New York state lawmakers are considering a bill that would extend the US state’s ban on flavoured tobacco and vaping products to nicotine pouches…

Altria has reported net revenue to be down by 3.8% in Q2 2020 due to the decrease of the traditional tobacco business, though a further drop was prevented thanks to the good performance of its smokeless products in the US…

The Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly, has passed a bill prohibiting the sales of tobacco-free nicotine products for oral use…

PMI’s earnings fell in the second quarter of 2020 due to retail and travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this was partially offset by higher heated tobacco unit volumes…

Sweden is proposing amendments to increase the tax of snus and create a new tax on raw tobacco from 1st July 2021 to close a tax loophole on this kind of tobacco-alternative product….

The UK government will assess the possibility of allowing the sale of snus in the country once the Brexit transitional period ends and the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) no longer applies…

The upcoming presidencies of the Council of the European Union have agreed to include the revision of the Directive 2011/64 on the structure and rates of excise duties applied to manufactured tobacco in their strategic agenda…

The US FDA’s granting of modified risk status to PMI’s IQOS system suggests possible future competition in the tobacco alternatives market, experts have told TobaccoIntelligence…

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Philip Morris International (PMI) modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) status for Iqos and its associated HeatSticks…

The Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency has imposed a fine of JPY552m ($5.1m) on Philip Morris Japan (PMJ) for misleading advertising of Iqos when discounts were extended beyond the allotted date…

The Pretoria High Court has dismissed the application by the Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) to reverse the government ban on the sale of tobacco, including vapour products, following the outbreak of COVID-19…

Germany’s anticipated decision to ban outdoor advertising of tobacco, including heat-not-burn (HnB) and vapour products, could cost the public finances an estimated €2.27m a year…

South Korea’s health minister Park Neung-hoo has announced a fresh plan to ban advertising and promotional activities for tobacco-alternative products…

TobaccoIntelligence managing news editor David Palacios joins Jon Bruford to discuss the implications and impact of the looming Tobacco Products Directive version 3 on the industry. To obtain more data and analysis for the industry, please find our latest market and regulatory reports here. If you need further details, feel free to contact us through this form or […]…

Voters in the US state of Colorado will decide in November whether to support a bill to increase taxes on tobacco after lawmakers put forward a plan for rises to be phased in over the next seven years…

Hong Kong will reintroduce a bill to ban tobacco-alternative products after local elections in September. The Legislative Council ended discussions on the existing bill due to lack of time before its term ends in July…

The Dutch government intends to regulate heated tobacco further by expanding the current tobacco restrictions to heat-not-burn (HnB) products…

Representatives from different political parties in Italy have put forward various proposals to increase tax on tobacco-alternative products as the government seeks urgent financial responses to the COVID-19 crisis…

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and two of its affiliates have filed a lawsuit trying to strike down Los Angeles County’s tobacco flavour ban adopted in 2019 and which came into effect on 1st May…

The Philippines Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears to be tightening its grip on tobacco alternatives with a detailed proposal to regulate heat-not-burn (HnB) and vapour products…

Lawmakers in the US state of North Carolina are considering amending the rules on tax breaks for approved tobacco alternatives…

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued an interim decision against amending the country’s Poisons Standard on nicotine – leaving heated tobacco banned as dangerous poison…

British American Tobacco (BAT) is pushing back to 2025 its goal of £5bn in revenues from its next-generation portfolio amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in heat-not-burn (HnB) business…

The reduced-risk potential of IQOS compared with combustible cigarettes cannot be ascertained, according to Italy’s Ministry of Health…

The Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare has released a draft proposal amending the country’s Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act which leaves the regulation of heated tobacco still in a state of uncertainty…

The Altria Group has filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against RJ Reynolds Vapor Co, a subsidiary of Reynolds American, over its Velo smokeless product…

The Council of the European Union considers it “urgent and necessary” to harmonise the definitions and tax treatment of novel tobacco products such as heated tobacco and vaping products…

Japan Tobacco (JT) and Philip Morris International (PMI) are cutting the prices of their heat-not-burn (HnB) devices in Japan and planning new product launches amid the coronavirus pandemic…

Germany has moved a step closer to a comprehensive ban on outdoor advertising of tobacco products, with a first debate in the Bundestag of a proposal put forward by the ruling coalition parties…

World No Tobacco Day provides a good opportunity to consider the approach that public health authorities, policymakers, and advocates around the world have towards the role of tobacco-alternative products…

EU nations are to recommend to the European Commission that heat-not-burn products should be included in the forthcoming revised structure and rates of tax applied to manufactured tobacco products…

India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has partially lifted its ban on the oral product pan masala following industry pressure and due to the state government’s need for cash…

Smokers in the US state of California can get free nicotine patches by mail to help them quit, as part of a research project on public health during the COVID-19 crisis…

Altria has submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 35 varieties of its On! nicotine pouches…

The Estonian Parliament has approved a bill that relaxes one of the toughest regulatory regimes for tobacco-alternative products such as e-cigarettes, and imposes a new health warning for heated tobacco packaging…

Retailers in Europe are playing a guessing game as they plan how to fill the gap on the shelves with new tobacco-alternative products in preparation for the fast-approaching ban on menthol cigarettes…

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked a judge to postpone the effective date of its new rule imposing graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging…

Finnish snus users have expressed concern that restrictions related to the current COVID-19 pandemic are limiting their access to snus, mainly because of the closure of borders between Finland and Sweden…

A number of patients’ and doctors’ associations, as well as political parties, are proposing an increase in tax on heated tobacco products to help finance Italy’s hard-pressed public health system…

Big Tobacco manufacturers are expecting the effects of COVID-19 to hit hard in the second half of the year, despite a strong performance in the first quarter…

All TobaccoIntelligence’s COVID-19-related news briefings can now be found in one place here…

Swedish Match’s sales of smoke-free products boomed in the first quarter of 2020, with the segment recording a 35% year-on-year increase to SEK2.508bn (€234m)…

The French government is temporarily restricting sales of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products following research suggesting nicotine patches could be used in treatment for COVID-19…

A group of non-profit and health organisations has called on Indonesian president Joko Widodo to take a stricter stance against tobacco products in the battle against COVID-19…

British American Tobacco is suing Big Tobacco rival Philip Morris International in the US and in Europe for allegedly infringing its patents with its popular heated tobacco device IQOS…

Philip Morris International is braced for a significant dip in sales and use of its heated-tobacco device IQOS over the rest of 2020, with retail and travel restrictions currently imposed in nearly every country…

US tobacco giant Altria has appointed Billy Gifford as CEO. Gifford, previously vice-chairman and CFO, steps up to take over as CEO from Howard Willard, who is retiring after 28 years with the company…

Lawmakers in Kentucky have passed a new bill setting out taxes for tobacco products – but a proposal to increase tax on smokeless products was left out of the final wording…

The US tobacco industry is resisting another attempt by the FDA to impose graphic health warnings, claiming in a lawsuit that mandatory warnings would violate their rights under the First Amendment…

The Swiss canton of Valais is to include snus and other non-combustible products in its tobacco test-purchasing programme for the first time in a widened bid to halt the sale of tobacco products to minors…