FLER at APE

Shopify has instructed merchants using its web-hosting services to remove vape products from their online stores by July 8, 2026. The policy expands beyond illegal products and applies to all electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), marking a broader shift in online platform oversight of nicotine sales.

KT&G will launch the lil Tonino Lamborghini heated tobacco device in Seoul on September 15, 2026. The product introduces a new heating technology called Flashwave Heating, which uses microwaves to heat tobacco sticks internally and delivers a manufacturer-rated heat-up time of about three seconds. The device features an all-metal aluminum body, a color display and a dedicated GUI, and launches alongside a new line of NAU tobacco sticks that are incompatible with existing lil consumables. Korean media describe the product as KT&G's first new heated tobacco platform since lil AIBLE was introduced in 2022.

The Philippine Bureau of Customs said it intercepted nine containers of misdeclared vape and vape-related products from China at the Manila International Container Port, with an estimated value of about ₱137 millionor, about $2.22 million.

Wang Gongcheng, deputy administrator of China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, met KT&G Chief Operating Officer Lee Sang-hak in Shanghai on September 1, according to Oriental Tobacco News. The meeting comes as China seeks public comment on a draft mandatory national standard for heated cigarettes. The report did not disclose the subjects discussed or indicate whether heated tobacco products or market access were addressed.

The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s refusal to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s 2025 electronic nicotine delivery systems law, allowing rules requiring covered products to be U.S.-made or FDA-authorized to remain in effect.

Nasdaq-listed AIR Global has invested $20 million in preferred shares of Canadian vaporization technology company Greentank, deepening a partnership established in 2023. AIR gains a board nomination right, access to new technologies, enhanced commercial terms and long-term supply assurances, while retaining an option to increase its stake. Greentank’s Quantum Chip platform powers Crown Switch and forms part of AIR’s planned U.S. PMTA dossier, linking capital investment more closely with product technology, regulatory evidence and supply-chain control.