Category: News This Week

  • Philippines: New Vape Rules to Begin in June

    Philippines: New Vape Rules to Begin in June

    Credit: Adobe Photo

    The new Vape Law in the Philippines will take effect on June 1. The new rules also apply to all next-generation tobacco products, including heat-not-burn and e-cigarettes. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will require all vape products to be registered with the agency on that date, an official said on Tuesday.

    At a forum organized by the Bantay Konsumer, Kalsada, Kuryente (BK3) in Makati, DTI Undersecretary Amanda Nograles said the “importation and manufacturing of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products and novel tobacco products must now undergo the DTI certification process.”

    This means that products must have the Philippine Standard (PS) mark and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker first before they can be sold on the market.

    Nograles said at least 3 companies have already applied for registration, and they urge others to begin the process since the registration may take some time. She clarified that there will be a 6-month transition period to allow all firms to comply.

    “We will allow them to sell all the existing inventory. On January 5, 2025, we will do market clearing. There should be no vape products without a PS license and ICC [sticker],” Nograles said, adding that the agency will continue to monitor shops to ensure that no minors will be allowed to buy vape products. They will also check if the vape has marijuana oil.

  • Isle of Man Sets 18 as Age to Purchase Vape Products

    Isle of Man Sets 18 as Age to Purchase Vape Products

    Credit: Markuk97

    The Isle of Man has banned the sale of vaping products to anyone aged 18 and under.

    The new rules, which bring the island into line with laws introduced in the UK in 2016, also makes it illegal for a person over the age of 18 to buy a minor any vaping product.

    Further measures that will ban the public display or advertising of vaping products in any place on the island where under-18s are admitted will apply from September, according to media reports.

    Cabinet Office Minister Kate Lord-Brennan said the measures were “an important move for the current and future health of young people.”

  • WHO Says Nicotine Industry Still Targeting Children

    WHO Says Nicotine Industry Still Targeting Children

    Photo: v-a-butenkov

    Despite its talk about harm reduction, the tobacco industry is still targeting youth via social media, sports and music festivals and flavored products, according to the World Health Organization, reports Reuters.

    In a joint report issued with STOP, an industry watchdog, the global health body alleged that tobacco companies’ alternative smoking products such as vapes are often marketed with designs and flavors that are appealing to young people.

    “It’s dishonest to talk about harm reduction when they are marketing to children,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general.

    The WHO pointed to flavors like bubblegum as a driver of youth vape use increases. The industry, however, argues that flavors are a key tool in helping adult smokers switch to less harmful alternatives. Most large companies have moved away from youth-appealing flavors.

    The WHO says that companies use social media and sponsorship of music festivals and sports festivals to target youth, allowing the companies to promote their brands to younger audiences and to hand out free samples.

    In addition, the WHO argues that there is insufficient evidence that vapes help smokers quit. Rather, the entity said that there is evidence vaping increases traditional cigarette use, especially among youth.

    Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow at University College London’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, contradicted that view, however, saying that the WHO statements, “do not accurately reflect current evidence on e-cigarettes.”

  • U.K. Pauses Tobacco Ban Talks Until After Election

    U.K. Pauses Tobacco Ban Talks Until After Election

    Credit: Stock Pics

    Britain’s proposed generational tobacco ban will not become law before the July 4 election announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week, reports Reuters.

    The U.K. Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to phase out the sale of cigarettes. It would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, after they turn 18. It would also provide powers to address vaping among young people.

    The bill had passed its first parliamentary hurdle in April despite dozens of lawmakers in Sunak’s Conservative party voting against it.

    However, the government failed to put forward the tobacco and vapes bill as part of the legislation to be passed in the “wash-up” period before parliament dissolves.

    Unless ministers resuscitate the bill at the last minute with an emergency statement today, it will be up to the next government to re-introduce the smoking ban in a fresh bill. The Labour party is committed to the policy and could include it in its manifesto. “Our position hasn’t changed so if it doesn’t come through, then we will look at putting it in the manifesto and introducing a bill,” a Labour representative told The Guardian.

    The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) welcomed the news that the  bill would not be rushed through the legislative process. Earlier, the group had complained that the Department of Health and Social Care had failed to carry out any risk assessments into the health impacts of fewer people using vapes to quit smoking as a result of potential changes to flavor offerings, point of sale displays or packaging and product presentation.

    “It is wrong to rush any legislation through parliament without proper scrutiny but with a bill like this, where lives are quite literally at stake, it is even more important that the correct checks and balances are in place when considering what new powers to introduce,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne in a statement.

    “We believe that properly drafted new measures to ban child-friendly designs and flavor names and ensure that products, backed up by a powerful and effective enforcement regime will continue to see smoking rates fall while ensuring that youth uptake rapidly comes down.”

    Anti-smoking activists took the news in stride. “While the tobacco and vapes bill appears to be a victim of a snap election, all is not lost,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health. “This bill has the strong support of the chief medical officers of all four nations in the U.K. as well as the overwhelming majority of the public.”

  • Study Finds Illegal U.K. Vape Seizures on the Rise

    Study Finds Illegal U.K. Vape Seizures on the Rise

    Port of Dover in Kent, U.K. (Credit: Alan)

    Vape Club, a U.K.-based online vape retailer, reports that the U.K.’s freight terminals, airports, and seaports are now the unexpected frontline in the battle against the surge in illegal vaping products, with enough seizures for three to be sold every minute.

    The report states that major London airports, Manchester and the Port of Dover, are being used as supply routes to “further the U.K.’s illegal vaping epidemic.” The data suggests that these regions saw the highest number of illegal vaping devices seized in 2023, accounting for 42 percent of the U.K.’s total.

    In 2023, over one and a half million illegal vapes were seized in the U.K., according to the 2024 Illegal Vaping Report. Kent, home to the Port of Dover, was the local authority with the highest number of illegal vapes seized in 2023 at over a quarter of a million.

    Heathrow Airport’s local authority, Hillingdon, seized almost a quarter of a million illegal vapes last year, and Manchester Airport saw 158,434 illegal vapes seized. “The findings raise concerns about the potentially dangerous illegal vapes entering the U.K. at its borders,” the report states.

  • Agencies Urged to Remove Unauthorized Products

    Agencies Urged to Remove Unauthorized Products

    Credit: Elfbar

    Seventy-eight U.S. public health and other organizations urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to utilize all the enforcement tools at their disposal to clear the market of unauthorized e-cigarette products, including flavored products.

    To date, the FDA has authorized the sale of only 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products.

    “This means that virtually the entire e-cigarette market consists of unauthorized, illegal products, including a wide variety of flavored products—largely disposables—that FDA has found to be highly appealing to youth,” the groups wrote in a letter addressed to all three agencies.

    “This is a wholesale failure to enforce the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act by FDA and other government enforcement agencies. There must be an intensified and coordinated, multi-agency federal effort to enforce the law against these illegal products in an effective and equitable manner.”

    The groups urged the adoption of several concrete changes in tobacco enforcement policies and activities, including more frequent use of enforcement tools, such as civil monetary penalties; and prioritization of efforts to stop illegal importation of unauthorized products.

     “The failure to adequately enforce the law against unauthorized products has real, and significant public health consequences. We urge FDA, DOJ and CBP to respond with an ‘all hands on deck’ strategy that will use all enforcement tools at their disposal to protect the public health, and particularly the health of our young people, from the flood of illegal, unauthorized e-cigarettes,” the letter writers concluded.

  • JTI Launches its H-n-B Ploom X Advanced in Italy

    JTI Launches its H-n-B Ploom X Advanced in Italy

    TR Archive

    The Ploom X Advanced, Japan Tobacco Group’s most advanced heated tobacco device, has made its debut in Italy’s travel retail market at Milan Malpensa Airport in partnership with Avolta. The launch is supported by high-impact marketing aimed at driving traffic to the store, particularly with the influx of global travelers attending Milan Design Week.

    The product, previously launched in duty-free stores in Japan and Switzerland, is available in a variety of device colors, sticks and accessories, according to a press release.

    Japan Tobacco’s subsidiary Japan Tobacco International (JTI) noted that the Italy debut marks the brand’s continued expansion in the channel throughout 2024 and beyond, underlining its long-term commitment to travel retail and its partners.

    Ploom X Advanced represents the group’s move to expand its portfolio by entering the reduced-risk product (RRP) category to cater to the needs of adult tobacco consumers and vapers while reaffirming its place among the most innovative global brands, JTI added.

    “As an Italian myself, I was excited to see JTI’s premium offer in the RRP category taking off in Milan,” said Simone Mammi, JTI’s Global Travel Retail Sales director. “Our Ploom X Advanced device has been launched in Italy travel retail, alongside Camel heated tobacco sticks, available in four flavors and tobacco intensities (gold, bronze, burgundy, and teal).”

    JTI noted that with Avolta as one of its long-standing retail partners at Milan Malpensa Airport, it optimized the premium front-of-category space to provide impactful showcasing that, when coupled with ongoing consumer engagement, “should deliver promising results.”

    The Ploom X Advanced device was named the best product available in the heated tobacco category at the U.K. Product of The Year Awards 2024.

  • Singapore Police Seize $3.7 Million in Illegal Vapes

    Singapore Police Seize $3.7 Million in Illegal Vapes

    Credit: Sharaf Maksumov

    More than S$5 million ($3.7 million) worth of vape products were seized during a warehouse raid at Woodlands Industrial Park on Apr 24 in Singapore.

    It is the second-largest seizure of vaping products, coming a month after a record haul in March that was worth more than S$6 million.

    Officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) were conducting an enforcement operation when they found more than 400,000 vaping products and alerted the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), according to an ICA statement.

    Last year, Singapore authorities handled around 8,000 vaping-related offenses, a 43 percent jump from the 5,600 in 2022. A total of 7,600 offenses were recorded in 2021.

    From Jan. 1 to March 31 this year, more than 2,200 people were caught possessing and using vaping products.

  • Cook Islands Bans Vapes, Smoking Age Raised to 21 

    Cook Islands Bans Vapes, Smoking Age Raised to 21 

    Credit: Fadlanbolang

    The Cook Islands is set to ban imitation tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and will raise the smoking age from 18 to 21.

    Importing and distributing imitation tobacco products could result in a NZD$100,000 ($61,000) fine or up to three months in prison for an individual.

    While businesses caught doing the same face a $1,000,000 fine, additionally, non-compliant businesses will incur a daily penalty of $100,000 for each day the violation continues.

    The Tobacco Control Amendment Bill 2024 passed its third reading in Parliament last week, with most members of parliament supporting it, according to media reports.

    Visitors over 21 will be exempt from the new rules and can bring one imitation tobacco device containing up to 30 milliliters of liquid.

    Other restrictions include the prohibition of displaying tobacco products for sale and the ban on smoking in public places, with limited exceptions.

    Businesses selling tobacco products will also need a license to do so.

    Nick Dun, the manager of South Seas, a store in Rarotonga that sells e-cigarette products, said he thought vaping provided a better alternative to tobacco products.

    “It means some people will unfortunately fall back into tobacco smoking, which may be harder to give up in the future and will impact them financially,” Dun said.

    He said his business felt there was a need for alternatives to tobacco products.

    “For a lot of people, they believed that they actually felt better, and when they started vaping [they] didn’t want to go back to tobacco smoking.

    “For a percentage of our customers, vaping was basically them trying to give up smoking and kind of the stepping stone to giving up.”

  • Unconstitutional: Court Rules on Panama Vape Sales Ban

    Unconstitutional: Court Rules on Panama Vape Sales Ban

    Credit: Alexey Novikov

    The Supreme Court of Justice in Panama has ruled unanimously that Panama’s ban on the sale of all vaping products is unconstitutional.

    According to several media reports, the ruling, announced last week, was in response to a lawsuit brought by the Asociación por la Reducción de Daños del Tabaquismo de Panamá (ARDT Panama), a vaping consumer advocacy group.

    The court found that Law 315 violated parliamentary procedures spelled out in Article 170 of the Panamanian constitution, according to Panama America.

    Law 315 prohibited the sale and import of all vaping and heated tobacco products, with or without nicotine. It also banned online sales, prohibited vaping in any place where smoking is not allowed, and gave customs authorities the right to inspect, detain, and seize shipments into the Central American country.

    The law passed the National Assembly in 2021, and was given assent by Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo nearly a year later, on June 30, 2022. Panama had previously prohibited vape sales under a 2014 health ministry decree.

    The ARDT Panama lawsuit challenged the vaping ban on the basis that it violated the constitutional right to health (depriving people who smoke of a lower-risk substitute). Also, it alleged that the National Assembly violated technical parliamentary rules in passing the law.

    According to El Capital Financiero, the legal challenge was also supported by the Association of Smokers and Families for a Smoke-Free Panama and the Medicinal Cannabis Association of Panama.

    It’s unclear if the high court also weighed in on the health-based challenge.