FLER at APE

According to Euronews, the World Health Organization (WHO) says its European Region—53 countries across Europe and Central Asia—is projected to remain the world’s largest tobacco consumer by 2030. While overall tobacco use is declining, e-cigarettes and flavoured nicotine products are capturing a new generation.

China Boton Group reported its results for the year ended December 31, 2025. Revenue was RMB 1.496 billion, down about 9.5% from RMB 1.653 billion in 2024. Gross profit was RMB 377.1 million, with a gross margin of 25.2%, and the group recorded a net loss of RMB 1.000 billion for the year.

Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE) has registered a non-legislative motion (PNL) in Congress seeking to curb the use of vapes and nicotine pouches by restricting sales to authorised channels and banning sales online and in non-specialist shops. The proposal says the current “lack of control” in commercialisation facilitates tax evasion and breaches existing health and environmental rules.

ABF Deputy Commissioner Tim Fitzgerald visited Beijing for talks with China’s STMA. The meeting follows several exchanges between Australian enforcement agencies and China’s tobacco regulator in recent years. The discussions come as Australia intensifies efforts to combat illicit tobacco and vaping products, including large seizures at the border, while the country’s strict tobacco and vape policies continue to spark debate over their impact on the growth of black markets.

South Korea’s revised Tobacco Business Act will take effect on April 24, bringing synthetic nicotine liquid vapes into the legal definition of tobacco and subjecting both retailers and manufacturers to formal regulation.

China’s tobacco regulator has undergone a top leadership change, according to an official announcement on March 20.