LATEST ALERTS
FDA committee rejects two IQOS MRTP claims, approves one
25th January 2018 - News analysis |
Agency’s science committee agrees that PMI product decreases exposure to dangerous chemicals, but won’t accept broader claims of long-term risk reduction
Health and science
Headline news – and the health debate is on after heavyweight report
25th January 2018 - News analysis |
An independent report commissioned by the FDA to evaluate the evidence for the health effects of e-cigarettes has come back with a mix of good and bad news for the industry and produced headlines around the US
Vape Force One hits the road in pursuit of legalising nicotine e-cigs in Australia
22nd January 2018 - News analysis |
An Australian campaign to legalise the domestic sale of nicotine-containing e-liquids in the country faces a difficult challenge as opposing opinions solidify
Can biomarkers help science predict long-term health effects of reduced-risk products?
17th January 2018 - News analysis |
A new analysis of smoking’s effects on the human body, undertaken by scientists associated with PMI, illustrates some of the difficulties in establishing whether an alternative nicotine product really reduces risk
New views on nicotine: now the FDA is reconsidering NRT, too
16th January 2018 - News analysis |
As the US FDA gets to grips with its new focus on nicotine as a single marketplace, it is planning to take a fresh look at one of the longest-established non-combustible forms of the substance – nicotine replacement therapy
Brussels postpones tax decision on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco
12th January 2018 - News analysis |
The European Commission has said it will review the future tax situation of e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products in 2019, and will not propose a revision of the Directive 2011/64/EU on excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco now
Study linking youth vaping with adult smoking gets wide US press coverage
11th January 2018 - News analysis |
A widely publicised report by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco claims to show that vaping leads young people in the US to smoking
Could homeless smokers be given e-cigs free to help them quit?
8th January 2018 - News analysis |
A clinical trial among homeless people in Canada raises an intriguing question: could governments supply e-cigarettes free as a public health tool? And indeed, should they?
Baltic states agree to join forces in opposition to e-cigarette use
8th January 2018 - News analysis |
Health ministers of Europe’s Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have signed a joint memorandum of intent to share “strong policies” on e-cigarette trade and usage
Hardware waste management in the EU
8th January 2018 - Regulatory reports , Topic regulatory reports |
The hardware and batteries used in e-cigarette products must be disposed of in line with EU legislation.
Packaging should display the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol, which indicates that hardware should be disposed of separately from normal household waste.
Regulation, creativity and variety – that was the e-cig year that was
27th December 2017 - News analysis |
ECigIntelligence’s review of the year gone by reflects the big stories of the e-cigarette world in 2017, the trends in regulation, the developing and diverging markets, the science and innovation, and peers into the crystal ball to consider where it all goes from here
Tobacco control must come before e-cig promotion, conference is told
19th December 2017 - News analysis |
A rigorous anti-tobacco regime should come first before e-cigarettes are promoted for harm reduction, delegates at a tobacco control conference in Germany were told
Global health group calls for HnB restrictions until science is proven
19th December 2017 - News analysis |
The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease has called for the advertising and indoor use of heat-not-burn (HnB) products to be banned until sufficient independent research has been conducted to confirm their safety
HnB v e-cigs – UK toxicity committee wants to see how they match up
18th December 2017 - News analysis |
The UK government committee which this month concluded that heat-not-burn products are safer than combustibles now wants to compare them to e-cigarettes
Switzerland tries again with fresh proposal to regulate e-cigs and HnB
14th December 2017 - News analysis |
The Swiss Federal Council has put forward a second draft of its proposed Tobacco Act, which aims specifically to regulate e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn (HnB) devices
‘Holy grail’ of health studies – daily vapers who have never smoked
11th December 2017 - News analysis |
Researchers in Italy have reported on what is a holy grail in e-cigarette studies – a four-year observation of the health effects on daily vapers who have never smoked
Los Angeles: proactively restricting e-cigarettes
11th December 2017 - Country regulatory reports , Regulatory reports |
Los Angeles takes an active approach towards electronic cigarettes, including them in the definition of tobacco products for purposes of the Tobacco Retailing License and public smoking restrictions
Switzerland set for another step on the slow road to legal nicotine e-cigs
6th December 2017 - News analysis |
Switzerland is about to take another step on the road towards legalising nicotine e-cigs – but it’s a long, slow road that could lead to tough regulation
FDA extends deadline for Philip Morris IQOS comments
4th December 2017 - News analysis |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the deadline for comments on Philip Morris International’s (PMI’s) modified risk tobacco product application (MRTPA) for its IQOS heated tobacco device and Heatstick consumables.
Heated tobacco on the agenda as European Commission mulls next TPD
2nd December 2017 - News analysis |
Tighter regulation “is on the way” for e-cigs, according to the European Commission’s commissioner for health and food safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who sees “possibilities” for “stronger regulation” to “stop advertising and online sales”
Doctors’ union joins the UK consensus backing e-cigs for smoking cessation
30th November 2017 - News analysis |
The British Medical Association – the doctors’ trade union – has dropped its opposition to e-cigarettes and urged its members to recommend vaping as a means to quit smoking
Sweden heads for restrictions on public vaping in line with smoking ban
29th November 2017 - News analysis |
Sweden is to join its Scandinavian neighbours Finland and Denmark in adding vaping to its ban on smoking in a variety of public places. The country is also preparing to tax e-liquids, with or without nicotine
Can e-cigs help provide an escape from the health poverty trap?
28th November 2017 - News analysis |
Deep social inequalities among the smoking population have long been recognised; the question now is whether e-cigarettes can help to correct them, or whether they may even widen the health gap
Better safe than very sorry – US fire chiefs’ warning on lithium ion batteries
28th November 2017 - News analysis |
A report by the US Fire Administration, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, concludes: “The combination of an electronic cigarette and a lithium-ion battery is a new and unique hazard”
Cessation studies so far ‘statistically insignificant’, says research expert
27th November 2017 - News analysis |
New meta-analyses showing e-cigarettes as positive tools for smoking cessation are lacking – and that comes down to just one person in one controlled trial, according to an expert on health research
Experts urge transparency, independence for PMI’s foundation
25th November 2017 - News analysis |
Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, the controversial research endowment fund initially endowed for $1bn by Philip Morris International (PMI), has committed to instituting “almost all” good-governance suggestions put to it by harm reduction experts.
‘Harm reduction prospects depend on how rules are interpreted’, historian says
13th November 2017 - News analysis |
Vape-friendly government policies may be thwarted by implementation less favourable to e-cigarettes, according to a US historian who has been studying attitudes to harm reduction
Take all extreme scientific claims with a pinch of salt, expert warns
9th November 2017 - News analysis |
Reports of scientific research into e-cigarettes should be approached with caution – especially if they appear stridently either pro or anti – one of Britain’s leading researchers warns
Kindergarten tots to test if e-cigs are up to German child-proof standard
8th November 2017 - News analysis |
Pre-school children will be given e-cigarettes to play with and try to switch on as German authorities work to establish a national standard for child-proofing the products
Psychological Society joins lobbyists in urging UK to keep up support for e-cigs
6th November 2017 - News analysis |
The UK government is being urged by both an all-party parliamentary lobby group and the British Psychological Society to keep promoting e-cigs as a means to stop smoking
Vaping continues to grow in Belgium, where one in seven have tried it
2nd November 2017 - News analysis |
A survey of Belgian smoking and vaping habits shows 14% of the country’s population have tried e-cigs, and 3% vape at least once a week
Scare stories get more attention than calmly issued research findings
1st November 2017 - Regulatory reports , Topic regulatory reports |
A research paper which led to the headline claim that e-cigs can trigger lung disease “just like cigarettes” was picked up by the media more eagerly than other studies which came to less alarmist conclusions
Sweden: slow growth with legal restrictions and snus competition
27th October 2017 - Country market reports , Market reports |
Nicotine-containing e-cigs and e-liquids have been sold legally in Sweden since 2016 and the market has been gradually growing – but there are still obstacles in its way
UK parliament’s delayed e-cig inquiry is back in business
26th October 2017 - News analysis |
A re-formed UK parliamentary committee is to examine the science behind e-cigarettes, with a view to informing future policy and regulation
A NICE change – official UK health bodies back e-cigs for cessation
18th October 2017 - News analysis |
New endorsements from public bodies in the UK could move e-cigarettes a step closer to being offered on prescription by NHS doctors as aids to quitting smoking
FDA seeking experts to advise on the science of tobacco products
16th October 2017 - News analysis |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants a few technically qualified people who can provide it with independent and expert advice on regulating tobacco products
Banning e-liquid flavours ‘could send US vapers back to cigarettes’
4th October 2017 - News analysis |
Regulators in the US should not ban e-liquid flavours unless they also ban menthol in traditional cigarettes, three public-health scholars have warned
The three vapers: the pleasure-seeker, the quitter, and the not-so-sure
4th October 2017 - News analysis |
New research finds that e-cig users mainly come in three very different categories – those who vape for pleasure, those who do it as a means to quit smoking, and those who don’t think of themselves as vapers at all
BAT scientists take on the question of risk assessment for new products
4th October 2017 - News analysis |
Scientists working for British American Tobacco have produced a paper taking on the thorny question of how reduced risk should be assessed in new products
French firm aims to roll out its nicotine dosage device in Europe and US
2nd October 2017 - News analysis |
Enovap, an innovative French hardware manufacturer, has announced plans to move into the US market, where it hopes to apply its technology to medicinal cannabis use
E-cigarette prices in Bangladesh set to soar under new customs regime
2nd October 2017 - News analysis |
New customs duties will more than double the price of most e-cigarettes in Bangladesh as the government attempts to reduce the use of nicotine by young people
Brief respite for US manufacturers as FDA extends deadline for product registration
29th September 2017 - News analysis |
The US Food and Drug Administration has extended the deadline for tobacco registration from 30th September to 12th October 2017. This move offers a brief respite to manufacturers of vapour products who have yet to register with the FDA and submit product listing information.
Finland: market grows despite strict regulation
22nd September 2017 - Country market reports , Market reports |
The EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was transposed in Finland the form of the Tobacco Act, which made Finland one of the EU’s most strictly regulated countries. Market growth of 40% throughout 2016–2017 was mainly determined by increased numbers of vapers (+16%), growth of the share of daily users (30% in 2017 compared with 14% in 2016), plus an overall price increase in most e-cigarette categories.
Some scepticism greets PMI’s $80m-a-year support for a Smoke-Free World
21st September 2017 - News analysis |
The launch of the Philip Morris International-sponsored Foundation for a Smoke-Free World has met with mixed reactions from the world of science and public health
UK advertising bodies consider allowing e-cig health claims
15th September 2017 - News analysis |
The UK bodies in charge of advertising regulatory code have put forward a yes/no consultation on proposals to loosen restrictions on e-cigarette health claims in advertisements.
Coming soon: deadline for product registration in the US
15th September 2017 - News analysis |
The deadline for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) product registrations for manufacturers is swiftly approaching. From 30th September, manufacturers need to register with the FDA and submit product lists, including labelling and advertisements, to the agency. This deadline was initially December 2016, but the FDA extended it for the industry. The deadlines differ for small and large-scale companies.
Rare but dangerous – France’s official warning on e-cig battery fires
14th September 2017 - News analysis |
The French consumer affairs department has published a list of recommendations on the use of e-cigarette batteries following two recent reports of explosions in users’ pockets
Gateway or catalyst – does trying e-cigs really lead kids on to smoking?
5th September 2017 - News analysis |
Three new UK studies offer conflicting conclusions on the possible link between young people trying e-cigarettes and those who become smokers – but what does the weight of evidence suggest overall?
Australian lawmakers are warned of ‘dangerous black market’ in nicotine
4th September 2017 - News analysis |
Australia’s ban on the sale of nicotine e-liquids has led to a black market that damages the health of the very people the law is meant to protect, an official inquiry has heard
Germans hear it officially: e-cigs are ‘significantly’ safer than tobacco
31st August 2017 - News analysis |
A study for the German government has concluded that “e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than tobacco”, but adds a warning that the long-term effects remain unknown
