Philip Morris International has applied to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia to legalize its heat-not-burn tobacco products. In Australia, only nicotine in “tobacco prepared and packed for smoking” can be legally sold. Australian health minister Greg Hunt said that any vapor product would need to be approved by the TGA to be sold in the country.
Legalise Vaping Australia’s campaign director, Brian Marlow, noted that the TGA approval process would require millions of dollars to complete.
“This is a retrograde move orchestrated by our federal government and is designed to protect Big Tobacco and kill off Australia’s rapidly growing vaping industry, which is made up of small family retail businesses and highly innovative and world-leading e-liquid manufacturers,” he said.
“Australia’s 300,000 vapers and 2.6 million smokers should not be forced to access just one TGA approved nicotine vaping product owned by a multinational tobacco company, but they should have the freedom to purchase one of the many hundreds of combinations of available vaping products that suits them and helps them quit smoking,” said Marlow.