Category: Regulation

  • Imperial Suggests Steps to Tackle Youth Vaping

    Imperial Suggests Steps to Tackle Youth Vaping

    Photo: Casimirokt | Dreamstime.com

    The United Kingdom should establish a new retailer licensing scheme to improve compliance, review flavor naming conventions to limit youth appeal and strengthen the regulations for online advertising and promotion, according to Imperial Brands.

    The company made its suggestions in response to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) call on stakeholders to identify opportunities to reduce underage vaping while keeping e-cigarettes available as a quit aid for adult smokers.

    In its consultation response, Imperial also suggested raising product quality and safety standards to ensure adult smokers can feel confident about transitioning to vape products, and working with industry to increase support to local authorities to tackle noncompliance.

    “We welcome the opportunity to contribute to OHID’s call for evidence on youth vaping. Vape products should be used by existing adult smokers and adult vapers only—they should never be used by children,” said Oliver Kutz, general manager U.K. and Ireland at Imperial Brands, in a statement.

    “Government, industry and enforcement authorities must work together to create a regulatory framework which both supports the important role vapes can play in helping adult smokers quit and prevents the appeal and access of these products to under 18s. We are proposing a series of measures to address product standards, flavor and naming regulations, and the retail environment. An integrated, multi-pronged approach is needed in order to drive out irresponsible actors and improve trust in this important product category.”

  • Media Reports Claim Turkmenistan Banned Vaping

    Media Reports Claim Turkmenistan Banned Vaping

    Credit: Michalknitl

    Turkmenistan has banned the sale of electronic cigarettes and other vaping products, according to media reports.

    E-cigarette use has grown in the country where conventional tobacco products are almost completely banned.

    Buying disposable electronic cigarettes, reusable vape devices, spare parts for them, as well as filling liquids has recently become almost impossible, according to the reports.

    Officially, no regulations were issued, the goods simply disappeared from sale. Sellers tell buyers that they have been banned.

    Previously, electronic cigarettes were sold online and in some brick-and-mortar stores.

    “In particular, high-end night shops throughout Ashgabat have become a popular place[s] to sell this product,” media reports. These shops are owned by relatives of the president’s family.”

    Sources note that even now in some of these stores people can still buy disposable electronic cigarettes, as well as hookahs and tobacco for them, according to media reports.

  • Alabama State Senate Doesn’t Vote on Vape Rules

    Alabama State Senate Doesn’t Vote on Vape Rules

    Credit: David Mark

    Legislation that would establish new fines, fees, and regulations related to the vaping industry in the U.S. state of Alabama wasn’t voted on by the state’s Senate after a lengthy discussion on the bill Thursday.

    The legislation was ultimately carried over at the call of the chair and could come up again on the Senate floor on Tuesday, the final day of the legislative session. The bill passed the House on May 16 by a margin of 100-1. State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) was the lone ‘no’ vote.

    House Bill 319 (HB 319) by State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile) and State Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) makes it illegal for retailers to sell all vape products to youth under 21, makes it illegal for youth under 21 to purchase, use and possess and transport all vaping products; requires all vape products to be placed in an area not accessible to individuals under 21, identifies and regulates the specialty retailers of electronic nicotine, and creates a tobacco licensing and compliance fund for tobacco and nicotine prevention, education and operational costs.

    The bill is opposed by public health groups such as the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association due to the legislation continuing to “allow the tobacco industry and its retailers to run rampant across Alabama,” according to a letter from those groups and others sent to lawmakers on May 11.

    Gudger told reporters on Thursday, “There’s different organizations and associations that are opposed to our anti-vaping bill for the fact that you have to be 100 percent all for what they want or nothing at all.”

    Under the legislation, manufacturers wishing to sell vaping products in Alabama would have to state in writing to the state under the penalty of perjury that the product does not contain any synthetic nicotine or “nicotine derived from a source other than tobacco.”

    Jon Roundy, a vape shop owner and chief information officer with Breathe Easier Alliance of Alabama, an advocacy group that represents vaping retailers and consumers, told 1819 News in an interview on Friday that the legislation as written unfairly burdens small vapor companies and “big tobacco continues to sell their products indiscriminately without facing similar restrictions.”

    “If this bill were to pass in its current state, I would be out of business in under ninety days and have no idea how I would pay back the federal (Economic Injury Disaster) loan I took out to save our company during (Covid-19),” Roundy said. “We purchased legal product during that time which the state will essentially make illegal. If they pass this, we’ll go bankrupt.”

    Roundy said the “bill removes consumer choice.”

    According to a fiscal note on the legislation, the bill would increase personnel and inspection costs of the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) board by a minimum of $805,000 annually. Those costs would be offset by a minimum of $900,000 annually in new receipts to the Tobacco Licensing and Compliance Fund created by the bill for operational costs and prevention education.

    The funding would come from $50 one-time filing fees, $150 annual permit fees, and $50 transfer fees, receipts from new and increased fines, penalties, and fees levied by the legislation.

    The bill would also increase revenue to the Public Safety Fund by a minimum of $300,000 annually from new permit fees in the legislation.

    State Sen. Tim Melson (R-Florence) said on the Senate floor on Thursday he’d be voting against the bill until he gets more information.

  • UK Government Under Fire for Support of Juul

    UK Government Under Fire for Support of Juul

    Credit: Nawadoln

    The government in the United Kingdom has been criticized for its “completely inappropriate” endorsement of Juul vaping products. Many organizations blame the manufacturer for fuelling an “epidemic” of underage vaping in the U.S.

    Juul Labs was promoted in an official briefing circulated by the Department of Health and Social Care about the prime minister’s plan to close a loophole allowing free samples to be given to children, according to media reports.

    The press release – which included quotes from Rishi Sunak, England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and health minister Neil O’Brien – portrayed the company as a leader in combating youth vaping, saying it “takes steps to ensure its products do not appeal to and are not used by anyone who is under age, and encourages others in the sector to do the same.”

    It also included a quote from Joe Murillo, a former tobacco executive and chief regulatory officer at Juul Labs, in which he praised the UK government’s policy and called for more to be done “to combat underage use of these products”.

    The briefing – which was sent to journalists before the policy was announced publicly – appears to have directly resulted in positive media coverage for Juul, with Murillo’s quote republished by four national newspapers.

  • Vietnam Government Set to Restrict E-Cigarette Use

    Vietnam Government Set to Restrict E-Cigarette Use

    Credit: DMYTRO

    The Vietnamese government has approved a new national program to restrict the use of e-cigarettes, shisha and other new tobacco products.

    According to media reports, it is part of a comprehensive program proposed by the Ministry of Health to prevent the harmful impacts of cigarettes.

    It aims to reduce the percentage of smoking males above 15 years of age to below 39 percent and that of women to below 1.4 percent.

    It also hopes to prevent passive smoking at workplaces, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, and other public places.

    Research will be conducted into the negative impacts of tobacco, especially new products, the reports suggest.

    The government is also working on increasing taxes on vaping and other tobacco products and determining minimum prices for them.

  • Misconceptions About E-Cigarettes Persist: Study

    Misconceptions About E-Cigarettes Persist: Study

    Photo: pavelkant

    About half of cigarette smokers and young adult nonsmokers think that nicotine-based electronic cigarettes have the same amount or even more harmful chemicals than regular tobacco-based cigarettes, according to a Rutgers study.

    Published in Addiction, the study measured perceived levels of harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes compared with cigarettes using national samples of more than 1,000 adults ages 18 and older who smoke cigarettes and 1,000-plus adults ages 18 to 29 who are nonsmokers. The study also measured associations with e-cigarette/cigarette relative harm perceptions, e-cigarette use and interest. About 20 percent of all participants believed e-cigarettes contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes while about 30 percent responded that they did not know how the levels compared.

    “Our results were interesting to see given that previous review reports suggest e-cigarettes expose users to fewer types and lower levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals than cigarettes,” said Olivia Wackowski of Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead researcher of the study, in a statement. “It was also interesting to find that only about half of adult smokers who thought e-cigarettes have fewer harmful chemicals also thought e-cigarettes are less harmful to health.”

    E-cigarette harm perception relative to typical cigarettes is a common question included on major national health and tobacco surveys in the United States. However, surveys of e-cigarettes typically haven’t included a question about the perceived exposure to or level of harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes.

    According to the study researchers, measuring perceptions of e-cigarette and cigarette chemical exposure is important because e-cigarette communications often directly refer to chemicals in some way, which may impact perceptions about chemicals and harms from using e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes.

  • Malaysia Ready to Table New Tobacco Endgame Bill

    Malaysia Ready to Table New Tobacco Endgame Bill

    Photo: hakbak

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health is ready to table the Control of Smoking Product for Public Health Bill, which includes the Generational Endgame (GEG) policy, reports the New Straits Times.

    If enacted, the legislation would prohibit anyone born in 2007 or later from buying and using cigarettes or vaping products in Malaysia. A provision to ban possession of those products has been dropped from the bill on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

    The bill also governs registration, advertising, promotion and sponsorship, packaging and sales of smoking products.

    “Any violation, including selling of cigarettes to children in the GEG group will be an offence when the bill is passed,” said the health minister’s special adviser, Helmy Haja Mydin.

    People in the targeted age group caught buying or using tobacco or vaper product risk fines of MYR500 and community service. The fines had been reduced from a previous proposal to avoid unduly burdening the GEG group.

    According to Mydin, the order is meant to educate and show that the policy is not purely punitive.

    After its enactment, the bill requires periodic reports to measure the legislation’s effectiveness in combating underage smoking.

  • Virginia Alcohol Board to Asses Scheme for Liquid Nicotine

    Virginia Alcohol Board to Asses Scheme for Liquid Nicotine

    Credit: Adobe

    The Virginia ABC will assess a regulatory scheme for liquid nicotine, with the consultation of stakeholders, and issue a report and recommendations.

    On April 12, the Virginia General Assembly enacted House Bill 2296 and Senate Bill 1350, incorporating recommendations of Governor Glenn Youngkin to have the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) “assess” a potential licensing scheme for liquid nicotine manufacturers, distributors, and retail dealers, as well as administrative and enforcement matters relating to liquid nicotine licensing, age verification, product verification, and advertising restrictions.

    These bills effectively instruct the ABC to tell the Virginia General Assembly whether and how the Commonwealth should regulate liquid nicotine. The ABC’s report and recommendations are due by November 1, and will be informed by stakeholder input, according to attorneys with Troutman Pepper.

    The enactments specify that the ABC will conduct its assessment “in consultation with stakeholders, including public and community health organizations, retailers, tobacco and vaporized nicotine companies, and wholesalers.”

  • Mother’s Milk Denied Marketing for More Than 250 E-Liquids

    Mother’s Milk Denied Marketing for More Than 250 E-Liquids

    Credit: Kraken Images.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 18 issued marketing denial orders to Mother’s Milk WTA for more than 250 flavored and tobacco-flavored e-liquids.

    After completing an initial acceptance review and subsequently proceeding to and completing a substantive scientific review of the company’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), the FDA determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence to show the products are appropriate for the protection of public health.

    For example, the applications did not provide sufficient evidence to show comparative health risk data relative to other tobacco products on the U.S. market, information assessing the abuse liability of the new products, or that the new products could be manufactured consistently.

    “One of our most important responsibilities is to ensure new tobacco products undergo scientifically rigorous premarket review,” said Matthew Farrelly, director of the Office of Science within the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement. “We remain committed to evaluating these applications based on a public health standard that considers the risks and benefits of the tobacco product to the population as a whole.”

    The agency has received premarket tobacco applications for more than 26 million deemed products, most of which are e-cigarettes. The agency says it has made determinations on 99 percent of these applications. This includes more than 1 million applications for non-tobacco nicotine products, including those containing synthetic nicotine, after Congress clarified FDA’s authority to regulate these products in April 2022.

    Further, FDA has authorized 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products and devices, which are the only e-cigarettes that currently may be lawfully sold or distributed in the U.S. FDA has also denied marketing applications for millions of products that did not meet the requirements in the law. 

  • Bill Threatens to Derail FDA Menthol and Nicotine Plans

    Bill Threatens to Derail FDA Menthol and Nicotine Plans

    Photo: Rechitan Sorin

    The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations may spoil the Food and Drug Administration’s plans to ban flavored cigars, ban menthol cigarettes and limit nicotine levels in cigarettes, reports Halfwheel.

    On May 17, the committee, which is responsible for allocating funds to various government entities, including the FDA and the Department of Agriculture, unveiled the draft of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies Bill.

    The proposed language says that FDA cannot use any of the money Congress allocates for it to ban menthol or set nicotine levels, effectively preventing the agency from carrying out the regulations.

    The relevant passages are:

    SEC 768. None of the funds provided by this Act or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this Act, may be used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to finalize, issue, implement, administer, or enforce any rule, regulation, or order setting a tobacco product standard that mandates a maximum nicotine level for cigarettes.

    And:

    SEC 769. None of the funds provided by this Act, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this Act, may be used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to finalize, issue, or implement any rule, regulation, notice of proposed rule- making, or order setting any tobacco product standard that would prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes or prohibit characterizing flavors in all cigars and their components and parts.

    Anti-tobacco activists were aghast. “This bill is a special interest gift to the tobacco industry that would result in more kids addicted to tobacco and more lives lost, especially Black lives,” wrote Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a statement. “These shameful provisions give the tobacco industry everything it wants from Congress in exchange for its campaign contributions.”

    The bill is in its early stages and is likely to undergo many modifications.