E-Cig China

[1] On March 22, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China stated that the "Import and Export (Amendment) Bill 2023" will be gazetted, allowing alternative smoking products (referring to e-cigarettes) to be transported overseas via sea, air, road, and air through Hong Kong. The bill will be introduced to the Legislative Council for consideration 2Firsts will continue to report on this issue, so stay tuned.

[2] On March 27, the Qinghai police cracked a series of illegal sales of e-cigarettes. They seized more than 372,000 non-national standard e-cigarette cartridges and smoking sets, totaling 150 million yuan.

[3] Recently, the Public Security Bureau of Jiangjin District, Chongqing City, together with the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau of the district, successfully cracked a case of illegal production and sales of e-cigarettes involving 75 people, and the initial investigation found that the amount involved was more than 30 million (Yuan). This is the first typical case in Southwest China where the criminal network of illegal production of e-cigarettes integrated with production, supply, and marketing has been completely eliminated.

International News

#Europe #

[1] On March 30, 2Firsts in London News Center visited the E-cigarette Distribution and Sales Channels Center in Manchester, UK, to understand the impact of ELFBAR's "e-liquid exceeding the standard" incident on the local distributor's business. Some dealers said that many specialty stores were afraid to purchase the products involved; some dealers said that the sales of ELFBAR increased after the incident.

[2] On March 31, 2Firsts learned from Heaven Gifts that ELFBAR had entered the French market for the first time in February and planned to put it on the shelves in 4,000 retail stores. The distributors are SPF (Fimar-Marty, Pipal, SPP, and Socopi).

[3] Some 900,000 citizens in Finland are cigarette users. However, the country's strict restrictions on e-cigarettes have allowed for a thriving market for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as chewing tobacco and nicotine patches, which can be easily purchased nationwide without a prescription.

# Asia #

[1] On March 27, IQOS ILUMA launched the first cooperative accessory - IQOS ILUMA x kolor limited edition accessories, which were officially launched in 8 IQOS stores in Japan.

# South America #

[1] On March 24, Cuban media reported that tobacco leaf production in Pinar del Rio de Janeiro faces great difficulties. Affected by the hurricane, the province's 2023 harvest is expected to be less than half of the planned target (11,200 hectares).

[2] According to statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) of Zimbabwe, the rejection rate of tobacco auctions in Zimbabwe is 60.78% higher than last year. According to the research report of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Zimbabwe is the largest tobacco exporter in Africa and the second largest flue-cured tobacco exporter in the world after Brazil, with an export rate of 99% of its annual output. It is reported that the country's tobacco is exported to 34 countries, and China is the first consumer country.

[3] According to the Sounds and Colors report, the annual growth rate of the disposable electronic cigarette market in Latin America is expected to reach 5.74% in 2028.

# Other #

[1] On March 25, Egypt's Eastern Company raised the average price of each pack of cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco pipe by 2-3 Egyptian pounds.

International Regulations

# Americas Region #

[1] On March 23, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a new official webpage. This page is used to display all citizen petitions related to tobacco products received by the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to improve the transparency of FDA review.

[2] Recently, according to Hawaiian media KITV, Hawaii's bill banning flavored tobacco products (HB511) has not scheduled a hearing before March 23, indicating that the legislation will not continue to advance on the state assembly agenda. This means that Hawaii will not ban flavored vaping products for now.

[3] On March 24, according to US media MyStateline, the Illinois State Senate passed a bill to ban the use of e-cigarettes and other nicotine-smoking devices in public this week.

[4] On March 27, the state of Minnesota in the United States began to select jury members for the lawsuit between JUUL and Altria, officially opening the case against JUUL and Altria. The trial is expected to end on April 14.

[5] On March 28, the US House of Representatives Oversight and Accountability Committee launched an investigation into the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). During the investigation, the committee made six requests to the FDA and recommended that it publish a list of products under review.

[6] On March 29, the US Senate of Vermont approved a bill (Bill S.18) banning flavored tobacco and e-cigarette products, which will be transferred to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

[7] On March 28, the US Senate of Kansas passed a bill that raised the minimum legal age for selling, purchasing, or possessing nicotine products such as cigarettes and electronic cigarettes in the state from 18 to 21.

[8] Recently, the Georgia Senate passed Bill SB47, which bans the use of e-cigarettes in public places.

[9] Recently, the Canadian police cracked several e-cigarette cases targeting minors. The Canadian Electronic Cigarette Association believes that the current penalties for retailers selling to minors in Canada are too loose and have not played a practical deterrent effect, leading to an increase in the frequency of minors using electronic cigarettes.

[10] On March 27, the Argentine National Ministry of Health issued Resolution No. 565/2023 in the Official Gazette, stating that the import, distribution, marketing, and promotion of heat-not-burn products (PTC) will be banned. It is reported that Argentina banned e-cigarettes in 2011.

# U.K #

[1] John Dunne, Co-Founder and current Director-General of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said that about 459 million electronic cigarette products are sold in the UK every year, causing serious environmental pollution. Therefore, measures to reduce tobacco harm should include the management of electronic waste.

[2] According to news from 2FIRSTS London Center on March 28, the UK UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) held the April Electronic Cigarette Industry Conference in Churchill Hall, London. Adam Afriyie, a British House of Commons member, and Jason, the 2FIRSTS business managers, were invited to attend. Adam Afriyie said that if the problem of minors and illegal sales of disposable e-cigarettes in the UK market is not resolved, he will support the ban on disposable e-cigarettes.

[3] On March 28th and 29th, the British "Sun" and "Daily Mail" successively reported that the UK might ban disposable e-cigarettes. According to reports, the country's public health minister Neil O'Brien has announced new crackdowns on disposable e-cigarette products and counterfeit and inferior nicotine products, or they will be banned.

[4] On March 30, according to a report from the Derbyshire Times, since June 2022, Derbyshire Council's trading standards committee has seized more than 8,000 illegal e-cigarettes from about 60 local businesses. In addition, its data shows that public complaints against merchants selling non-compliant products have increased fivefold in the past year.

# Russia #

[1] On March 23 at Moscow time, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin (Мишустин) stated at the regular meeting of the State Duma that he would consider the proposal to ban e-cigarettes proposed by the president of the House of Representatives and representatives. In this regard, Liang Jiasen, an expert in the Russian e-cigarette industry, said that Russia had implemented a strong regulatory model on the e-cigarette market by using the "honest label," The regulatory effect will be tested after April 1. If the regulatory measures are practical, there is a high probability that Russia will continue to use "strong regulation" instead of "full prohibition"; if the illegal e-cigarette market is still rampant, the possibility of banning e-cigarettes in the country is very high.

[2] On March 29, 2FIRSTS learned from the official website of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that the Eurasian Economic Commission had determined a unique numbering structure for cargo transportation using navigational seals. These include alcohol, cigarettes, and tobacco products (including electronic cigarette products).

# Other Country in Europe #

[1] Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has officially announced a nationwide ban on the sale of nicotine pouches.

[2] According to Latvian TV, on March 23, Latvia will ban flavored e-cigarettes and other nicotine products that look like candy, snacks, and toys. It is reported that Latvia is one of the countries with the most significant number of smokers in Europe, with more than one-third of adults smoking in the country.

# Asia #

[1] Recently, the Philippine National Tobacco Administration (NTA) proposed adding tobacco to the 2016 Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act to curb tobacco smuggling in the country.

[2] On March 28, the Malaysian Poisons Board announced that it would hold a meeting to discuss the removal of nicotine from the Poisons Act. If the proposal passes, Malaysia will allow the legal sale of e-cigarettes.

[3] On March 29, the Malaysian Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA) expressed its support for the government's regulatory initiatives on electronic cigarette products and believed that removing nicotine from the control list of the Poisons Act (Poisons Act) was a positive signal.

Company News

Philip Morris International (PMI)

[1] On March 27, 2FIRSTS learned that since 2017, Philip Morris International (PMI) 's South Korean foundry Yangsan Factory (양산공장은) had invested more than 300 billion won in the production of heat-not-burn devices to ensure the needs of the Korean market.

[2] According to a report by Argentine media Clarin on March 29, due to the complete ban on heat-not-burn products in Argentina on March 27, Massalin Particulares, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), announced that it has decided to suspend the planned investment of 300 million US dollars to produce IQOS.

Altria

[1] On March 23, Altria hosted an investor day at the New York Stock Exchange. At the meeting, Altria stated that its sales volume of smoke-free products in 2022 will be 800 million units, and it is expected to increase by at least 35% by 2028. The revenue will reach USD 5 billion, of which USD 2 billion will come from smoke-free products. Altria also released two smoke-free products at the meeting-heated tobacco capsule SWIC and nicotine pouch on! PLUS.

Huabao International 

[2] On March 31, Huabao International (00336) released its 2022 annual report showing that its sales revenue in 2022 will be about 3.829 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.4%. It would focus on the particular production of heat-not-burn reconstituted tobacco leaves and the development of overseas markets in the future.

Other

[1] On March 23, China Boton Group released its 2022 annual report. The annual report disclosed that its operating income in 2022 will be 2.325 billion yuan, an increase of 1.7%. Its profit will be 84.5 million Yuan, a decrease of 62.5%. Among them, the e-cigarette product segment and the flavor enhancer segment together contributed approximately 84.3% of the total revenue.

[2] ELENTEC, a well-known Korean mobile phone accessories manufacturer, will transform new businesses, such as electronic cigarettes and household energy storage systems (ESS), into the company's main business to ensure performance growth. Elentec's e-cigarette business is expected to grow by 10% to 319.3 billion won next year.

[3] On March 27, Xiamen Intretech Inc stated on the investor interaction platform that the company mainly provides customers with research, development, and manufacturing services for heat-not-burn electronic cigarettes. This product is not a disposable electronic cigarette product. It is reported that Xiamen Intretech Inc is engaged in OEM production of IQOS widgets.

[4] On March 28, Suzhou Berta Data Technology showed that Shenzhen Itsuwa Technology obtained a utility model patent named " Simulated Electronic Cigarette"; the patent application number is CN202223095767.6.