FLER at APE

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC), a subsidiary of Altria Group, announced plans to close its Nashville manufacturing facility by 2028 and consolidate production operations at a new facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a Federal Register notice finalizing the addition of 18 constituents to the established list of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents in tobacco products. With the update, the list now contains 111 constituents. FDA also proposed adding three more constituents to the list and opened a public comment period ending at 11:59 p.m. ET on May 26, 2026.

Philip Morris Japan announced that it will launch “TEREA Blossom Pearl,” a new tobacco stick for IQOS ILUMA, on May 11. The new product will expand the TEREA lineup to 27 variants. It features a capsule menthol flavor with strawberry and subtle herbal notes and is priced at JPY 620, or about USD 4.14 based on an assumed rate of 1 JPY = 0.00668 USD. The exchange-rate source should be verified and added.

Five years after Canada’s federal government announced plans to restrict vaping flavors nationwide, Health Minister Marjorie Michel has not said when or whether the measure will still proceed. In 2021, Health Canada said it planned to limit vaping flavors nationwide to mint, menthol and tobacco, citing evidence that fruity and sweet flavors appeal to youth.

RELX’s booth in Prague brought together vaping devices, RELX-branded e-liquids, oral nicotine products and a nasal product concept in one display. Rather than centering the booth on a single hardware line, the company presented multiple product paths side by side.

2Firsts held a U.S. compliance briefing in Shenzhen to help vaping, heated tobacco and nicotine pouch supply chain companies strengthen PMTA support capabilities. The event focused on supplier documentation, quality systems, traceability, TPMF/TPMP pathways, age verification and customer audit readiness as U.S. compliance expectations increasingly extend deeper into the nicotine supply chain.