HEADLINE

Philip Morris Japan announced the launch of a new TEREA heated tobacco stick for the IQOS ILUMA series, “TEREA Stellar Pearl,” featuring a crushable capsule mint profile. The product will go on sale in Japan through offline retail channels from Jan. 19 and will be rolled out on the company’s official e-commerce store from Jan. 29, priced at 580 yen (about $3.6) per pack.

According to UNN, law enforcement in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region disrupted a group accused of selling illegally produced nicotine-containing mixtures and e-cigarette e-liquids without licenses or permits. The Prosecutor General’s Office said the overall value of the seized items exceeds UAH 12 million (about US$276,000). Motions were filed to arrest the seized property, and decisions are pending on necessary forensic examinations. (FX used: 1 UAH = US$0.023, as provided by the user.)

Scottish retailers, through the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), are calling for tougher action and more investment to tackle a “deepening black market” in illegal vapes, including illegal sales to children. SGF warns the problem will worsen, with negative health impacts, if incoming regulations on vaping product sales are not carefully crafted and if shopkeepers’ views are not heard.

In Nepal’s Mustang district, authorities seized 80 cartons of e-cigarettes valued at NPR 22,459,320 (approximately US$150,000) in Lomanthang Rural Municipality-4, Nechung, and detained a 32-year-old man, Pema Lama. The account says the e-cigarettes were allegedly brought illegally from China three to four days earlier and loaded near the Korala Nepal–China border point before being intercepted.

Kiripost reports that authorities seized more than 2,000 electronic smoking devices and arrested two alleged distributors in Phnom Penh’s Toul Kork district, prompting health advocates to warn that inconsistent enforcement is undermining Cambodia’s crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes and shisha.

The Ministry of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires issued a health alert to the public and health teams over increased circulation, promotion and consumption of nicotine pouches. It said the disposable oral products dissolve in the mouth without combustion or vapor and are marketed as tobacco-free, but contain nicotine and have a high addictive potential.

A Thai report says Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office Santi Piyatat is advancing efforts toward a vape-free society. On Jan. 12, a seminar at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation’s learning center presented a study covering six regions of Thailand on spending related to cigarettes and e-cigarettes and the behavior of different smoker groups.