LATEST ALERTSEU: Swedish MEP Johan Nissinen has submitted a parliamentary question asking the European Commission whether it can explain the fact that all types of chewing tobacco, even "highly toxic chewing tobacco produced in India", may be sold on the EU internal market while snus may not, and whether the Commission agrees that this approach "is contrary to the principle of proportionality, given that more dangerous products [than snus] can be bought and sold on the internal market".
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Malaysia: In a poll carried out by CodeBlue – a local newspaper specialising in health matters – with 31 MPs, 14 said that they would vote in favour of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022, the bill that would ban the sale of tobacco products to everyone born after 1st January 2007. None of the polled MPs directly opposed the bill, as the rest of the surveyed MPs were mostly undecided. CodeBlue conducted a similar poll back in July 2022, when, out of 40 MPs surveyed, only 12 said they would vote in favour of the bill and 26 said they would decide how they would vote after the publication of the draft bill.
Jordan: In response to a query from the deputy prime minister for economic affairs on the possibility of allowing the establishment of tobacco factories in the customs-free zones, the minister of industry, trade and supply – Yousef El Shamali – said in an official statement that his ministry supports the establishment of such tobacco factories. This is on the condition that they are licensed outside the free-trade zones, that Jordanian nationals are employed, and that factories obtain the necessary approvals from the Food and Drug Authority, and the Standards and Metrology authority for their products, press reports.
Latvia: A bill to ban heated tobacco flavours, implementing an EU delegated directive, will be debated by the Saeima (parliament) on 11th May. It is expected to be passed before the European Commission’s 23rd July deadline.
4th May 2023 - Europe, United Kingdom |
UK: In answer to a written parliamentary question, junior health minister Neil O’Brien said there were no current plans to increase the purchasing age for tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21. “Our assessment is that an increase in the age of sale would be a major departure from the policy pursued over recent decades, which has emphasised personal responsibility and help for people to quit,” he said.
4th May 2023 - Asia, Kazakhstan |
Kazakhstan: The Ministry of Finance is aiming to increase the minimum retail prices for heated tobacco products, media reports. If the draft amendment is adopted, after a public consultation due to end on 19th May, the minimum price for a pack of 20 consumables will rise to KZT710 ($1.60) on 1st July, then again to KZT770 ($1.73) on 1st January 2024.
3rd May 2023 - Asia, Saudi Arabia |
Saudi Arabia: The Ministry of Rural Affairs and Housing has introduced an initial draft through the public consultation platform on the requirements for offering tobacco and e-cigarettes on hospitality premises. The proposal prohibits signs advertising the use of tobacco and requires any premises selling tobacco to post a price list. It also requires health warning signs and a warning against providing tobacco to minors. The proposal will be under consideration until 10th May.
Iraq: The Erbil Governorate in Kurdistan yesterday issued a notice prohibiting the marketing and advertising of all tobacco products through the media, either written, visual, audio or social, press reports. Iraq’s anti-smoking law bans the advertising of tobacco, but does not directly mention the advertising of novel nicotine products.
3rd May 2023 - North America, United States |
US - general: Senator Dick Durbin and 20 of his colleagues have written to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf, urging the agency to promptly finalise its proposed rule to end the sale of menthol cigarettes, announced in April 2022. “We urge the FDA to act with urgency to solidify and enforce the ban on these harmful products,” reads the letter, in which the senators also request responses on the FDA’s timeline for finalising and enforcing the regulation.
Slovenia: Excise duty on heated tobacco products rose yesterday to from €110 to €116 per kg of tobacco. That rate will apply until 1st November, when it will rise again to €122 per kg.
Russia: President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill tightening regulation of heated tobacco products. The new law restricts retail sale of devices in line with the rules that already apply to consumables; prohibits discounts on devices and bans their display in stores. From 1st September heat-not-burn (HnB) consumables will be subject to a minimum price, to be determined by the government.
2nd May 2023 - Central America, Dominican Republic |
Dominican Republic: Members of the centre-left Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), the ruling party, have reaffirmed support for a bill to regulate e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices, including banning their sale to under-18s, press reports. The bill also has the backing of the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo (People’s Force) party.
Denmark: The Ministry of Health has submitted to Parliament a bill to adopt the EU definition of heated tobacco and ban heated tobacco flavours. If adopted, the bill will come into force on 23rd October.
Russia: Bill 332229-8, which would tighten regulations for heated tobacco and heating devices, has been approved by the Federal Council (upper chamber of parliament) and now heads to the president for his signature. The bill proposes to place the same restrictions on the retail sale of devices that are applicable to consumables, sets a minimum selling price for consumables, prohibits the use of discounts for devices, and prohibits their display in stores.
Finland: Finland has submitted the draft of the government's proposal to amend the Tobacco Act regarding nicotine pouches to the EU Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS). The proposed amendment would add the definition for a smokeless nicotine product, covering nicotine pouches and regulating them in the same manner as oral tobacco. This would mean a ban on their sale, other handing over and transfer, as well as a ban on their importation, with minor exceptions. It also proposes to ban their use on playgrounds and in the indoor and outdoor spaces of specific educational institutions. The date for the end of the standstill period has not yet been announced.
Vietnam: In a seminar held by the Ministry of Health, Tran Thi Trang, deputy director of the legal department of the Ministry of Health, recommended banning all new generation tobacco, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, and said that the intention is not to pilot these products, as has been discussed by other ministries. The Ministry of Trade and Industry was coordinating efforts to regulate and likely pilot heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, and a proposal is expected to be submitted to the government in the second quarter of 2023.
Finland: Standard packaging for tobacco products will be introduced on 1st May. The Tobacco Act specifies that from that date, tobacco product packaging must not have distinctive features that differentiates one product from another. A Ministry of Social Affairs and Health decree provides more details on labelling and appearance requirements.
Belgium: The government has notified on the EU TRIS database a bill to transpose Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/2100 on the withdrawal of certain exemptions for heated tobacco products. The bill would bring the EU flavour ban into national law, define heat-not-burn (HnB) as novel tobacco products for smoking and apply health warnings as for smokable tobacco products. It would extend the current framework for smokable herbal products to heated herbal products and bring heated tobacco and heated herbal devices within the tobacco framework, introducing notification, packaging and labelling requirements. It would also bring in a long-distance sales ban on all products and devices and update notification fees. The standstill period for comments ends on 26th July.
Serbia: Deputy health minister Jelena Janković has told media the ministry is hoping the smoking ban in cafes and restaurants will be adopted before the end of the year. Previous reports suggested the ban would also extend to vaping and heated tobacco, however as the official proposal has not been made public, it is unclear if the bill might make an exception for tobacco alternatives.
India: The Supreme Court has stayed an order by the Madras High Court that quashed the Tamil Nadu food safety commissioner’s decision to ban the manufacture, storage, transport, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other chewable products containing tobacco or nicotine, press reports. It means the sale of such products remains banned in Tamil Nadu, a southern state with a population of 76m.
Slovakia: A proposal has been submitted to the National Council (parliament) to amend Act 89/2016 on the production, labelling and sale of tobacco and related products, implementing Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/2100. It would introduce a definition of heated tobacco products, ban flavours for heated tobacco, and subject it to the same packaging rules as tobacco for smoking. If adopted, the amendment will come into force on 23rd October.
Belgium: The Superior Health Council has issued a report on the impact of cigarette filters on public health and the environment, calling for them to be banned nationally and at EU level. It says analysis shows that filters do not reduce the harmful effects of tobacco on health and have a clear negative impact on the environment as they are very slow to decompose. Though the report does not mention heated tobacco products or other alternative nicotine products, the council recommendations might have an impact on those products too.
Germany: Federal drug commissioner Burkhard Blienert has called for stricter rules on tobacco advertising, after a survey of 1,383 people conducted by the Federal Drug Commission found that three-quarters supported a complete ban. “The overpresence of large-scale advertising for alcohol, for tobacco and e-cigarettes at kiosks and petrol stations, and for gambling on television, is a major problem for Germany’s consumer protection, youth and health policies,” Blienert said. “Politicians can’t ignore that any longer.”
24th April 2023 - Asia, South Korea |
South Korea: The government has ruled out the possibility of raising the tax applicable to heated tobacco products, as proposed by the minister of finance last week, press reports.
24th April 2023 - Asia, South Korea |
South Korea: Eleven MPs from the ruling party, the People's Power Party, introduced a bill last week seeking to reduce the National Health Promotion Tax applicable to nicotine pouches from KRW534.5 ($0.40) per g to KRW294.4 ($0.22) per 20 pouches, as, according to them, consumer accessibility to these reduced-risk products is burdened by an excessively high tax.
24th April 2023 - Europe, Netherlands |
Netherlands: The Council of Ministers agreed on Friday on the proposal of the state secretary of health, welfare and sport, Marteen Van Ooijen, relating to the total ban of nicotine pouches. It proposes to include a ban on nicotine pouch sales in the Tobacco and Smoking Products Act and to prohibit their advertising, among other things. The proposal should now be considered in the parliament. Currently, only nicotine pouches with more than 0.035 mg of nicotine per pouch are prohibited. If adopted, a total ban on such products would be introduced.
Russia: A Federal Assembly announcement has proposed transferring the Ministry of Agriculture's and the Federal Taxation Service's powers to regulate the tobacco market to the Ministry of Finance. According to the Ministry of Finance, it will be empowered to develop state policy and regulation on the production and turnover of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Additionally, the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation (Rosalkogolregulirovanie) will be reorganised into the Federal Service for the Control of Alcohol and Tobacco Markets, which will be tasked with ensuring compliance with tobacco and nicotine-containing product licensing requirements.
Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has updated the retail prices and excise duties on heated tobacco consumables.
Ukraine: Bill 9227 seeking to amend the Law of Ukraine "On Measures to Prevent and Reduce the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Harmful Effects on Population Health" on the prohibition of flavoured novel tobacco products was registered in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) yesterday. If adopted, the bill should be enacted the day after its publication, but not earlier than 11th July 2023. Novel tobacco products put into circulation before this happens can be sold until their expiry date, but not for longer than 12 months after the bill enters into force.
Finland: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has requested opinions on the draft of the government's proposal to amend the Tobacco Act regarding nicotine pouches. The proposed amendment would add the definition of a smokeless nicotine product, covering nicotine pouches and similar products, and regulate them like oral tobacco, meaning a ban on their sale, handing over and transfer as well as on importation, with the exception of certain restrictions. The proposal also includes a ban on their use in playgrounds and indoor and outdoor spaces of specific educational institutions. Opinions can be submitted until 22nd May 2023 to kirjaamo.stm@gov.fi. The draft of the proposal will be notified to the European Commission.
20th April 2023 - Europe |
EU: Swedish MEP Sara Skyttedal has submitted a question to the European Commission asking whether it sees any conflict of interest in the awarding of the Single Framework Contract for Support Actions in the Field of Tobacco Control to the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP). According to Skyttedal, “the ENSP lobbies the Commission on tobacco policy and advocates for a total ban on safer nicotine products”. She also asked how the Commission will ensure that a broad range of views is taken into account in its tobacco policy.
US - New York: Senate Bill S6395 has been introduced. The bill would prohibit the operation of any vending machine that dispenses tobacco products within 350 ft from a building that operates exclusively as a school or as a church, synagogue or other place of worship.
19th April 2023 - Asia, South Korea |
South Korea: Deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance Choo Kyung-ho said yesterday that heated tobacco products should be taxed at the same level as combustible cigarettes, press reports. Heated tobacco products are currently treated as any other tobacco product, but are taxed differently.
India: A former Parliament member has published an academic paper concluding that the national ban on heat-not-burn (HnB) products ordered by the government in 2019 has been unsuccessful. Rajeev Gowda said the country should lift the ban and instead regulate heated tobacco through the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). Gowda also suggested commissioning studies on how HnB products can be used as a harm-reduction tool and smoking-cessation aid.
Vietnam: Ngo Khai Hoan, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said during a seminar on the regulation of new generation tobacco products that a draft amendment to Decree 67/2013, regulating heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, is expected to be submitted to the government in the second quarter of 2023.
18th April 2023 - Europe |
EU: The independent European Ombudsman has found a lack of transparency in meetings between the European Commission and tobacco lobbyists, suggesting that it amounts to maladministration. The ombudsman was concerned about a failure to publish details of the Commission’s meetings with lobbyists, and a failure to keep minutes of all meetings that took place in 2020 and 2021. The Commission has been asked to respond to the preliminary findings by mid-July.
Italy: The Market and Competition Authority (AGCM) has launched an investigation into British American Tobacco (BAT) and Amazon over alleged misleading advertising of the Glo Hyper X2 heated tobacco device. According to the AGCM, promotion for the device omitted information or provided misleading information about the health risks of using it.
Morocco: The Ministry of Economy and Finance issued Decision No. 890.23/2023, approving the sales prices of heated tobacco products. The ministry approved a price of MAD35 ($3.50) per unit each for Farstar Regular, Amber, Menthol, Lemon, and Blueberry products.
Algeria: During an oral question session in the parliament, member of parliament (MP) Abdelkader Qouri asked the minister of industry and pharmaceutical production, Ali Aoun, about the strategies the ministry would adopt to combat illicit products on the market, and called for an amendment to the current tobacco regime to facilitate the manufacture and import processes of tobacco products. Aoun emphasised the need to combat tobacco use and said there are no plans to change the current regime.
Denmark: Out of 200 tobacco retailers, 104 failed to comply with new tax rules, according to inspections carried out by the Danish Tax Agency in January and February 2023. The agency seized 2,005 boxes of nicotine pouches, and each of the non-compliant tobacco retailers will be fined DKK10,000 (€1,340). As of 1st October 2022, nicotine pouches are taxed DKK0.055 (€0.008) per mg of nicotine. Remaining stocks were allowed to be sold until 1st January 2023.
Bulgaria: The Ministry of Economy and Industry has notified a draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Tax-Insurance Procedural Code to the European Commission's TRIS database, introducing a tax for "tobacco substitutes containing nicotine", which would include nicotine pouches. The tax would be BGN167 (€85.39) per kg from 1st July 2023, BGN184 (€94.08) per kg from 1st January 2024, BGN202 (€103.28) per kg from 1st January 2025 and BGN222 (€113.51) per kg from 1st January 2026. The draft is open for public consultation until 16th April on the Ministry of Finance's website.
Hungary: The government has notified a bill to the European Commission's TRIS database that would make nicotine pouches subject to the EU common product notification system for tobacco products. The bill would also enable the government to, via a decree, require that nicotine pouches carry a health warning.
14th April 2023 - Europe, Netherlands |
Netherlands: Yesterday, in a letter to the House of Representatives (lower chamber of parliament), the Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Sports highlighted a number of reports on tobacco control. The National Institute for Health and Environment (RIVM) has drawn up an advisory list of prohibited substances in tobacco products on the basis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) criteria and it is proposed to include the list in the Dutch tobacco legal framework. The letter reminds that nicotine pouches with 0.035 mg of nicotine per pouch are prohibited and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) enforces this prohibition by carrying out inspections of various outlets. The letter also states that nicotine pouches remain popular among young people and in order to discourage their use the ministry intends to ban them entirely under the Tobacco and Smoking Products Act.
US - Texas: House Bill 4481 is scheduled for a public hearing on Monday, 17th April. The bill would establish a directory of e-cigarettes and alternative nicotine products sold in Texas, and require manufacturers of all such products to certify annually that they agree to comply with the bill’s provisions.
13th April 2023 - Australasia, Australia |
Australia: The South Australia state government has proposed extending the existing restrictions on smoking in outdoor public places, press reports. The use of heated tobacco would be banned, along with smoking, on beaches, at public swimming pools, and within 10 m of schools and 5 m of shopping centres.
Lithuania: The government yesterday approved a bill proposed by the Ministry of Health seeking to ban flavours in heated tobacco sticks and require health warnings on their packaging, media reports. If adopted by the Seimas (parliament), the bill will come into force on 23rd October, implementing the European Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/2100.
Russia: Bill 310882-8 on the state regulation of production and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products has passed its first reading in the State Duma. The bill would introduce state licensing of production, storage, import and export of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, including raw materials. It would establish mandatory state registration of technological equipment used in the production of those products. And it is expected that the Federal Service for Regulation of the Alcohol Market (Rosalkogolregulirovanie) would be given authority over tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Amendments to the bill may be submitted by 11th May before the second reading.
Denmark: Health minister Sophie Løhde is planning to increase the tax on nicotine products, press reports. This comes after a study by the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark, which showed an increase in the use of nicotine and tobacco products among children and young people. According to the survey, 12.9% of children and adolescents in Denmark use smokeless nicotine products daily or occasionally. Løhde did not specify which products would be affected.
Russia: State Duma member Sultan Khamzaev, head of the Sober Russia project, has reportedly suggested to health minister Mikhail Murashko that purchases of tobacco and nicotine-containing products should be restricted to card payments only. He also suggested that banks and large retail chains should introduce an automatic block on bank cards issued to minors being used to buy such products.
