Category: News This Week

  • UKVIA Appoints John Dunne as General Director

    UKVIA Appoints John Dunne as General Director

    John Dunne (Photo: UKVIA)

    John Dunne has been confirmed as director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) after a vote by the trade body’s full membership.

    Dunne was previously responsible for the UKVIA’s member recruitment activity, where he oversaw significant growth in membership levels. He is also the UKVIA’s primary media spokesperson on television, radio and in print.

    Dunne has a long and well-respected background in European vaping and has held senior positions at some of the sector’s leading firms. In addition, he has advised industry analysts and financial institutions on the vaping industry, both in the U.K. and globally.

    The new role has been established to support future planned growth of the UKVIA, as it extends its role and influence, while building its membership base significantly.

    “I am honored that the UKVIA membership has put its faith in me.,” said Dunne. “The association is well placed to go from strength to strength, with membership growing consistently despite the challenges of the pandemic.

    “The next 12 months are hugely important to the vaping industry, with the government review of the Tobacco & Related Products Regulations set to shape the future of our sector. It is crucial that we have a unified voice to influence these regulations, for the benefit of the industry and the public health of the nation. We have already started formulating our contribution to the government’s review, working closely with all our members.”

  • Pennsylvania Seizes $1.7 Million in Illegal E-Cigarettes

    Pennsylvania Seizes $1.7 Million in Illegal E-Cigarettes

    Credit: Bill Oxford

    More than 86,000 unapproved vaping products, worth an estimated $1.72 million, were intercepted on the way to the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

    The shipment from China arrived Sept. 18 in the United States, identified as “LED lights” and addressed to a location in Northampton County, officials said.

    Instead of lights, the shipment was actually 216 boxes of about 86,000 Alphaa Onee Plus flavored electronic cigarettes. The flavors included mojito, apple blue razz, strawberry milk, energy drink and pomegranate strawberry, according to a story on lehighvalley.com.

    CBP officers at the Port of Lehigh Valley in Allentown detained the shipment and contacted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

    Earlier this month, the FDA examined the e-cigarettes and determined they violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as misbranded consumer goods being imported by an unauthorized agent.

    The e-cigarettes will be destroyed.

  • Oregon Vape Shops Stressed Over Proposed Vapor Tax

    Oregon Vape Shops Stressed Over Proposed Vapor Tax

    Credit: NYPLS

    Oregon Ballot Measure 108, a new tax on e-cigarette products and a tax increase on tobacco products is going to hurt local businesses because the products will affect what consumers can afford. It could also drive current vapers back to combustible cigarettes. E-cigarettes would be taxed at the rate of 65 percent of the wholesale sales price under the measure.

    The new e-cigarette tax would not include products that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help people quit smoking. It also does not include e-cigarettes sold for the purpose of vaporizing marijuana.

    Oregon’s NewsChannel 21 stated Wednesday that it spoken with representatives of Smoke This, High Mountain Mist and Valley Vapors, three vape shops that say customers have expressed concern about the possible tax hikes.

    Measure 108 would raise the state’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack and tax e-cigarettes for the first time in Oregon. Currently, Oregon’s cigarette tax is $1.33 cents per stamp for a pack of 20 cigarettes.

    Supporters say such increases bring Oregon’s cigarette taxes in line with Washington and California. That means it would likely stop Washingtonians from driving across the state boundary to buy cheaper cigarettes.

    Jamie Dunphy, Oregon government relations director with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, says the measure is about public health.

    “Evidence shows that e-cigarette use directly leads to tobacco use, and it directly leads to cancers, and it directly leads to a lot of health disparities that cause lifelong problems.” Several studies have shown all three claims to be false.

    Jason Weber, CEO of Vape Crusader, is working with local businesses in the “No On 108” campaign. He said the new tax would cause some businesses to take a hit. “A 65 percent tax on every product in our vaping stores is detrimental to our businesses,” Weber said. “I would say somewhere around 90 or 95 percent of us would have to shut down.”

    Weber explained that there are parameters in place to keep people safe and healthy. “All of our stores are 21 and older, so youth can’t come in our stores as is,” Weber said. “Again, these products have been proven 95 percent safer than smoking.

    “And then for the argument (that) this leads to tobacco use — well if that was the case, we’d see tobacco use skyrocket right now,” he said. “We don’t — we see that the CDC says it’s a 34 percent drop in vaping in the last year.”

    The American Cancer Society said the tax dollars will go toward intervention, public services, rehabilitation and tobacco education programs. The bill states that 90 percent of tax revenues would go to the Oregon Health Authority to pay for the treatment of sick people, especially those suffering from mental illnesses. The remaining 10 percent would go to tribal health providers and other culturally specific health programs for tobacco cessation efforts.

  • Air Factory, Charlie’s Chalk Dust Get PMTA Filing Letters

    Air Factory, Charlie’s Chalk Dust Get PMTA Filing Letters

    My Vape Order, Inc. (MVO) announced that on October 9, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Filing Letter notifying MVO that the Air Factory’s premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) met the FDA’s requirements and was moving forward into the regulatory agency’s substantive scientific review phase.

    Charlie’s Chalk Dust e-liquids have also received a filing letter and moved on to substantive review. “It is with great pleasure that we can announce to our customers that the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products has informed us that our PMTA is sufficiently complete to enter the Substantive Review phase of the process,” wrote Brandon Stump, CEO of Charlie’s Chalk Dust. “This news is worthy of celebration as it highlights our progress towards achieving full regulatory compliance and providing our customers with a trusted product portfolio. It is a reflection of our relentless hard work and meticulousness in the pursuit of precision. We are confident that during the Substantive Review process the FDA will recognize that our submission is both distinguished and suitable for approval.”

    Kyle Godfrey, MVO’s CEO, said the FDA will review the extensive scientific data and research submitted with the PMTA to determine whether the Air Factory products are appropriate for the protection of public health. “The Air Factory PMTA was the culmination of years of planning and extensive toxicological testing and scientific research,” he said. “We look forward to working with FDA on its review of the Air Factory products, with the ultimate goal of obtaining FDA marketing orders for the products.”

  • Evidence Shows Vaping Most Effective Way to Quit Smoking

    Evidence Shows Vaping Most Effective Way to Quit Smoking

    Vapes containing nicotine are more effective in helping people quit smoking than patches or gum, and safer than cigarettes, although more evidence is needed on their potential long-term impacts, a new review of evidence found on Wednesday.

    Studies suggest vaping could boost the number of people who stop smoking, according to an article by Reuters.

    “There is now evidence that electronic cigarettes with nicotine are likely to increase the chances of quitting successfully compared to nicotine gum or patches,” said Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, an expert at the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group who co-led the review.

    The review was conducted by Cochrane, an organisation that pools the best scientific research to help assess the relative effectiveness of health interventions.

    E-cigarettes have been around for about a decade, and increased in popularity significantly in recent years. Unlike gum and patches, they mimic cigarette smoking because they are hand-held and generate a vapour.

    The World Health Organization says tobacco kills up to half of all its users, clocking up a death toll of more than 8 million people a year.

    A 2016 Cochrane Review also found e-cigarettes were more likely to help smokers quit than nicotine patches or gum, but the available body of evidence at that time was slimmer.

    A spate of vaping-related lung injuries and deaths in the United States last year threw a spotlight on vaping and e-cigarettes, and prompted bans on some types of the products.

    But the outbreak was not linked to vapes that contain nicotine, and appeared to be waning late last year as evidence grew that vitamin E acetate, a cutting agent used in marijuana vapes, could be behind the cases.

  • ASH: Misinformation Cause of Britain’s Drop in Vaping

    ASH: Misinformation Cause of Britain’s Drop in Vaping

    The number of vapers in the U.K. declined by 400,000 since last year, despite mounting evidence that e-cigarettes are effective smoking-cessation aids, according to a study commissioned by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

    The Health Charity blames a “misguided belief vaping is just as harmful as cigarettes.”

    “About a third of smokers have never even tried an e-cigarette, and less than 20 percent are currently using one,” said Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH, in a statement. “If many more smokers could be encouraged to give e-cigarettes a go, the latest evidence indicates that many more might successfully quit.”

    Only 39 percent of smokers in the country believe vaping is less harmful than smoking combustible cigarettes. This year, there were 3.2 million e-cigarette users in the country, down from 3.6 million in 2019.

    A review conducted by Cochrane suggests vaping could help more people stop smoking.

    “There is now evidence that electronic cigarettes with nicotine are likely to increase the chances of quitting [smoking] successfully compared to nicotine gum or patches,” said Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, an expert at the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group who co-led the review.

    The review included evidence from 50 studies around the world. There was no clear evidence of serious harm resulting from nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, but since the review used a relatively small number of studies, the evidence is still uncertain.

    “Scientific consensus holds that electronic cigarettes are considerably less harmful than traditional cigarettes but are not risk-free,” Hartmann-Boyce said.

  • New Group to Advocate for Small-Sized Vapor Makers

    New Group to Advocate for Small-Sized Vapor Makers

    A new advocacy group has form to small vapor industry manufacturers navigate the U.S. Food and Drug Administartion’s (FDA) premarket tobacco product appliucation (PMTA) process.

    The American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM) was founded by two vapor business owners, Amanda Wheeler and Char Owen. Both have been longtime advocates for the vaping industry and have helped hundreds of other vapor business owners submit PMTAs. Wheeler will serve as president of the new organization, and Owen vice president.

    Amanda Wheeler / Credit: RMSFA

    “The founders of AVM have demonstrated a long standing commitment to our industry and have a proven track record of working hard for small business. Our President, Amanda Wheeler, has represented our industry at the federal regulatory level since June of 2019. At that time, Amanda began her journey by preparing a request to HHS and FDA to develop a small business PMTA pathway that was signed by 1,453 businesses,” the AVM website reads. “Amanda also collaborated with esteemed industry attorney Azim Chowdhury to develop a small business PMTA proposal. Since that time, Amanda has worked tirelessly to engage with HHS, FDA, the Trump Administration, and members of Congress to advocate for the small business proposal and the work that our co-founder, Char Owen has done to get over 200 businesses to the point they were able to submit pre-market tobacco applications for over 1.7 million products.”

    Owen also began advocating for the vapor industry’s ability to participate in the PMTA process in June of 2019. “Char was motivated by the desire to honor her father’s memory, since he passed away from lung cancer due to a lifetime of smoking. Char had a conviction that there could be a viable path forward for small businesses to participate in the PMTA process,” the site states. “She set about her work to bring crowdsourced tools to small businesses that needed assistance preparing the documents necessary for successful PMTA submission. Over 200 businesses came together under Char’s leadership to successfully complete the requirements necessary to have PMTA’s successfully submitted and accepted.”

    Other media outlets have reported that the AVM intends to create a vapor product testing lab specifically for small manufacturers. Labs have been overburdened since the PMTA guidelines were announced and a Maryland judge set Sept. 9 as the deadline to submit applications to the FDA.

  • Pyxus Appoints New Board Members

    Pyxus Appoints New Board Members

    Pyxus International has appointed Robert George, Carl Hausmann, Cynthia Moehring and Richard Topping to its board of directors effective Oct. 12, 2020. These individuals join previously announced board members Holly Kim, Patrick Fallonand Pieter Sikkel. 

    “The addition of the new members to Pyxus’ board of directors is a key milestone in its transformation strategy,” said Sikkel, who also serves as president and CEO of Pyxus, in a statement. “We believe this mix of directors brings proven financial and operational track records and diverse perspectives that will contribute to Pyxus’ future success, and we look forward to working with this group of proven leaders to accelerate the company’s growth.”

    George brings extensive financial and operational experience in public, private and private equity-backed diversified industrial businesses. Most recently, he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and corporate development for Esterline Technologies. Prior to joining Esterline, George held various leadership positions with Zurn Industries and Elgin Electronics. He is a member of the board of directors of Advanced Integration Technology.

    Hausmann brings more than 35 years of experience in the agribusiness and food industries. He retired in June 2012 as managing director of global government and corporate affairs of Bunge Limited, having spent a decade serving in executive roles with Bunge affiliates in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Bunge, Hausmann served as chair and CEO of Cereol and  held various leadership positions with Continental Grain Co. in Europe, South America, Africa and the United States. Following his retirement from Bunge, Hausmann served as a member of the board of directors of Pyxus International’s predecessor, Alliance One International, from June 2013 to August 2018.

    Moehring is the founder and executive chair of the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. She brings more than 25 years of experience as a strategic senior executive, including 20 years at Walmart where she served as senior vice president, U.S. chief ethics and compliance officer and senior vice president, global chief ethics officer, among other leadership positions. She has broad experience in many areas, including enterprise risk management, effective global governance practices, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, diversity and inclusion and sustainability.

    Topping has four decades of experience in the tobacco industry. He has held a variety of global leadership positions throughout the supply chain, working with both tobacco leaf merchants and cigarette manufacturers. He most recently worked with Japan Tobacco International and its predecessor companies and served as vice president of global leaf sourcing prior to retiring in June 2018. Topping has wide-ranging global expertise, from both the merchant and cigarette manufacturer perspective, in leaf sourcing and procurement strategies, logistics, operations and sales throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

  • Nicotine Users Surveyed Ahead of TPD Revision

    Nicotine Users Surveyed Ahead of TPD Revision

    Photo: mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

    In the run up to the revision of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), scheduled for 2021, the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) have launched a major survey to examine nicotine use in Europe.

    Among other questions, the poll asks adult consumers about their views on possible regulatory changes. How would users react to increased taxes, flavor bans or to the legalization of snus? Is there a need for greater access to product information? Would lifting the container restriction on e-liquids have any impact? What is missing for people who want to quit smoking?

    Available in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, the questionnaire will be open until Dec. 31, 2020.

    In addition to evaluating the TPD, the European Commission is  preparing proposals to amend its Tobacco Excise Directive to harmonize definitions and tax treatment of new products, including vapor, in 2021.  

    The European Parliament will debate the proposed TPD changes in May 2021.

    The ETHRA offers tobacco harm reduction advocates in Europe a platform for exchanging information and sharing experiences.

  • RCPI: Ban E-Cigarette Flavors Except Tobacco, Menthol

    RCPI: Ban E-Cigarette Flavors Except Tobacco, Menthol

    no vaping

    Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has called for a ban on all flavorings for e-liquids available for purchase in Ireland. The group says its goal is to protect children from the device that simulates tobacco smoking.

    The RCPI Policy Group on Tobacco has welcomed the latest findings from a Health Research Board (HRB) review of e-cigarettes and is seeking the introduction of a ban on all flavorings, apart from tobacco flavoured e-liquid. The group is also calling for increased regulation and future taxation on e-cigarettes, according to the Irish Medical Times.

    An HRB review into e-cigarette use found that e-cigarettes were associated with adolescents starting to smoke tobacco cigarettes, which could potentially lead to serious harm.

    “These findings have important public health ramifications and do not support recommending e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool,” stated Prof Des Cox, chair of the RCPI Policy Group on Tobacco.

    They recommended that people use nicotine replacement therapies and/or medications prescribed by their general practitioner instead of e-cigarettes when trying to quit smoking.

    “We are concerned about the finding of adolescents who use e-cigarettes being at increased risk of starting tobacco smoking. It is still legal for minors to purchase e-cigarettes in Ireland. Our group is calling for the introduction into legislation of the Tobacco Products Bill that was promised by the previous government,” Cox said. “The findings also show that when it comes to stopping smoking e-cigarettes are no more effective than nicotine replacements therapies, and because e-cigarettes aren’t regulated their safety is not yet known. What we do know is that worryingly they can cause burns, injuries, and lung damage.”

    The Royal College of Physicians in the U.K. has released several studies that found vaping to be 95 percent safer than smoking combustible cigarettes. There was a move to debunk the theory, but several health experts agree with the group.