Tag: e-cigarettes

Leaked BAT Data Claims Most UK Disposables are Illegal

Media outlets are reporting that BAT sent vaping wholesalers testing results that claim that nearly all major disposable vaping brands in the UK not produced by a major tobacco manufacturer contain illegal volumes of e-liquid.
Senior wholesaler sources leaked nearly 50 pages of BAT product testing data to betterRetailing, along with a letter from BAT urging wholesalers to stop selling products it claims are failing to comply with the 2ml e-liquid limit. A distributor of many of the brands named denied the claims.
In a letter sent to wholesalers by BAT UK managing director Fredrik Svensson, seen by betterRetailing, the supplier said it had commissioned “independently accredited laboratory” testing on Elf Bar 600 products purchased from supermarkets and independent retailers between 6 September 2021 and 7 March 2023.
The evidence revealed that the tested products “contained significantly more than the legal limit of 2ml of nicotine-containing e-liquid from 2.76ml to 3.88ml, with an average overfill of 58 percent.”
Testing was also conducted at the same lab on Lost Mary, Found Mary, IVG Bar, Klik Klak, SKE Crystal, Smok Mbar Pro and Solo disposable vapes. Test results for all these brands showed illegal levels of e-liquid.
Together, the brands account for nearly all disposable vaping sales in independent shops by both revenue and volume.
BAT’s letter urged: “As a responsible trading partner, we trust that you are taking appropriate steps to ensure that you are not supplying non-compliant products and that you will be urgently reviewing the supply of any products you stock, particularly those which our testing demonstrates do not comply with the TRPR [The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016].”
Elfbar voluntarily pulled its products from UK shelves after finding its products did not meet legal requirements.
Recently, another Elfbar brand was pulled from UK store shelves after finding the products surpassed the legal limit for e-liquid volumes.
March 18, 2023
FDA Publishes Update to Include ‘Nontobacco Nicotine’

Credit: Myvisuals
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated its definition of “tobacco products” to include nontobacco nicotine products.
In response to the increase of nontobacco nicotine in popular tobacco products, Congress passed a federal law that went into effect on April 14, 2022, granting the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products containing nicotine from any source, including synthetic nicotine. This new law extended the tobacco product requirements in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to manufacturers, importers, retailers and distributors of nontobacco nicotine products. Previously, the FDA’s tobacco product authority only extended to tobacco products that contain nicotine made or derived from tobacco.
Under this legislation, the definition of “tobacco product” in the FDA’s regulations and guidances has been considered to be amended since April 14, 2022. The FDA has now issued two notices in the Federal Register updating the definition of “tobacco product” in its existing regulations and guidances.
In addition, the agency has also posted the following nine revised guidances to the FDA’s website: Civil Money Penalties and No-Tobacco-Sale Orders for Tobacco Retailers (Revised); Determination of the Period Covered by a No-Tobacco-Sale Order and Compliance With an Order (Revised); Further Amendments to General Regulations of the Food and Drug Administration to Incorporate Tobacco Products (Revised); Interpretation of and Compliance Policy for Certain Label Requirement; Applicability of Certain Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act Requirements to Vape Shops (Revised); Listing of Ingredients in Tobacco Products (Revised); Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for Electronic Nicotine-Delivery Systems (Revised); The Prohibition of Distributing Free Samples of Tobacco Products (Revised); FDA Deems Certain Tobacco Products Subject to FDA Authority, Sales and Distribution Restrictions, and Health Warning Requirements for Packages and Advertisements (Revised); and Demonstrating the Substantial Equivalence of a New Tobacco Product: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions (Edition 3).
March 18, 2023
U.S. FDA Issues Denial Orders for 2 Vuse Menthol Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) for two menthol e-cigarette products currently marketed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company under the Vuse Solo brand.
Reynolds is expected to challenge the order.
The currently marketed products include the Vuse Replacement Cartridge Menthol 4.8% G1 and the Vuse Replacement Cartridge Menthol 4.8% G2, according to a statement. The company may resubmit applications or submit new applications to address the deficiencies for the products that are subject to these MDOs.
The FDA evaluates premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) based on a public health standard that considers the risks and benefits of the product on the population as a whole.
“After reviewing the company’s PMTAs, the FDA determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence to demonstrate that permitting the marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health, which is the applicable standard legally required by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Specifically, the evidence submitted by the applicant did not demonstrate that its menthol-flavored e-cigarettes provide an added benefit for adult smokers relative to tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes.
In October last year, the FDA issued MDOs for several menthol-flavored vaping products marketed by Logic Technology Development. It was the first time the FDA has issued MDOs for menthol products after receiving a scientific review.
A few days after the order was issued, Logic obtained a court order from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that temporarily stayed the order.
The case continues.
March 17, 2023
Elfbar Avoids Mandatory Recall Notice for E-Liquid Fiasco

Authorities are satisfied with Elfbar’s response to the controversy over the company’s products that did not meet legal requirements, reports ECigIntelligence, and there was no need for a mandatory recall.
Elfbar worked quickly to recall the product with retailers, and the company has confirmed that it was not subject to any formal recall or withdrawal notice issued by regulators.
The products in question cannot be legally sold, however.
The company was found to be selling e-liquid with volumes more than 50 percent over the UK’s legal limit after an investigation by The Daily Mail.
The Chinese vaping giant admitted “inadvertently” breaking the law and ‘wholeheartedly apologized’ following lab tests of its 600 brand of disposable vape pens.
Recently, another Elfbar brand is being pulled from U.K. store shelves after finding the products surpass the legal limit for e-liquid volumes.
March 17, 2023
Hawaii Lawmakers Propose Tobacco ‘Endgame’ Bill

Credit: Oleksandra Voinova
Generational bans on vaping and other tobacco products are becoming more popular with lawmakers.
A new bill introduced in the Hawaii Senate would make it illegal for anyone born after 2002 to possess, purchase or use tobacco or vaping products.
S.B. 148 would change the state’s tobacco rules to deny anyone born after to Jan. 1, 2003, from purchasing and consuming these products.
The rules would only apply while in Hawaii, meaning out-of-state visitors would need to comply with Hawaii’s laws, though Hawaii residents would not be subject to the laws while visiting other states, reports Halfwheel.
Those caught selling or providing tobacco or vaping products would be subject to the existing fine structure for selling to those under 21: $500 for a first offense, and $500-$2,000 for any offense after that.
In addition, anyone born after 2002 caught violating the law as a consumer would be subject to a $10 fine for the first offense, a $50 fine for a subsequent offense, or the option to do between 48-72 hours of community service.
If passed, the change would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. S.B. 148 currently has six sponsors.
The concept was introduced in New Zealand in 2021 and was approved by that country’s government late last year. It has also been proposed in Malaysia.
Since then similar proposals have been introduced in California, Hawaii and Nevada, though none have been passed.
In 2015, Hawaii became the first to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years old, which has since become the federal standard.
In 2019, Hawaiian lawmakers proposed a bill that would slowly increase the age to purchase tobacco products starting with raising the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 21 to 30 in 2020.
By 2022, no one under 50 would have been able to buy cigarettes.
March 16, 2023
Court Rejects Challenge to California’s Flavor Ban

Photo: mehaniq41
A U.S. federal judge has thrown out a tobacco industry lawsuit against California’s statewide ban on the sale of flavored vaping and other tobacco products, reports Law360.
On March 15, Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the measure would unfairly discriminate against out-of-state businesses. Bencivengo argued that the contested law applies to sales only; manufacturers are still permitted to manufacture flavored tobacco products in California. Most manufacturers of flavored tobacco products are located outside California.
R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies sued California after voters approved the ban in a November referendum, claiming the law violates the federal Tobacco Control Act (TCA), as well as the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause.
The law was originally passed by the state legislature but didn’t take effect after industry opponents gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.
In rejecting the TCA claim, Bencivengo cited a Ninth Circuit ruling in March 2022 that upheld a Los Angeles County ban on flavored tobacco products. The tobacco industry lawsuit also doesn’t meet the standards for arguing a state law discriminates against or unduly burdens interstate commerce, she argued.
The court also rejected the tobacco companies’ claim that out-of-state manufacturers of flavored tobacco products would be forced to change their operations to the tune of “tens of billions of dollars” to comply with the law’s new standards for tobacco products, an undue burden on interstate commerce.
California’s flavor ban doesn’t set new standards for the manufacture or marketing of tobacco products that depart from federal regulations, Bencivengo said. And financial losses for the tobacco industry alone are “not excessive enough for the Court to find that the ban substantially burdens interstate commerce,” she added, citing the law’s aims to protect public health.
The TCA also gives states the authority to “opt out of the market for flavored tobacco products,” Bencivengo said in the ruling, which does not allow the tobacco companies to file an amended complaint.
March 16, 2023
Experts Address Health Professionals on Vaping

Three experts from King’s College London and the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health recently addressed health professionals, seeking to dispel what they describe as “myths about e-cigarettes and vaping,” according to the Independent European Vaping Alliance (IEVA).
“E-cigarettes (vapes) are currently the most popular aid used to quit smoking in England and are used by around 4.3 million adults in Great Britain, the majority of whom are ex-smokers,” the authors stated, emphasizing that “… vaping poses only a small fraction of the health risks of smoking and that smokers should be encouraged to use vaping products … for stopping.” The experts fear that myths about vaping “risk undermining the use of these products as cessation aids.”
“The facts about harm reduction are on the table,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of the IEVA. “If many more smokers who cannot quit by other means were to switch to e-cigarettes, millions of people worldwide could live better and longer lives. Health policy in the U.K. should be a shining example to all policymakers.”
March 16, 2023
Former BAT Group Head to Lead Charlotte’s Web Board

Credit: Opolja
Charlotte’s Web Holdings, a supplier of cannabidiol (CBD) hemp extract wellness products, has appointed Jonathan P. Atwood to the company’s board of directors, according to PR Newswire. Atwood is currently the group head of business communications for BAT and is responsible for BAT’s external, internal and corporate brand communications. Atwood was designated as a board nominee by BAT in connection with its November purchase of convertible debenture in Charlotte’s Web.
Atwood held senior management positions at Unilever, most recently leading global supply chain communications. Prior to that, he led sustainability and corporate communications for Unilever North America. Atwood is an advocate of sustainability and has worked closely with B Corps companies.
Charlotte’s Web is the only publicly traded CBD B Corp-certified company.
“We welcome Jonathan as a valuable addition to the board where he can support our international and sustainability ambitions. We look forward to working closely together on our mutually shared interests,” said John Held, chairman of the board of Charlotte’s Web.
Atwood’s appointment brings the total number of directors on the Charlotte’s Web board to six.
Last year, Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. became the first company to score a CBD sponsorship with Major League Baseball.
March 15, 2023
U.S. FDA has Made Decisions on Over 99 Percent of PMTAs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today stated it has made determinations on more than 99 percent of the nearly 26 million deemed tobacco products for which premarket tobacco products applications (PMTAs) were submitted. The agency has said previously that reviews for some of the most popular vaping products may take until the end of the year.
The FDA also announced it issued a refuse-to-accept (RTA) letter on Feb. 21, to one applicant notifying a company that their PMTAs, which are associated with approximately 17 million individual tobacco products, do not meet the acceptance requirements outlined in FDA’s regulations.
“The applications were for a grouped submission of e-liquids in varying size, nicotine strength, and flavor combinations, each of which was treated as an individual product application according to existing premarket review processes,” the FDA wrote in a statement.
The agency’s overall determinations include authorizing 23 new e-cigarette products and devices, and issuing refuse to accept (RTA) letters, refuse to file letters, or marketing denial orders for millions of products.
The data includes determinations on applications for nearly 6.7 million products received by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline, more than 18 million products received after the Sept. 9 deadline, and applications for nearly 1 million non-tobacco nicotine products submitted by May 14, 2022, in accordance with the new federal law passed in April 2022.
Under a federal court order, manufacturers of deemed new tobacco products that were on the market as of the deeming rule’s effective date (Aug. 8, 2016) were required to submit premarket review applications by Sept. 9, 2020.
March 15, 2023
Congress Seeks to Close E-Cigarette Ad Loophole

For more than five decades, tobacco ads have been prohibited on radio, but advertising for e-cigarettes and other vaping related products have made their way onto the airwaves in recent years.
In an effort to make such marketing less attractive, the U.S. Congress wants to close a tax loophole that allows manufacturers to claim federal tax deductions for the cost of advertising for e-cigarettes and tobacco products. That includes the ads they buy on the radio.
Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal have reintroduced the No Tax Subsidies for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Ads Act (S. 464), which if passed would not make the direct-to-consumer ads illegal, but would end the ability for companies to take tax deductions for advertising expenses related to vaping and other tobacco products, according to Insider Radio.
“Tax breaks for tobacco and e-cigarette giants allow the industry to profit from its manipulative marketing,” Blumenthal said. “Our legislation ends these write-offs to protect kids and other consumers from being lured into lifetimes of addiction.”
Radio and television advertising for traditional tobacco products has been banned under federal law since January 1971, and certain other forms of tobacco advertising are restricted under the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. However, none of these restrictions apply to e-cigarettes.
March 15, 2023