Tag: vaping

  • Swisher and E-Alternative Solutions Expand Partnership

    Swisher and E-Alternative Solutions Expand Partnership

    Photo: EAS

    Swisher and E-Alternative Solutions (EAS) have expanded their partnership to support the marketing, sales and distribution of EAS’s Leap and Leap Go vapor brands. Both companies will remain separate entities with EAS benefitting from the additional support and strength of Swisher’s world-class sales and marketing organization.

    Jeffrey Brown, formerly vice president of sales for EAS, has been named general manager of EAS, and will take the lead in the evolution of the partnership.

    “Jeff is a well-respected leader with more than three decades of industry experience, and as general manager, he is the natural choice to take the EAS business to the next level and drive our respective brand expansion goals,” said John Miller, president and chief executive officer of Swisher, in a statement. “In the short term, the expanded partnership between EAS and Swisher will remain transparent to our valued customer base, and we will be following up with additional details as they become available.”

    I look forward to working with the Swisher sales and marketing teams and taking the Leap and Leap Go brands to the next level.

    “I couldn’t be more excited about this arrangement and look forward to working with the Swisher sales and marketing teams and taking the Leap and Leap Go brands to the next level,” said Brown. “EAS was built from the ground up to prosper in the highly regulated tobacco environment, and with the bench strength of the Swisher sales and marketing teams, we have the power to broaden our reach and expand the distribution of these great brands,” he added.

    Over the past several years, Swisher has continued to expand its offerings to include smokeless tobacco products, premium cigars, and modern oral nicotine products to appeal to diverse and changing consumer tastes. Broadening its strategic partnership with EAS is another step toward becoming a more consumer-centric company.

  • Kaival Brands Reaches $100 Million in Revenue

    Kaival Brands Reaches $100 Million in Revenue

    Kaival Brands Innovations Group reported significant revenue and profitability milestones in the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2021. The company achieved a cumulative $100 million in revenues since it commenced business operations in March 2020, despite revenue slowdowns during the fourth quarter of 2020 due to packaging and labeling updates.

    During the fourth quarter of 2020, the company and Bidi Vapor made the decision to wash out inventory and repackage the entire product line in an effort to go “above and beyond” U.S. Food and Drug Administration packaging and labeling guidelines.

    First quarter 2021 revenues were $37.3 million, compared to revenues of $0 in the first quarter of 2020. “Given the significant expenses associated with infrastructure, start-up costs, marketing, legal and many other business necessities, we are proud of our ability to reach profitability so early on in our development,” said Niraj Patel, Kaival’s president and CEO, in a statement.

    “The gross profit number provides a glimpse into our future net profits as we continue to scale the business in a smart and efficient operational manner.”

    The gross profit number provides a glimpse into our future net profits as we continue to scale the business in a smart and efficient operational manner.

    From a revenue perspective, February and March have benefited from the company’s new distribution partnerships as well as the rollout of the Bidi Pouch. As such, the company expects revenues to increase during the second fiscal quarter ending April 31, 2021. “Given our current visibility, we remain very confident in our full-year fiscal 2021 revenue guidance of $400 million to $450 million,” Patel said.

  • Borgwaldt KC Presents New Vaping Machine

    Borgwaldt KC Presents New Vaping Machine

    Photo: Borgwaldt KC

    Borgwaldt KC has launched the NGX10, a 10-port linear vaping machine for next-generation products.

    Exceeding ISO 20768 and CRM 81 specifications with gas analyzer options to match the specifics of these products, the NGX10 is a new, professional, flexible, efficient and reliable member of Borgwaldt KC’s well-known analytical vaping machines.

    The NGX10 incorporates all the design and feature improvements specific to the emission testing of next-generation products.

    The machine can handle all device sizes and shapes. For more information, visit www.borgwaldt.com.

  • First Tennessee Vapor Shipping Reports Due May 10

    First Tennessee Vapor Shipping Reports Due May 10

    Tennessee has announced the starting date for its PACT Act requirements. The state’s Department of Revenue states that beginning May 10, 2021, and the 10th of every month thereafter, any entity shipping electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) or related products into Tennessee from another state is required to report all such shipments to the department.

    It is expected that all states will require PACT Act reporting to begin on May 10. Effective March 28th, 2021, recipients of all vaping products purchased online will be required to present ID and sign for their delivery. The United States Postal Service mail ban on vaping products will go into effect on April 27th, 2021. After this date, customers will no longer be able to receive vaping products by way of USPS delivery.

    The amended PACT Act provides that any person who sells, transfers, or ships for profit ENDS in interstate commerce, or who advertises such products for sale, must register with the tobacco tax administrator of the state into which the shipment is made. The company must also file monthly reports with the tobacco tax administrator no later than the 10th day
    of each month.

    Under the PACT Act, a delivery seller faces violations that may result in civil penalties of up to
    $5,000 for the first violation, $10,000 for the second violation, or 2percent of the gross sales during the prior 12 months. Additionally, there are penalties for common carriers or other persons providing delivery services of up to $2,500 for a first violation or $5,000 for any other violation within one year of a prior violation.

  • Global Consumer Group Wants Sensible THR Policies

    Global Consumer Group Wants Sensible THR Policies

    An international consumer group released a position paper today that claims blanket bans on vaping and heated tobacco products (HTPs) are a detriment to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations (INNCO), a global advocate for sensible tobacco harm reduction (THR) says bans on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are an overly simple solution that make the problems that come with combustible cigarette use far worse.

    “The hundreds of millions of people who smoke in these countries should have the ability to make decisions about safer nicotine products, particularly when their own health is on the line,” said Samrat Chowdhery, president of INNCO’s governing board. “Overly simplistic policy solutions, such as proposed bans on all ENDS and THR products by the Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded The Union, are being offered as a blunt and impractical tool for a situation that requires pragmatism and nuance, making meaningful and sustainable change more difficult.”

    Samrat Chowdhery

    The report, “10 Reasons Why Blanket Bans of E-Cigarettes and HTPs in low- and middle-income Countries (LMICs) Are Not Fit for Purpose,” sends a strong warning to organizations and governments that limiting options to reduce harm will only increase the number of people smoking tobacco, inevitably leading to illicit markets and increases in crime. The paper lists the Top 10 reasons the bans don’t work as the following:

    • Bans are an overly simplistic solution to a complex issue and will not work.
    • Prioritizing the banning of reduced harm alternatives over cigarettes is illogical.
    • Reduction and substitution are valid goals for smokers in LMICs.
    • People who smoke have the right to choose to reduce their own risk of harm.
    • Reduced harm alternatives can significantly contribute to the aims of global tobacco control.
    • Lack of research in LMICs is not a valid reason to ban reduced harm alternatives.
    • The prohibitionist approach in LMICs is outdated, unrealistic and condescending.
    • Bans will lead to illicit markets with increases in crime and no tax revenue.
    • Banning reduced harm alternatives leads people back to smoking and greater harm.
    • • Blanket bans in LMICs are a form of “philanthropic colonialism.”

    INNCO estimates that that there are scores of LMICs in jeopardy of increasing the number of people who smoke cigarettes in their countries unless pragmatic approaches to tobacco harm control are adopted, including the availability of a wide selection of safer nicotine products. Leveraging the paper’s findings, INNCO states that it will work with its global membership to inform policy makers in developing nations to help achieve risk-relative regulations and access to safer THR products, according to a press release.

    “Africa is home to some of the highest-ranked smoker countries on the planet,” said Joseph Magero, chairman of Campaign for Safer Alternatives, a pan-African non-governmental member organization dedicated to achieving 100 percent smoke-free environments in Africa. “While improving overall public health has made great strides in these regions, efforts to directly address smoking cessation and harm reduction strategies have lagged due to limited or no access to safer, non-combustion nicotine products. By denying smokers access to much safer alternatives while leaving cigarettes on the market, policymakers would leave only two options on the table – quit or die.”

    Several other THR groups also agree with the paper’s position. Nancy Loucas of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates, a grassroots alliance of THR advocacy organizations, said a blanket ban in LMICs is a form of philanthropic colonialism, suggesting that these countries and their citizens cannot be trusted with any level of self-determination. “Inhabitants are treated as second-class citizens, which is offensive,” she said. “There is no benefit in limiting choice of safer nicotine products, but only the potential for increasing harm.”

    Francisco Ordóñez of the Asociación por la Reducción de daños del Tabaquismo Iberoamérica, a network of consumer organizations in Latin America, says that very few low- and middle-income countries have adopted even the most basic prevention measures suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).

    “Policymakers should embrace harm reduction as a valid goal, particularly in LMICs where access to cessation programs is extremely limited,” said Ordóñez. “Replacing combustible tobacco with alternative nicotine products can significantly reduce the risk of harm by at least 95 percent. It works in industrialized nations and can do the same in LMICs.”

    The paper can be found on the INNCO website.

  • Retail Resource

    Retail Resource

    Vapor Voice, in partnership with TMA, has created a tool to track PMTA submissions as they make their way through the review process.

    By Timothy S. Donahue

    The world is waiting. When premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) were due to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) on Sept. 9, 2020, the vapor industry wanted to know what companies had submitted the required data and could remain in the U.S. market legally. In response, the CTP stated it would release a list of products that may continue to be sold during the review process.

    Nearly five months later, the CTP has yet to produce anything to help the retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers. In late January 2021, CTP Director Mitch Zeller said that the FDA would release the information in the “coming weeks.” Zeller has also said that “thousands” of PMTAs were submitted. Meanwhile, the CTP has stated that before making such a list available, the agency needs to ensure that publishing any such information complies with federal disclosure laws.

    The CTP did finalize PMTA and substantial equivalence rules (SE) meant to guide how a manufacturer can seek a marketing order for electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS). The text of the final rule was published long after the provisional PMTA submissions were due. Then, nearly a week after its posting, the new Biden administration froze all new and pending rules introduced in the last part of the Trump administration, including the just-finalized PMTA rule. The rule was removed from the Federal Register prior to its effective date.

    “While a memo from the White House chief of staff ordered the withdrawal of any rules that did not publish by noon on Jan. 20, 2021, and the PMTA and SE final rules were withdrawn, this does not impact the FDA’s review of PMTAs or SEs that the agency has received,” an FDA spokesperson told Vapor Voice. “The agency continues to process the large number of submissions received and has already begun reviewing many applications. In the coming weeks, the FDA intends to provide a more detailed update on the agency’s progress since the Sept. 9, 2020 deadline.”

    The FDA spokesperson says the agency will work closely with the new administration to advance appropriate regulations and policies that were withdrawn and are in line with the agency’s public health mission.

    To help stakeholders gain some visibility on this crucial issue, Vapor Voice partnered with data specialists TMA to locate and confirm who has submitted PMTAs and at what stage the application is in in the regulatory process. The PMTA list can be found here.

    Because there is no central, publicly available database, the information had to be pieced together from multiple sources, according to TMA research assistant Karen Pace. Several organizations issued press releases as their PMTAs moved through the process. Many others did not. Pace says that Vapepmta.com, an online resource also attempting to collect PMTA information, has been a valuable resource in her research.

    “Not all of the press releases are as specific as others,” says Pace. “I tried to research those that had minimal information. Sometimes that worked, sometimes I could not find anything more. Then I found Vapepmta.com. The site was extremely helpful and is where I gathered most of the information. It was still a challenge to gather information on the total number of submissions a company had and the actual products submitted.”

    It was also difficult to know what brands and how many flavors or nicotine strengths (or even if a submitted product used a freebase or salt nicotine) a company submitted. Pace says the only way to know for sure about some submissions was to go to the source. “We checked corporate websites and also called or emailed the companies directly to verify submissions,” she says. “It is something we will continue to do moving forward as we update the listing.” In the end, Pace choose to list companies individually and list the brands submitted when possible. “We are going to need help from the industry in keeping the information accurate and up to date,” she says.

    The Vapepmta.com team built and operates its platform and has no affiliation with the FDA or any other company. Dan Daniel Racowsky has been in the industry for more than five years and says limited information and confusion around PMTAs led the group to take on the task of building a PMTA listing.

    “It wasn’t very challenging to gather data upfront. After launching, we gained some publicity and were flooded with inquiries from brands asking to be included in our database,” Racowsky said. “Somewhat of a challenge has been keeping our data as accurate as possible. We’re in direct contact with the majority of brands listed on our platform, and most are pragmatically keeping us informed on their PMTA’s progress.”

    The list is a solid source for interested parties, however, it is impossible for VV/TMA to guarantee its complete accuracy. While many companies have confirmed the accuracy of their listings, in some cases we have not been able to reach the applicant.

    “We put in a lot of effort to validate these submissions, but there are still some companies that haven’t returned calls or emails to confirm their listing,” says Taco Tuinstra, editor-in-chief for Vapor Voice. “We note those instances in the list.”

    If you note inaccuracies in your listing, please send an email to pmta@vaporvoice.net and we will be pleased to update the information.

    Methodology explained

    Thousands of manufacturers and importers submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the Sept. 9 deadline to keep their products on the U.S. market. But which products exactly are under review and how all those submissions have fared in the process is less clear. A comprehensive list promised by the FDA has yet to materialize.

    In the absence of an official database, Vapor Voice decided to create its own tracker. As a news outlet, we already receive many press releases relating to PMTA submissions. In addition, we continuously monitor corporate websites, social media platforms and other industry sources. Individually, the pieces of information gathered during those endeavors make for interesting news announcements; taken together, they provide a coherent dataset to track PMTAs.

    Of course, this approach has its limits. The data is self-reported, and at present, we cannot fully verify the veracity of all claims made in the announcements used to compile the list. The quality of the information that reaches us also varies greatly, from exact counts in all list categories to more general statements on a brand or brand family without further elaboration. As per our protocol, these issues are noted in the list. While we cannot present our dataset as a representative sample, we believe that, after capturing information on 180 companies, it paints as coherent a picture as possible.

    Our tracker lists company, brand family, brand styles and PMTA stage. We view it as a “living document” that will be updated as new information becomes available. To that end, the tracker also includes a tool for user input. If the status of your application has changed or if you notice inaccuracies, we invite you to share that information with our editors, who will be pleased to make the required updates. 

    Keeping in mind the limitations of our tracker, we recommend using this tool to gain directional understanding of the volume of submissions for which the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products is processing and as a starting point in a comprehensive due diligence search regarding products. We also strongly recommend that any retailer gain certification of products in their inventory from the manufacturer and rely upon advice of counsel as to appropriate due diligence and safe harbor.

    View the tracker.

  • U.S. FDA Warns 13 Companies for Illegal E-Liquids

    U.S. FDA Warns 13 Companies for Illegal E-Liquids

    On March 12, the U.S. FDA issued warning letters to 13 firms who manufacture and sell unauthorized e-liquids. The regulatory agency advised the companies that selling products lacking a premarket authorization is illegal, and therefore cannot be sold or distributed in the U.S.

    Credit: Isaiah Rustad

     

    The firms did not submit a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) by the Sept. 9, 2020 deadline, according to a press release from the FDA. The firms receiving warning letters are VapinUSA-WI, LLC d/b/a VapinUSA, Vapor Springs, LLC, Vapor Cigs, LLC, Vegas Vapor Emporium, LLC, Vape 911, The Philosopher’s Stone, LLC, The Clean Vape, Tooters Vape Shop, Cloudchasor LLC, Boardwalk Elixir, LLC, Dieselbycg-Hometown Vape Lounge, Blue Lab Vapors LLC, and Revolution Vapor LLC.

    “While each warning letter issued today cites specific products as examples, collectively these companies have listed a combined total of more than 75,000 products with the FDA,” the statement reads.

    Following an initial set of such warning letters announced earlier this year, FDA has continued to issue additional warning letters for products that failed to submit a PMTA.

    Per a court order, applications for premarket review for certain deemed new tobacco products on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016—including e-liquids—were required to be submitted to FDA by Sept. 9, 2020. For companies that submitted applications by that deadline, FDA generally intends to continue to defer enforcement for up to one year pending FDA review, unless there is a negative action taken by FDA on the application.

  • Thailand Tobacco Authority Considers Cannabis

    Thailand Tobacco Authority Considers Cannabis

    Photo: cytis | Pixabay

    The Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TOAT) is hoping that sales of cannabis and hemp extracts will help compensate for deteriorating income from tobacco production, reports the Bangkok Post.

    The TOAT is drafting a ministerial regulation to give the organization the authority to grow and produce extracts from cannabis and hemp, which can be used in medicine and cosmetics, said TOAT governor Panuphol Rattanakanjanapatra.

    Although the Tobacco Act stipulates TOAT can produce tobacco leaves and other plants, clarity is needed on TOAT conducting R&D on cannabis and hemp for commercial purposes.

    The business value of cannabis and hemp could reach tens of billions of baht, according to Panuphol.

    At present, a two-tier system is applied for excise duties levied on cigarettes. A 20 percent tax rate is applied to the retail price for packs costing up to THB60 ($1.95).

    If the retail price exceeds THB60 per pack, a 40 percent tax rate is applied.

    A flat tax rate of 40 percent was scheduled to be applied in October 2019, regardless of the retail price, but there has been opposition from the authority and tobacco farmers.

  • Cancer Charity Debuts Film to Battle Vaping Misinformation

    Cancer Charity Debuts Film to Battle Vaping Misinformation

    A new film being launched by a Yorkshire cancer charity wants to turn around the growing mistrust surrounding vaping and e-cigarettes. The group says that the misinformation is inhibiting efforts to save lives.

    The 30-minute documentary “Vaping Demystified” was commissioned by Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) and launched on No Smoking Day (March 10). The film features interviews with several tobacco harm reduction experts in the hopes of fixing the falsehoods surrounding vapor products.

    The film confronts the impact of negative media coverage when the general public give their opinions on e-cigs. Many think that it is as bad as or worse than smoking, which is completely false, according to numerous studies. The film makes clear that many people are not aware of the ground-breaking scientific studies involving vaping.

    Martin Dockrell, tobacco control lead for Public Health England (PHE), for example, discusses a PHE study that found vaping to 95 percent safer than smoking combustible cigarettes, according to a story in the Yorkshire Post. “We have been following the evidence about vaping as it has been evolving, and what has become increasingly clear is that vaping is far less harmful than smoking and perhaps twice as effective as licensed medicines at helping smokers to quit,” he said in the film.

    The film details additional studies that show an increasing mistrust of vaping, with the proportion of those who think it is less harmful than cigarettes falling from 45 percent in 2014 to 34 percent in 2019. In 2019, the e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) cases hit the headlines globally. EVALI was found to have been caused by black market THC vapes that contained vitamin E acetate, and had nothing to do with e-cigarettes like many media reports had claimed.

    Stuart Griffiths, director of research at YCR, said by the time the true cause had been found, the media cycle had moved on. “We didn’t see any of these vaping injuries that the US saw,” he said. “It got a lot of coverage – but the end of the story never really came out, that it was a consumer product that had been tampered with.”

  • U.S. Customs Seizes 77,400 Illegal Cartoon Vapes

    U.S. Customs Seizes 77,400 Illegal Cartoon Vapes

    U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) officers at O’Hare International Airport this week seized 77,400 Rick and Morty vape pens from China that were destined to a distribution company in Georgia. CBP officers found the popular cartoon characters on the packaging and suspected they violated copyright and trademark laws.

    rick and morty vape pen
    Credit: CBP

    Authorities called Warner Bros. and confirmed the company didn’t license their Rick and Morty copyright for vape pens, according to a press release. CBP Import Specialists determined the shipments of vape pens was infringing upon the “Rick and Morty” copyright. The MSRP for the bootleg pens was valued at $1.55 million.

    “Often CBP seizes vape pens because they violate FDA guidelines, but these parcels violate copyright laws which adds to the charges and complexity of the case,” said Shane Campbell, Area Port Director-Chicago. “Counterfeit products are unsafe for consumers, harm the economy, damage the revenue and image of the companies, and could cost American jobs.”