Author: Antonia di Lorenzo
King’s appointment to head CTP rings alarm bells in US e-cigarette industry
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th May 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has appointed epidemiologist Brian King as director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) – an appointment that has not gone down well with the US vaping industry ...
It’s a yes from the FDA: Njoy granted PMTA for nicotine salts pod system
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 27th April 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A modern pod system using nicotine salts from a non–Big Tobacco company has been authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway ...
Vive la Veev – PMI plans more e-cigarette roll-outs after good first quarter results
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 25th April 2022 || Business briefing |
Philip Morris International (PMI) is continuing to support sales and promotion of its Iqos Veev vaping product, with further market roll-outs planned this year ...
Vape stores fall behind non-specialists for the first time for UK e-cig sales
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 19th April 2022 || Business briefing |
Specialist vape stores are no longer the most popular channel for the purchase of vaping products in the UK, according to figures from Smoking in England, which gathers together data for policymakers and others ...
Major supermarket deals help make it a good year for UK discount brand 88Vape
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 14th April 2022 || Business briefing |
The UK supplier behind low-cost e-liquid brand 88Vape expects to post a decent rise in revenue from its vaping division for the year ended 31st March ...
Change at the top – but expect no change of direction at US CTP under Mital
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 13th April 2022 || Blog |
What will Michele Mital’s reign as acting director of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) mean in terms of policy? ...
Warning on youth vaping ‘a desperate effort to maintain a crisis narrative’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 7th April 2022 || Business briefing |
A study warning that vaping may have countered the decline in US youth nicotine usage has been strongly criticised by two professors of health psychology for flawed methods and wrong focus ...
FDA’s decision on Logic gives way to concerns over pending PMTAs
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 30th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The recent decision by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Logic’s products has raised some concerns among experts on how the federal agency will address the pending premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) ...
UK Department of Health publishes its long-awaited review of tobacco law
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 29th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its post-implementation review of the country’s tobacco legislation, concluding that the existing rules work and should be retained ...
‘Outdated and near-useless’ – US FTC vape market report is greeted with scorn
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 28th March 2022 || Business briefing |
A recent report by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on e-cig sales and advertising has been roundly criticised for showing an outdated picture of the vaping market in the US ...
FDA authorises some tobacco-flavoured Logic vape products, but denies others
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 25th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The FDA has authorised the marketing of several tobacco-flavoured e-cigarette products from Logic Technology Development, under the brands Logic Power and Logic Pro, but the agency also issued marketing denial orders for other products from the same company, owned by...
Mital likely to step up from No 2 role when Zeller retires as CTP director
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 25th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Michele Mital, deputy director of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) since 2018, looks the most likely candidate to take the CTP reins from retiring director Mitch Zeller ...
US vape companies braced for the worst after rule change on synthetic nicotine
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 22nd March 2022 || Business briefing |
Experts fear the decision to treat synthetic nicotine the same as tobacco products could devastate parts of the US vaping industry that have come to rely on it, with some businesses forced to close and others praying for...
Vape advocates say Brexit provides UK with an opportunity it hasn’t yet taken
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 18th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Industry insiders have suggested the UK government should raise the nicotine limit for e-cigarettes, promote vaping, and legalise snus as part of the country’s post-Brexit regulatory reforms ...
China to ban e-cig flavours – and RELX is perfectly relaxed about the new rules
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 15th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
All e-liquid flavours other than tobacco will be banned in China from 1st May, according to the country’s Tobacco Monopoly Administration, which has confirmed administrative measures for e-cigarettes proposed in December ...
UK urged by associations and public health officials to cut vaping VAT
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 11th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the UK government to cut value-added tax (VAT) on vaping products as part of a plan to help smokers quit ...
Teen vaping increased in New Zealand amid public health experts’ concerns
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 9th March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The percentage of teen vapers in New Zealand rose significantly in 2021, accompanied by a decline in smoking rates among 13- and 14-year-olds ...
Iceland to regulate e-cigs, focusing on flavours that may attract children
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 2nd March 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
A delayed bill to restrict the marketing of flavoured e-cigarettes “that may appeal to children” in Iceland will be introduced to the country’s parliament in March ...
Turning Point blames US regulation for drop in vapour product sales and profit
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 1st March 2022 || Business briefing |
The legal challenges faced by the vaping industry in the US impacted Turning Point Brands’ vapour portfolio in 2021, with a significant drop in the last quarter’s net sales and gross profit ...
What goes up must come down – Italy restores e-liquid tax to previous level
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Tax on vaping products in Italy will return to 2021 levels from 1st April after the Senate passed a bill containing a measure to lower the excise duties on e-liquids ...
Australian authorised vaping prescribers skyrocket, but so do black markets
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The number of authorised prescribers for nicotine vaping products in Australia has skyrocketed since regulations changed. However, critics say this has also led to a booming black market ...
Scottish government opens consultation on possible further restrictions to vaping
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 23rd February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Scottish government has opened a public consultation on the potential tightening of its rules for advertising and promoting vaping products ...
‘Beating Cancer’ report becomes official EU policy with huge Parliament backing
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 21st February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The European Parliament has adopted the BECA report – the first time a European institution has formally acknowledged reduced risk products could play a role in smoking cessation – with some caveats ... ...
Good Vuse for BAT as vapour growth helps offset dip in overall revenue
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 14th February 2022 || Business briefing |
Vuse and vapour were the primary driver of a 42.4% year-on-year increase in British American Tobacco (BAT)’s new category portfolio revenue, according to the company’s latest results ...
European Parliament prepares for first vote on anti-cancer recommendations
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 8th February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The European Parliament’s first debate on the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA)’s report into how to strengthen Europe’s fight against cancer will take place on 15th February ...
Survey finds growing number of English authorities offer e-cigarettes to smokers
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 7th February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of local authorities in England offering e-cigarettes to smokers in a bid to help them quit smoking, according to a new survey ...
Israel applies its first tax on e-cigarettes with duty rates approved retroactively
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 3rd February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Israel’s parliamentary finance committee has finally and retroactively approved the duty rates on vaping products in its first ever e-cigarette tax, that was initially passed in November ...
Altria keeps fingers crossed on Juul PMTA but ‘will not invest further in vaping’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 1st February 2022 || Business briefing |
US tobacco giant Altria has announced that it will not invest any further in the vapour category for the foreseeable future ...
Taiwanese majority backs e-cigarette ban that would leave HnB untouched
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 1st February 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The majority of people in Taiwan support proposals that will likely strengthen bans on vaping but continue to allow heated tobacco products in the country ...
ECigIntelligence’s 2021 predictions reviewed: did our crystal ball work?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 27th January 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
We look back at predictions ECigIntelligence published at the start of 2021. Real events and developments confirmed ECigIntelligence’s analysis in many cases, though Covid delayed things ...
INNCO calls for health assessments and user input before flavour bans
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 20th January 2022 || Business briefing |
INNCO urged policymakers to conduct health impact studies involving consumers and producers if flavour bans are being debated ...
Global Trends survey details slowdown in growth of worldwide vaping market
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 12th January 2022 || Business briefing |
Vaping products have continued to take a share of the worldwide retail market away from smokable tobacco over the past three years, with sales of combustible cigarettes declining by 5% – but the rate of growth has slowed...
Italian vape trade fears the possible consequences as tax on e-liquids goes up
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 11th January 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
Tax on vaping products in Italy went up at the start of the year after the Chamber of Deputies passed the 2022 Budget on 30th December ...
Wales remains vague on vaping as it plans a route to a smoke-free future
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th January 2022 || Regulatory briefing |
The Welsh government has launched a public consultation over its long-term tobacco control strategy ...
2021 reviewed: false dawn for vaping, or some light showing at the tunnel’s end?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th January 2022 || Business briefing |
Could 2021 be remembered as the year we first started to see some light at the end of the tunnel? Only time will tell for sure, but there were clues ...
Study finds TikTok videos portray e-cigs positively, calling for further restrictions
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 7th January 2022 || Business briefing |
A study has warned about “significant exposure” of Generation Z teens to videos glamorising vaping on social media platform TikTok and called for “effective age restrictions” to avoid it ...
Study finds flavours draw young people to e-cigs, but no onward link to smoking
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 5th January 2022 || Business briefing |
A new study has concluded that although flavours are an “important motivator” for e-cigarette uptake among young people, there is no evidence to associate them with a move to smoking tobacco ...
Amendment to the Italian budget aims to soften tax increase on e-cigs from 2022
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 17th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The Lega party, part of the ruling coalition in Italy, has tabled an amendment to the Budget Bill 2022 aiming to increase the e-liquid excise duty each year until 2023 but with lower rates than those established by...
MEPs give green light to cancer report amid uncertainty over future of flavours
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The European Parliament’s Special Committee on Beating Cancer gave the green light on 9th December to a cancer report that urges the Commission to assess a ban on selected flavours in upcoming regulations ...
UK’s public health establishment mostly welcomes NICE guidance on e-cigs
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 9th December 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The British public health sector has broadly welcomed the updated guidance from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence...
RLX blames ‘volatile market’ for what it expects to be a temporary revenue drop
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 7th December 2021 || Business briefing |
RLX Technology saw a drop of 34% in its net revenue for the third quarter of the year but has expressed optimism that this will be a temporary reversal ...
Europe’s e-cig markets are set to grow by 29% by 2025 as smoking declines faster
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 3rd December 2021 || Business briefing |
The decline in the use of traditional tobacco products across Europe is expected to accelerate in the next four years, while vape sales continue to grow in the five largest EU markets – France, Germany, Italy, Poland and...
What lies behind Filipino health officials’ spat with the country’s COP9 delegation?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th November 2021 || Blog |
Conflict between public health concerns and political-economic interests seems to be the main reason behind an internal dispute between the Philippine delegation to COP9 and officials at the country’s Department of Health ...
MPs urge UK government to combat ‘misinformation’ and support vaping
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 18th November 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
MPs have called on the UK government to take the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan as an opportunity to tackle misinformation around tobacco alternatives and encourage switching to less harmful products ...
The influencer and the e-cig – a moral tale for our rapidly changing times
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th November 2021 || Blog |
The misleading advertising on social media of tobacco alternatives such as e-cigarettes has become a critical concern of public health groups and some governments around the world ...
‘Only tobacco firms will be able to take advantage of UK medical licensing’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 9th November 2021 || Business briefing |
Some manufacturers may struggle to overcome certain regulatory hurdles to licensing e-cigarettes in the UK as medical products – leaving the field to tobacco companies – experts warn ...
US FDA questioned about pending PMTAs and enforcement for non-compliance
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 1st October 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
US senators have urged the FDA to implement a timeline to decide on the pending PMTAs and to reveal how it will ensure that there are no non-compliant products on the market ...
Vaping experts see integrating science and innovation as the way forward
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 27th September 2021 || Business briefing |
Representatives of the vaping industry have urged a broader collaboration with scientists and agreed that integrating technological innovations is key to encouraging transition to tobacco alternatives ...
FDA marketing denial orders spread fear and confusion among US vaping retailers
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 23rd September 2021 || Business briefing |
The US FDA’s rejection of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) has sown confusion among vape retailers, who are urging the agency to make public which vaping products have been approved for sale ...
Why are WHO talks on novel tobacco products postponed from COP9 to 2023?
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 21st September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to postpone a discussion on novel tobacco products to a face-to-face event in 2023 – a decision experts are linking to a lack of consensus ...
NRT and e-cigarettes work best in combination, says UK agency
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 16th September 2021 || Business briefing |
A UK smoking cessation body says a combination of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and vaping products can be more effective than either on their own in helping smokers quit – though e-cigarettes alone come very close ...
MEPs table amendments to include harm reduction in European cancer report
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 14th September 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Three Italian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are hoping to introduce the concept of harm reduction into a strategy report by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) ...
Vape retailers required to post age-limit signs as New Zealand takes another step
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th September 2021 || Business briefing |
New regulations that come into force in New Zealand tomorrow will oblige retailers, including vape stores, to display signs at each point-of-sale warning customers that e-cigarette products are not for sale to minors ...
State AGs join in calling on FDA to deny PMTAs for flavoured vaping products
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 24th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
A group of 31 US attorneys general has joined together in urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to deny premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for vaping products ...
Italian proposal calls for prison officials to allow inmates to use e-cigs
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 23rd August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The Italian Department of Prison Administration (DAP) has been urged to implement a 2016 circular that authorised the use of e-cigarettes by inmates ...
RLX blames threat of tighter Chinese regulation for Q2 slowdown in growth
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 20th August 2021 || Business briefing |
RLX Technology has reported a slowdown in its revenue growth for the second quarter of the year due to “external factors” ...
UK’s MHRA confirms new e-cig products can only be marketed if on official list
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 17th August 2021 || Business briefing |
The UK’s MHRA has updated its industry guidance and clarified that vaping products can be legally placed on the market only when a compliant notification is published online ...
US FDA rejects 4.5m PMTA applications from one single manufacturer
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 10th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
A small manufacturer from Texas must remove millions of vaping products from the US market after the FDA issued a Refuse to File (RTF) letter rejecting most of its PMTAs ...
Behind the scenes of the 6m PMTA submissions – the ‘top five’
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 6th August 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
Five US companies are top of the list with the most PMTAs submitted, and represent five out of the 6m total applications by the September 2020 deadline ...
Vuse in full sail with BAT’s vapour volume up 70% year-on-year in first half of 2021
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 28th July 2021 || Business briefing |
British American Tobacco (BAT)’s revenue from its new category portfolio rose by 40.4% year-on-year to £883m in the first half of 2021, driven by the post-pandemic recovery of its vapour segment ...
Back to the drawing-board for Nerudia as ‘more prudent’ Imperial ponders job cuts
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 26th July 2021 || Business briefing |
A proposed restructuring of Nerudia, a UK e-liquid manufacturer owned by Imperial Brands, could lead to the loss of 77 jobs across its research and development and production departments in Liverpool ...
Italian Senate to have the last word on plan for temporary e-liquid tax relief
Written by Antonia di Lorenzo || 19th July 2021 || Regulatory briefing |
The Italian Senate is close to considering temporary tax relief for e-cigarettes in the country – a move financial experts do not expect to cause any significant drop in the overall volume of tax collected ...