Proposed changes such as plain packaging for vapes and individual cigarette warnings come under microscope at Senate hearing
In three days of hearings about wide-ranging law reforms aimed at discouraging smoking and addressing the health risks posed by vaping, one issue dominated the questioning of health experts by senators.
Will the changes actually fuel the tobacco and vape black market?
Continue reading...Exclusive: Discussion on panel came as federal government was developing reforms to address high rates of youth nicotine addiction
An Australian politician spoke at the tobacco industry’s flagship conference in South Korea, despite the federal government developing reforms to address alarming rates of youth nicotine addiction.
It is the first time in more than a decade that a serving Australian politician has spoken at a tobacco industry-funded conference. Attending such events could breach a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty, to which Australia is a signatory.
Continue reading...Endorsement of British American Tobacco by Climate Active was revoked after complaint was made, FoI documents show
The government has been forced to revoke carbon neutral certification given to a big tobacco company after the endorsement was found to be in breach of a World Health Organization treaty to which Australia is a signatory.
Freedom of information documents show a complaint was made by the managing director of the Carbon Reduction Institute, Rob Cawthorne, to the health department in August 2022 about British American Tobacco (BAT) receiving the certification from Climate Active.
Continue reading...Exclusive: transparency advocates condemn arrangement as ‘appalling’ while health department refuses to say how much consultancy was paid
The Victorian government paid a consultancy firm that has spent decades working for big tobacco to lead the state’s consultation on changes to tobacco and vaping laws, before the process was abandoned.
The state’s health department has repeatedly declined to say how much KPMG was paid for the work this year and did not answer questions about whether the international firm’s long association with big tobacco and its ongoing work for the industry were declared.
Continue reading...Exclusive: study finds 26% of individual responses to TGA vaping reforms contained text from template provided as part of ‘astroturfing’ campaign
More than one-quarter of submissions from individual e-cigarette users made to the Australian government’s vaping reforms consultation featured text from an “astroturfing” campaign led by the tobacco and vaping industry, “bypassing conflict-of-interest” declaration requirements, a study has found.
The World Health Organization defines astroturfing as the faking of a grassroots movement that in reality is being controlled by a hidden multinational company or organisation, in this case tobacco and vaping companies.
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Continue reading...Children’s commissioner points to research showing some are so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate in school
The children’s commissioner for England has urged ministers to crack down on the “insidious” marketing of vapes to young people, which is leaving them so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate on lessons.
Rachel de Souza said the government would be “failing a generation” if these “highly addictive and sometimes dangerous products” were allowed to become mainstream.
Continue reading...Promotional samples dodge rules forbidding sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s, who are vaping in rapidly increasing numbers
Retailers will no longer be able to hand out free samples of vapes to children after ministers announced plans to close a legal loophole.
Although it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s, it is not illegal for retailers and marketing firms to hand out free samples. This is because vapes are not covered by the tobacco advertising rules prohibiting free distribution, as they are not considered a tobacco product.
Continue reading...Research investigates the ‘revolving door’ between the tobacco industry and politics and how it influences policy
Understanding the links between tobacco companies, their lobbyists and Australian politics “was like doing a complex, 5,000-piece jigsaw with many missing or blank pieces”, Cancer Council NSW researcher Melissa Jones says.
In research that took several months, Jones and her colleagues found almost half (48%) of internal tobacco company lobbyists held positions in state, territory or federal government before or after working in the tobacco industry.
Continue reading...Known links to tobacco multinationals and vaping lobby groups omitted in submissions to federal government consultation on reform
Organisations and executives with known links to big tobacco and vaping companies have failed to declare them in submissions to a major government consultation on vaping reforms aimed at protecting children from nicotine addiction.
The submission of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) chief executive, Theo Foukkare, to the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s vaping reforms consultation on behalf of the AACS states “no” in response to the question: “Have you or your organisation ever received services, assistance or support (whether monetary or non-monetary in nature) from the tobacco industry and/or e-cigarette industry?”
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Continue reading...Michael Aron praised facility part-owned by British American Tobacco at ribbon-cutting event in 2019
A UK ambassador took part in the opening ceremony of a Jordanian cigarette factory part-owned by British American Tobacco (BAT) and praised the new facility in a televised interview, in the latest example of British diplomats breaching strict guidelines against mixing with the tobacco industry overseas.
The envoy stood at the ribbon as it was cut and later appeared in promotional material on the tobacco company’s website, but no record of his presence at the event was kept by the British embassy in Amman because the event was not considered a “formal meeting”.
Continue reading...Ruling is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling
Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain.
The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging.
Continue reading...The country is believed to be the first to implement an annually rising legal smoking age
New Zealand has introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those aged 14 and under from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in world-first legislation to outlaw smoking for the next generation.
Associate health minister Ayesha Verrall said at the law’s passing on Tuesday: “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.”
Continue reading...E-cigarette company, whose products are blamed for a surge in youth vaping, also faces new marketing restrictions
The electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440m to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.
William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal on Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to investigate Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.
Continue reading...Regulators say ‘scientific issues’ warrant further review of its decision to bar products from sale in US
The Food and Drug Administration will continue to allow Juul to sell its products while the vaping company appeals a recent ban, the agency said on Tuesday.
The FDA wrote on Twitter that there were “scientific issues” warranting additional review of the agency’s ruling last month, which ordered the company to remove its e-cigarettes from the US marketplace.
Continue reading...The company requested the hold while it appeals the sales ban which would have required it to immediately halt its business
Juul can continue to sell its electronic cigarettes, at least for now, after a federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a government ban.
Juul filed an emergency motion earlier Friday, seeking the temporary hold while it appeals the sales ban.
Continue reading...Action is part of effort by Food and Drug Administration to bring scientific scrutiny to multibillion-dollar vaping industry
US health officials ordered the vape company Juul to stop selling its popular electronic cigarettes on Thursday, the latest blow against the tobacco industry by the Biden administration.
The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of regulatory delays.
Continue reading...‘Poison in every puff’ message proposed amid government concern photo warnings on tobacco packages have lost impact
Canada is poised to become the first country in the world to require that a warning be printed on every cigarette.
The move builds on Canada’s mandate to include graphic photo warnings on tobacco products’ packaging, a policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago.
Continue reading...Effort to ‘help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers’ likely to face stiff opposition from big tobacco
The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a long-awaited proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, a major victory for anti-smoking advocates but one that could dent sales at tobacco companies.
The proposal, which comes a year after the agency announced the plan, still needs to be finalized, and could take years to implement as it is likely to face stiff opposition from big tobacco.
Continue reading...Experts suggest all-time low smoking rates may be thanks to less socializing and more time with kids
In the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, more Americans drank heavily and used illicit drugs – but apparently fewer smoked.
US cigarette smoking dropped to a new all-time low in 2020, with one in eight adults saying they were current smokers, according to survey data released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adult e-cigarette use also dropped, the CDC reported.
Continue reading...Owner of brands including Rothmans had said it would still sell products – but will now pull out
British American Tobacco has reversed its decision to continue selling cigarettes and other nicotine products in Russia, putting the sudden change of heart down to its “ethos and values”.
The owner of brands including Rothmans and Lucky Strike said it would pull out of Russia after all, two days after breaking ranks with companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s by refusing to quit its operations there.
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