China: Tobacco and Belt and Road Initiative – the New ‘Go Global’?

China National Tobacco Company (CNTC) is the world’s largest manufacturer of cigarettes, accounting for a third of the total global output. The powerful state-owned tobacco monopoly, previously focused on the vast domestic market with 350 million smokers, has been nurturing growing global ambitions since the early 2000s. Faced by an increasingly saturated domestic market and the potential for stricter tobacco control regulation, CNTC adopted the central government’s “Go Global” strategy in 2003, to replace lost domestic revenue with exports. It has since expanded its global reach to 20 countries, operating through 34 off-shore facilities, which include sales offices, manufacture plants, and specialized procurement companies.

2019-08-01
blogs.bmj.com

Traditional Cigarettes Increasingly Replaced by E-Cigarettes

The popularity of traditional cigarettes is waning, as e-cigarettes have seen a significant boost in sales this year. The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported that cigarette sales reached 1.67 billion packs between January and June this year, which was a 0.6 percent decrease from last year. Among them, traditional cigarettes recorded sales of 1.47 billion packs, which was a 3.6 percent decrease since last year. Compared with 2014, before the price hike in cigarettes, sales have decreased by 27.6 percent. E-cigarettes, including IQOS and lil, recorded sales of 190 million packs, increasing by 24.2 percent since last year.

2019-08-01
koreabizwire.com

WHO Ignores Evidence

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a new report “On The Global Tobacco Epidemic”. It has been funded by anti-vape billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who also acts as WHO Global ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries Founder. Understandably, the document has been strongly criticised from many individuals and bodies. Introducing the report, Bloomberg says: “This report shines a spotlight on global efforts to help people quit tobacco, and it details some of our most important gains. India, for example, has greatly increased (..)"

2019-08-01
planetofthevapes.co.uk

NZ’s Vaping Industry Fears The Gov. May Restrict Nicotine Levels

New Zealand’s Ministry of Health and the Health Promotion Agency, have just launched a website that promotes vaping as a safer smoking alternative. Additionally later this year, the Kiwi government is expected to roll out another campaign targeted at promoting vaping as a way to stop smoking. “Māori women are the focus of this campaign due to their high smoking rate: 32.5 percent compared with the country’s total rate of 13.8 percent,” said Ms Salesa.

2019-08-01
vapingpost.com

Finally, Information About the Scientific Inquiry Into Vaping, but Questions Remain

Finally, the government has released some details of the Scientific Inquiry into vaping, in response to a question by Senator Cory Bernardi in the Senate yesterday. Surprisingly, there are no terms of reference for the review. The inquiry was announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt in November 2018. However, there has been very little information forthcoming since then. The study is to be carried by out the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University, by the highly regarded epidemiologist, Professor Emily Banks (pictured above) and her research team, listed here. The grant for the project of $750,000 commenced on 27 February 2019.

2019-08-01
athra.org.au

Vaping Giant JUUL Faces Another Probe of Its Marketing

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong launched an investigation into e-cigarette company Juul Opens a New Window. in light of a recent Yale study. Their investigation will focus on smoking cessation claims and marketing practices. This comes on the heels of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announcing a lawsuit Opens a New Window. against the national retailer of electronic cigarette and vaping products, alleging the company violated state law by targeting minors for sales of its merchandise (..)

2019-08-01
foxbusiness.com