FLER at APE

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company has introduced Vuse Pro prefilled pods in Peach, Berry, Watermelon and Fresh Mint in selected U.S. states. Vuse’s U.S. website says the pods are intended for use with existing Vuse Alto devices. Each contains 2.0 mL of e-liquid at 5.0% nicotine by weight, uses nicotine salts and is offered in two- and four-pod packs. Reynolds said the rollout includes mandatory ID scanning for every purchase, purchase limits, stronger retailer-accountability requirements and strict age-restricted marketing standards. The four pods have not received marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

South Korea's Constitutional Court has upheld fixed taxes on nicotine-containing e-cigarette liquids based on solution volume, ruling that challenged provisions imposing KRW 370 per milliliter in individual consumption tax and KRW 628 per milliliter in tobacco consumption tax do not violate the Constitution. The cases stemmed from historical disputes involving importers that reported nicotine as being extracted from tobacco stems rather than leaves. South Korea has since broadened its tobacco definition to include synthetic nicotine, while current tax laws provide reduced rates for certain products not derived from tobacco.

The National Association of Tobacco Outlets is calling for more FDA marketing authorizations, greater transparency in the PMTA process and continued enforcement against unauthorized e-cigarettes, even as its executive director, David Spross, points to recent regulatory developments as signs of progress. At the state level, excise taxes, flavor restrictions and vapor product directories remain major issues for tobacco retailers. By August 2026, 17 states had enacted laws establishing state-managed e-cigarette directories or similar systems.

The U.S. FDA has consolidated two tobacco establishment registration and product listing forms into a redesigned Form FDA 3741 covering all regulated product categories, including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches. The current requirements remain limited to domestic establishments. Separately, the FDA has proposed extending registration and product listing requirements to foreign manufacturers, signaling greater regulatory attention to manufacturing entities and product-level information across the tobacco and nicotine supply chain.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, an Altria Group company, has broken ground on an approximately $250 million manufacturing expansion in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The roughly 270,000-square-foot facility is expected to create more than 200 jobs and absorb processing, manufacturing and packaging operations currently split between Hopkinsville and Nashville, Tennessee. USSTC previously said production at its Nashville facility is expected to wind down by early 2028. The project forms part of Altria’s broader effort to modernize and consolidate its U.S. smokeless tobacco manufacturing network.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled that STIIIZY had not shown that the redesigned cannabis-vape products covered by its latest request fall outside an ITC limited exclusion order tied to PAX Labs patents. CBP accepted some of STIIIZY’s claim-construction and non-infringement arguments, but the company did not address two additional claims in the same patent. Earlier STIIIZY redesigned cartridges and certain associated components imported with them had received separate CBP clearance.