chewing, sniffing, or sucking (100 g or 100 ml)”. The first option starts with a tax of VND20,000 ($0.79) per cigarette, 100 g, or 100 ml in 2026, increasing by VND20,000 ($0.79) annually up to a maximum of VND100,000 ($3.93). The second option starts with a tax of VND50,000 ($1.97) per cigarette, 100 g, or 100 ml in 2026, increasing by VND10,000 ($0.39) annually, reaching a maximum of VND100,000. ($3.93).
22nd July 2024: Brazil: A congresswomen from the Democratic Labour Party (which is part of the government coalition) has introduced a bill to criminalise the manufacture, import and sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. It punishes offenders with imprisonment of between one and three years as well as a fine. The text also forbids the consumption of products anywhere that is open to the public. The bill will now be analysed by the Chamber of Deputies' Committee.
22nd July 2024: Indonesia: The minister of finance has released the Macroeconomic Framework and Fiscal Policy Principles for 2025, in preparation for the State Budget 2025. In these principles, it is outlined that the excise duties applicable to tobacco products will increase in 2025, although no specific rates have been disclosed. This will entail an increase of the applicable tax on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, as they are considered tobacco products for taxation purposes.
22nd July 2024: Kazakhstan: The government has increased minimum retail prices for heated tobacco products (HTPs), media reports. The minimum retail price for HTPs is KZT820 (€1.60) as of 1st July 2024 and will increase to KZT870 (€1.70) as of 1st January 2025.
19th July 2024: Indonesia: The Indonesian Personal Vaporiser Association (APVI) has called on the government to separate regulations concerning cigarettes from the ones regulating e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs), press reports. Regulations on e-cigarettes and HTPs are expected to be issued soon, according to the minister of health, following the approval of the omnibus Health Law in August 2023. The Health Law enabled the government to issue regulations on e-cigarettes and HTPs. According to the ministry’s official website, the new regulations will repeal the current tobacco framework, namely Government Regulation (PP) 109 of 2012.
18th July 2024: India: The Ministry of Health is reportedly planning to ask the Board of Control for Cricket in India to stop promoting tobacco products in Indian cricket stadiums, especially advertising that features former cricketers and Bollywood celebrities.

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