The tobacco industry

Central to the tobacco industry are companies which are involved in the manufacture and distribution of tobacco products.¹  Manufacture and distribution are maintained and promoted by the companies through marketing, research and development, finance and business services, and lobbying.

The same companies may also be involved in tobacco leaf growing and processing, or different companies may be contracted to do this.  Other industries support the tobacco supply chain, such as the makers of cigarette paper and packaging, and manufacturers of machinery for tobacco factories.

• See the Tobacco Supply Chain page and database on TobaccoTactics

Tobacco company

A tobacco company sells cigarettes and may sell other tobacco products, such as cigars or rolling tobacco. Some tobacco companies also sell nicotine products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

Heated tobacco (sometimes called ‘heat-not-burn’) is a tobacco product and therefore a company selling heated tobacco is described as a tobacco company, even if they do not sell other tobacco products.

• See Tobacco Industry Product Terminology for more information on how tobacco companies describe their products and the terms used on TobaccoTactics.

Transnational tobacco company (TTC)

A tobacco company, or corporation, operating in more than one country. ² Transnational companies may specialise their operations in particular countries. For example, the head office may be in one country, research and development functions in another, and financial services in a third.² . Transnational subsidiaries  have some decision-making powers and can adapt their activities to local needs.³ The term ‘multinational’ is also used to describe companies  operating  across borders, but company management operations are centralised in the country where they are headquartered,² and their subsidiaries have less autonomy.³

TobaccoTactics uses the term transnational tobacco company (TTC) and features the ‘Big Four’:

• Philip Morris International (PMI)
• British American Tobacco (BAT)
• Japan Tobacco International (JTI)
• Imperial Brands

The TTCs are limited liability companies or corporations (Public Limited Company, or PLC in the UK).⁴⁵⁶⁷ It is possible for the public to buy shares but the company is controlled  by a Board of Directors (who may also be shareholders).  Limited liability means that shareholders’ personal wealth is not at risk to pay company debts.  The TTCs are ‘listed companies’ which means their shares are listed, bought and sold on a particular stock market.⁸

Company Structure

Parent company

This is a company that controls other companies but does not sell products or services itself.  Sometimes these are called a ‘holding’ or ‘umbrella’ company.⁹¹⁰ For example, Imperial Brands is the parent company of Imperial Tobacco among others.

Subsidiary

A subsidiary is a company which is controlled by another company (its parent).¹⁰¹¹¹²

A company may be a wholly owned subsidiary with the parent company owning 100% of the shares sometimes through an ‘intermediate parent’ if the immediate parent is also a wholly owned subsidiary.  TTC company structures can involve many intermediate parents.¹³

A company can buy shares in another company. If it owns the majority (>50%) of shares, and therefore more voting rights than other shareholders, it can appoint or remove the Board of Directors. A majority share of over 50% is sometimes called a ‘controlling share’.  Buying more shares can be a way to take over a company (see for example PMI’s acquisition of Swedish Match)

The US National Securities Agency (SEC) requires that companies report only on ‘significant subsidiaries’, for example where the subsidiary is responsible for more than 10% of the parent company’s assets or income.¹⁴   PMI is headquartered in the US and so follows these guidelines in its Annual Reporting.

Tobacco companies have multiple subsidiaries in other countries. For example, in the early 2020s BAT had tobacco growing subsidiaries in 23 countries and as of 2023 has tobacco product (i.e. cigarette) factories in 44 countries (see the Supply Chain Database).

Some TTC subsidiaries have been set up to develop or invest in products other than cigarettes. These are sometimes named ‘Ventures’ although they are not external companies.¹⁵

For example:

• BAT owns Nicoventures and BTomorrow Ventures (see BAT)
• Imperial Brands owns Fontem Ventures
• PMI owns a venture capital company called PMI Equity Partner

Joint venture

A company set up by more than one company. Depending on the percentage shares each holds, the relationship is either between equal partners, or a senior and junior partner (in some cases partners).¹⁶ For example:

• BAT joint venture with China National Tobacco Corporation called CTBAT, based in Hong Kong
• JT Group and Altria joint venture to market heated tobacco products through their subsidiaries, JTI and Philip Morris USA respectively
• SMPM International, a failed joint venture between PMI & Swedish Match, dissolved in 2015

Associate

When a minority share (under 50%) is held in another company, that company is described as an ‘associate’, rather than a subsidiary.¹⁷ BAT and Imperial Brands, headquartered in the UK,  list associates in their Annual Reports. For example, BAT describes Kamaran in Yemen, and ITC in India, as its associates, stating that it owns 31% and 29% respectively.¹⁸ Imperial Brands lists Lao Tobacco among its associates incorporated overseas stating it owns 44%.¹⁹  In the US, the legal definition is direct or indirect ownership of 10% of a company.²⁰

Affiliate

This is a broad term which can include:  parent companies; sibling/sister companies controlled by the same parent; subsidiaries; and associates.²¹²²  In their annual reports both BAT and PMI refer to companies which they, and their competitors, own as “affiliates”.¹⁸²³

Commercial relationships

Partnership

Partnership has multiple meanings. A business partnership is an arrangement between two or more individuals or companies, who jointly oversee business activities.²⁴²⁵ Tobacco companies do not usually have partnerships with other tobacco companies, although they may have partnership type agreements to collaborate in specific areas.

They may also have partnerships which indirectly support their business interests, for example with international bodies, or civil society NGOs (part of the ‘third sector’ in the UK) organisations.

• See also Tobacco Industry Tactics: Corporate Social Responsibility

Licensing agreement

TTC subsidiaries make money by receiving royalties from licensing trademarks to overseas subsidiaries. For example, one of BAT’s UK based subsidiaries, Rothmans of Pall Mall, owns Rothmans of Pall Mall and Royals trademarks and receives royalties from licensing these to BAT subsidiaries globally.

Some companies sell the products made by other companies under a licence agreement (or ‘under licence’). For example:

• PMI’s Marlboro cigarette is sold by multiple companies, including Altria (US)and Godfrey Philips (India)
• Between PMI and South Korean company KT&G to market heated tobacco products
• US e-cigarette company Kaival brands produces PMI’s VEEBA single use product
• BAT had a licencing agreement with Kind Consumer to market its E-Voke nicotine inhaler, which BAT later abandoned

Sponsorship

This is a financial arrangement between a company and another company, project or activity.²⁶²⁷ The sponsoring company usually has their logo or brand name displayed on public-facing material. One example of this kind of corporate marketing used by tobacco companies is motorsport sponsorship.  Sponsorship can also be related to companies Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

• See the page on Tobacco Industry Tactics for more details and examples of marketing and CSR.

Sectors

Public, private and third sectors

The public sector is that controlled by the state.

Private sector (companies) are privately owned and not directly controlled by the state, although the state may hold shares or interests.

The third sector includes ‘not-for-profit’ organisations like charities and voluntary organisations.² Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) come into this category. The third sector is also referred to as civil society.²⁸

State-owned company

A company or enterprise owned by the Government of the country.²⁹ In some cases the company may not be wholly owned, but the government holds a majority share or controlling interest.³⁰³¹

For example, the Japanese government owns a one third share of Japan Tobacco Inc., the parent company of JTI, but this is not primarily a state owned company.³²

If a company is the only one in that market, it is referred to as a monopoly.³³ Examples of tobacco companies which are state-owned monopolies include:

• China National Tobacco Company (CNTC, which also sells products outside China)
• Thai Tobacco Monopoly³⁴³⁵
• VINATABA, the Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation
• Various tobacco companies in the Eastern Mediterranean region ³⁶

Monopolies do not prevent TTCs operating in a country. For example, in Vietnam the TTCs produce their brands locally through joint ventures with VINATABA.³⁷

Tobacco Control

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) defines tobacco control as:

“a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies that aim to improve the health of a population by eliminating or reducing their consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke”¹

Parties to the WHO FCTC are required to apply tobacco control measures in relation to all types of tobacco company including state-owned.

• See the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)

For WHO FCTC definitions see Article 1 of the WHO FCTC.¹

Product Regulation

For up-to-date information on tobacco regulation around the world, see the Tobacco Control Laws website, published by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK).

Since the early 2000s transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have developed interests in newer nicotine and tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches. Companies have referred to these types of product as ‘next generation products’ although product terminology changes over time. The Policy Scan Project, by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (at Johns Hopkins University) tracks and reports regulatory approaches to these newer products.

Relevant Links

Detailed explanations of Types of Corporations,  Investopedia website

What is Tobacco? STOP blog, available at exposetobacco.org

Tobacco Tactics Resources

Companies & Products (topic list)

Tobacco Industry Product Terminology

Tobacco Supply Chain

Tobacco Industry Tactics

TCRG Research

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health, A. Gilmore, A. Fabbri, F. Baum et al, The Lancet, 2023, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00013-2

References

The post Tobacco Industry: Definitions appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

• “Disposable” products are not new – transnational tobacco companies have sold ‘cig-a-likes’ in the past and some still do
• Transnational companies have all launched new products to catch some of this rapidly growing market
• Company marketing material emphasises consumer convenience
• There are concerns around increasing youth use of e-cigarettes and how much single use products are responsible
• Products contain plastic and lithium batteries are often discarded and there is increasing evidence of environmental harm
• There have been calls to regulate or ban these products in several countries

Background

Since 2019, there has been a rapid growth in the market for ‘disposable’, or single use, e-cigarettes with independent brands dominating the market.³⁸³⁹ In October 2023, industry analysts ECigIntelligence estimated that these products made up nearly 40% of the global e-cigarette market.⁴⁰⁴¹

Single use products have been controversial, with concerns around increasing youth use (see Box 1 below) and environmental impact leading to widespread media coverage,^4243444546 and warnings from health advocates and policy makers.^47484950 Some large UK retailers have announced that they will no longer sell single use products.⁵¹⁵²

Despite their sustainability claims,⁵³⁵⁴⁵⁵ three of the ‘big 4’ of transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) launched new single use e-cigarettes in 2022 to compete in this fast-growing market, saying that this was to meet consumer demand and a desire for convenience. However, single use products are not new, or even new to TTCs. Earlier products resembled cigarettes, referred to as ‘cig-a-likes’, or pens. As of early 2023 some of these products were still being marketed alongside the new bar-type products (see below).

Box 1: Increasing youth use of e-cigarettes in UK
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) reported survey data showing that in 2023, 69% of young e-cigarette users were using “disposable” products, compared to 7% in 2020, and an increase from 52% the previous year.⁵⁶⁵⁷ Over the same period youth use of all e-cigarettes more than doubled.⁵⁶⁵⁷
ASH Scotland noted that, according to the 200-21 Scottish government census, use of e-cigarettes in Scotland had more than doubled in five years.⁵⁸⁵⁹

Calls for bans and taxes

There have been calls to ban single use e-cigarettes in a number of countries, including the UK,^6061626364 Ireland,⁶⁵⁶⁶ Estonia,⁶⁷ Germany,⁶⁸ France,⁶⁹ and Switzerland.⁷⁰

Bans announced

After running a consultation on youth vaping,⁷¹⁷² the UK government, in January 2024, announced a proposal to ban single-use e-cigarettes – “a key driver behind the alarming rise in youth vaping” – alongside other measures to prevent the sale of e-cigarettes to children.⁷³⁷⁴ ASH had proposed a specific tax on single use products in preference to a ban. In March 2024, the UK government instead announced plans to increase taxes on all e-cigarettes not included in the ban, according to level of nicotine.⁴⁶⁷⁵⁷⁶

• for details of the broader UK ‘Smoke free generation’ legislation see Tobacco Industry Interference with Endgame Policies

The Scottish Government announced in January 2023 that it intended to ban single use products,⁷⁷ and commissioned a review into their environmental impact.⁷⁸ New regulations were announced in February 2024, under existing environmental protection legislation.^{79 8081}

Bans have also been announced in Belgium,⁸² France,⁸³ Poland,⁸⁴ Australia,⁸⁵⁸⁶ and New Zealand.⁸⁷⁸⁸

Challenges enforcing regulations

In the UK any e-cigarette product on sale must be notified to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is responsible for checking the data submitted by manufacturers and importers.⁸⁹⁹⁰ If this information meets the required checks products are listed on the MHRA website and can be legally sold on the UK market.⁹¹ While the MHRA can investigate reports of non-compliance, local Trading Standards officials (in multiple separate local authorities) are responsible for checking that products on sale match the information supplied to the MHRA.⁸⁹⁹² This is increasingly challenging as huge numbers of new products are added to the database: on 30 March 2023, a search of the MHRA product database for ‘disposable’ e-cigarettes produced over 10, 000 entries for products listed since January 2021, with over 1000 new entries in two months, an average of around 200 per week.⁹¹ By July this figure has risen to nearly 12,000.⁹¹

In the US some companies  argued that the use of synthetic nicotine in single use e-cigarettes means that they are not ‘tobacco’ products and therefore fell outside the remit of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).⁹³ Proposals to tighten regulation were welcomed by US e-cigarette market leader JUUL Labs (which at the time was part-owned by Altria):

“illegally marketed and illicit products and products designed to evade federal and state oversight undermine harm reduction and a responsible e-vapor category.”⁹³⁹⁴

In April 2022 a law came into force specifying that the FDA could regulate products with nicotine from any source, closing this loophole.⁹⁵ In June 2023, at an investor conference, BAT CEO Taddeu Marroco described the enforcement of the regulations for synthetic nicotine as “very weak”.⁹⁶

Fast growing market

The value of the global market for single use products has been estimated to be between US$5 and $6billion in 2022.³⁸⁴⁶ This figure has been projected to triple in the next 10 years, according to analysis published in the tobacco industry publication Tobacco Reporter.³⁸

Market size

In 2022, market research company Euromonitor International estimated the total value of the market for all e-cigarettes and related products to be nearly US$19 billion.⁹⁷

Single use products made up 6% of global e-cigarette sales in 2021, a share which more than doubled by 2022 to 15%.⁹⁷

Euromonitor has estimated that the US market more than halved from nearly US$1 billion in 2021 to less than half a billion in 2022.⁹⁷ The US and China, where regulatory restrictions have increased,⁹⁸⁹⁹ were the only markets in decline. The value of the UK market in 2022, compared to 2021, was more than 10 times greater and worth twice as much as the whole of the US market.⁹⁷

Of the single use markets that Euromonitor records, the UK market grew the most in monetary value. Other markets, all in Europe, had also grown markedly in proportion to their 2021 value:  France, Switzerland, Slovakia and Austria had grown around ten times; the German and Greek markets had grown over 60 times.⁹⁷ This made the German market the fourth largest globally after the UK, USA and Russia.⁹⁷ The Egyptian market was not recorded in 2021 but in 2022 was estimated to be worth over US$44 million.⁹⁷ The Egyptian market was also growing.⁹⁷

Company and brand shares

Globally in 2022, the two leading single use brands were manufactured by Shenzhen Imiracle Technology: Elf Bar and Lost Mary.¹⁰⁰ (ElfBar is now known as EBDesign in the US owing to a patent dispute with a US company.)¹⁰¹

In terms of TTC global market share, in 2022, BAT’s Vuse and Imperial’s Blue held much smaller shares.  NJoy (purchased by Altria in 2023 after it withdrew investment from JUUL Labs) held a negligible share.¹⁰²¹⁰⁰

In the UK the two Shenzhen Imiracle Technology brands dominated. In the other fast-growing European markets BAT’s VUSE held larger shares than other brands.¹⁰⁰

Puff vs Bidi Stick

In 2021, two brands held a sizeable share of the global single use market: Kaival Brands’ Bidi Stick and EVO Brands’s Puff.¹⁰³ As of 2023, EVO’s products had not received market authorisation in the US and the company was facing enforcement action by the FDA.^103104105

In June 2022, Philip Morris International (PMI) reached an agreement with Kaival to manufacture, distribute and market bidi stick and forthcoming “disposable” products outside the US (see below for details).¹⁰⁶¹⁰⁷ No sales outside the US have as yet been recorded by Euromonitor but products have been reported on sale (see below).

Users switching devices?

An academic research study has suggested that users of reusable e-cigarettes may be switching to single use products.⁴⁴¹⁰⁸ A retailer magazine reported Nielsen data suggesting that disposables have negatively affected UK sales of rechargeable devices from JTI, Imperial and JUUL and BAT’s 10 Motives (although this brand also includes single use products).¹⁰⁹

Old products – new variations

Image 1: Disposable e-cigarettes (Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) ¹¹⁰

Cig-a-likes and pen shapes

The single use devices first marketed by TTCs were generally small cig-a-likes which resemble cigarettes, often with a white body and imitation filter. The nicotine containing liquid is held in a small container or cartridge which is not refillable, and the device contains a battery which is not rechargeable.¹¹¹

Pen-shaped e-cigarettes resemble a pen or laser pointer and are often larger than cig-a-likes, with more battery capacity.¹¹² Many of these devices are refillable, although TTCs have also sold single use versions (see image 1).¹¹⁰

• Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been selling pen-shaped “disposable” e-cigarettes in the US since acquiring the Logic brand in 2015.¹¹³¹¹⁴
• BAT sells a single use cig-a-like in the UK under its subsidiary brand Ten Motives.¹¹⁵ Euromonitor began recording sales of this brand in 2021.¹⁰³ By February 2022 the Ten Motives website was also selling BAT’s new bar-type disposable product ¹¹⁶
• Imperial Brands also had a single use e-cigarette shaped like a pen on sale in the US.¹¹⁷ Most of Imperial’s rechargeable products, sold under the myblu brand, received a marketing denial order from the FDA in April 2022, meaning they cannot be legally sold in the US.¹¹⁸ As of February 2023 the FDA had not made a decision on Imperial’s disposables and cig-a-like rechargeables.
• Prior to 2020, PMI focussed on developing and promoting its heated tobacco product IQOS and displayed little interest in e-cigarettes. Its rechargeable VEEV ONE – previously IQOS VEEV, and originally launched in 2020 as Mesh – is now available in some markets.

See E-cigarettes: The Basics for information on other product types

New bar-type products

In mid-2022 BAT and PMI launched new single use products within two months of each other.

In 2022 BAT referred to Vuse Go as its “first disposable – modern disposable – product”.¹¹⁹ In February 2023 it reported that it was on sale in 24 countries.¹²⁰

• For more details see E-cigarettes: British American Tobacco

In July 2022, PMI launched VEEBA, initially in Canada. Kaival Brands stated that its subsidiary Bidi Vapor’s IP, patents and development methods were used for VEEBA as part of their agreement with Philip Morris.^38121122123 VEEBA was officially launched in the UK in March 2023.¹²⁴ In mid-2023, PMI rebranded VEEBA as VEEV NOW.¹⁰⁷¹²⁵

• For more details see E-cigarettes: Philip Morris International

Imperial Brands followed, launching its single use Blu Bar in the UK in November 2022.¹²⁶

• For more details see E-cigarettes: Imperial Brands

These newer products are all bar-type rather than cig-a-likes or pen-shaped.

Nicotine salts

Like many other e-cigarettes, Vuse Go,¹²⁷ VEEBA¹²⁸ and Blu Bar,¹²⁹ all use nicotine salts. These are created when ‘freebase’ nicotine is dissolved in acid, which can make a higher dose of nicotine easier to inhale and less irritating to the throat.^130131132 This can also increase the speed and level of nicotine delivery to the user,¹³² which  has been linked to increased initiation, dependence and frequency of use among youth.^131133134135 A study in the Netherlands, published in 2022, found that single use products more often contained nicotine salts than refills.¹³²

Market motivation

In February 2023, BAT reported that the growth of the single use market had negatively impacted its e-cigarette market share in a number of countries.¹²⁰ It also stated that sales of single use products may, to some extent, replace other BAT products already on the market.¹²⁰

BAT’s Vuse Go launched first in the UK in May, which the company described as its “fastest concept to market delivery to date.”¹³⁶¹³⁷ This appears to be a response to a falling e-cigarette market share in France, Germany and the UK.  After launching Vuse Go In France and Germany BAT was able to maintain the highest markets share, and in the UK its market share stabilised.¹²⁰

In a presentation to investors in June 2022, finance and transformation director described BAT’s intention to launch new products every year:¹³⁸

“We have just opened up a new hub in China to be closer with suppliers, so we are able to develop a stronger pipeline and making sure that, for every single of these categories, we have a rhythm of reaching at every single year with novelties in the market.”¹³⁸

Imperial Brands, in a conference for investors and analysts, stated: “what we are observing is not that the market is switching from pod systems into disposables. The disposable growth goes on top of the pod-based systems”.¹³⁹

At that time Imperial said “we are clearly going to watch whether that is an opportunity that we see, long term, being part of the proposition”.¹³⁹

In February 2022, PMI stated that “profit per user” was  estimated to be similar for “disposable e-vapor” as for nicotine pouches.¹⁴⁰ Exactly one year later in another presentation to investors PMI noted that ”disposable e-vapor” was a “category where loyalty is low and things are moving very, very, very fast” and that a lack of consumer loyalty could “weaken the model to generate profit”.¹⁴¹ PMI stated that it intended to develop disposable products in “the profitable manner with the highest standard of ethic [sic] and responsibility”.¹⁴¹

In June 2023, after PMI rebranded its single use e-cigarette VEEBA as VEEV NOW,  PMI’s chief financial officer Emmanuel Babeau stated in a presentation to investors that:

“…with VEEV NOW and VEEV ONE, we have really 2 great products on disposable and closed system (…) let’s go for the market where vaping is a significant market; where there is the hope for minimum regulation today or coming soon.”¹⁴²

BAT acting against competitors

Lobbying against rivals in the US

BAT, as Reynolds American, used a ‘citizen’s petition’ to lobby the FDA to have its rival’s products removed from sale, citing use by young people.^143144145 US advocacy group the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) called BAT’s actions “shameless hypocrisy”, pointing out that BAT/Reynold’s e-cigarette Vuse was the second most popular brand among youth after Puff Bar in the US.¹⁴⁶ CTFK also noted that BAT/Reynolds was “seeking to overturn the FDA’s decision denying marketing authorization for two menthol-flavored Vuse products – a decision the FDA made precisely because of the risk these products pose to youth.”¹⁴⁶

Testing products in the UK

According to the trade publication Better Retailing,  letters sent to wholesalers showed that from 2021 BAT had been commissioning its own lab tests on single use products produced its UK competitors.¹⁴⁷ Better Retailing quoted BAT’s letter urging retailers stop selling any “non-compliant products”.¹⁴⁷ It also wrote to the MHRA, and local authority Trading Standards teams throughout the UK.¹⁴⁷¹⁴⁸

BAT said:

“Where we discover apparent compliance issues, we consider it can be constructive to share this independently certified evidence with our trade partners, regulators and enforcement agencies”.¹⁴⁷

The Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBTVA) released a statement on 21 March, saying that, while it accepted that there were issues with compliance in some products, it was:

“becoming increasingly concerned that the tobacco industry and its affiliates are using this minority non-compliance to build a narrative that the independent vape industry cannot be trusted.”¹⁴⁹¹⁵⁰

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), which at the time had tobacco company members, also put out a statement, but it did not refer to tobacco companies.¹⁵¹

In April 2023, the UK government announced that it would be launching a new “illicit vapes enforcement squad” to enforce regulations, led by Trading Standards with product tests conducted by an accredited independent laboratory.¹⁵²¹⁵³

In March 2024, BAT’s chief executive told the Financial Times that it welcomed the new tax on single-use products, saying “we love regulation”.¹⁵⁴ Later that month, he told the BBC that a ban would not work and would result in an increase in illicit trade.¹⁵⁵

Image 2: Slide for presentation at Consumer Analysts Group of New York conference, February 2023 (Source: imperialbrandsplc.com)¹⁵⁶

Promoted for convenience

When talking about single use products on their websites, and in corporate presentations, tobacco companies all refer to convenience for the consumer.

On its website, BAT promotes the product as “designed for on the go moments”,¹⁵⁷ In material directed towards investors it has referred to “the modern disposable segment with its convenient and flexible format.”¹⁵⁸ This fits with BAT’s promotion of its various products, including cigarettes, for different “moments” in the day.

In February 2022, at a consumer analysts conference in New York (CAGNY) PMI stated to potential investors that:

“Responsibly marketed disposables provide a convenient and simple entry point to adult smokers switching for the first time, and a hassle-free option for smoke-free poly-users.”¹⁴⁰

When PMI presented its financial results in July, it used the same statement, but the term “legal-age smokers” was used instead of “poly users”.¹⁵⁹ See also the section on dual and poly use on the page about IQOS heated tobacco products.

In a presentation to potential investors in early 2023, Imperial Brands referred to the “new convenient format” of its disposable blu bar (see image 2).¹⁵⁶

Fast moving consumer goods marketed for convenience or ‘On the go’ use are frequently littered, potentially increasing environmental harm.¹⁶⁰¹⁶¹

Environmental impact

The manufacturing of single use e-cigarettes, like that of other newer products, involves a range of processes that are significantly more environmentally intensive compared to the process for producing combustible cigarettes. These can include the production of plastics, the extraction of metals like lithium for electronic components, and the chemical production of nicotine-containing liquids.¹⁶² For more information see Tobacco and the Environment.

Single use e-cigarettes are classed as electronic waste and should be disposed of following the correct procedures to avoid fire hazard, and the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. ¹⁶³ However, most are improperly discarded in household waste or the environment.^46164165  This leads to e-liquid chemicals such as nicotine salts, microplastics from the plastic casing, and flammable lithium-ion batteries and associated chemicals (heavy metals, lead, mercury) in waterways and soil, and consumed by wildlife.¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁷

According to the not-for-profit Material Focus, each single use device battery contains on average 0.15g of lithium, making for an estimated 10 tonnes of this “critical” raw material being discarded  globally per year, equivalent to the batteries in around 1,200 electric vehicles.^46163164165 They also contained copper, roughly the equivalent needed for 1.6 million home electric vehicle chargers.⁴⁶ If they were not discarded after a single use, the lithium-ion batteries could be recharged or recycled into new batteries.^163164165

Despite a legal obligation, in the UK and EU, for producers of any electronics to provide recycling schemes for these products,⁴⁶ properly disposing of e-cigarettes is a difficult process, particularly for users without their own transport.¹⁶⁸ TTCs have promoted their individual recycling schemes on their websites.^{129163164169170} However, an investigation by UK newspaper The Financial Times, found that supermarket staff in London were not aware of recycling schemes for these products.⁴⁶

UK retailers face potential fines for not providing a ‘take back’ service for used e-cigarettes.¹⁷¹ Retail magazine Better Retailing reported in April 2023 that the large tobacco companies did not appear to be supporting UK retailers with the recycling of their products.¹⁷²

Relevant Links

• The environmental impact of disposable vapes, research briefing to the UK Parliament, 28 November 2022

Product regulation 
The Policy Scan Project, by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (at Johns Hopkins University) tracks and reports regulatory approaches to nicotine pouches around the world.  For information on tobacco regulation more broadly, see the Tobacco Control Laws website, published by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK).

TobaccoTactics Resources

• E-cigarettes
• E-cigarettes: The Basics
• Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Tobacco Company Brands
• Tobacco Industry Product Terminology
• Harm Reduction
• Tobacco and the Environment

TCRG Research

For a comprehensive list of all TCRG publications, including TCRG research that evaluates the impact of public health policy, go to the Bath TCRG’s list of publications.

References

The post E-cigarettes: Tobacco Company Interests in Single Use Products appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

The language used by advocates and researchers may vary widely, which can be confusing for those working within the tobacco control field, and more confusing for the public and non-specialists. There is a concern that the use of certain terms could help to promote the interests of the tobacco industry. Therefore, it is important that we carefully consider the terms we use, and how we apply them.¹⁷³

TobaccoTactics investigates and exposes the strategies of the industry and the tactics it uses to undermine public health, including through the promotion of its products. In some cases, we need to use the language and terminology that the companies use. We aim to make it clear when this is the case.

This page lists the current terms used on TobaccoTactics to refer to products – old and new. It gives some background and context, and outlines some of the current issues around specific terms. It aims to simplify a complex topic, but it is not an exhaustive list. More detail can be found on specific pages, which are linked in the text.

Note that other outputs from TCRG, or other partners that we work with, may use different terms or definitions as they have different needs and audiences.

Conventional tobacco products

TobaccoTactics uses the term ‘conventional tobacco products’ generally to apply to those products representing the historically main investment focus of transnational tobacco companies (TTCs).

These products form the bulk of TTC sales and profits. TobaccoTactics does not cover them in depth. We focus on industry tactics and show how product innovation helps companies circumvent or undermine regulation, or mislead the public, for example:

• Innovations in in cigarette filters used to imply benefits to health.¹⁷⁴
• New accessories and products to undermine flavour and menthol bans.
• Manipulation of cigarette additives to increase their addictiveness.

TobaccoTactics does look in detail at snus, a form of smokeless tobacco  enclosed in small paper sachets known as pouches, and a similar product without tobacco leaf called a nicotine pouch.

We also detail industry involvement in the smuggling of conventional products and other activity relating to the illicit tobacco trade.

Newer nicotine and tobacco products

As the harms from conventional products have become better understood, and tobacco control measures have been put in place, the cigarette market – from which tobacco companies make most of their profits – has started to shrink. To secure the industry’s longer-term future, TTCs have invested in, developed and marketed newer nicotine and tobacco products (or ‘newer products’).¹⁷⁵

Previously, TobaccoTactics referred to these products collectively as ‘Next Generation Products’ (NGPs). This term has been used by all the large transnational tobacco companies: Philip Morris International (PMI, used until 2012),¹⁷⁶ British American Tobacco (BAT),¹⁷⁷¹⁷⁸ Japan Tobacco International (JTI, and JT Group),¹⁷⁹¹⁸⁰ and Imperial Brands.¹⁸¹¹⁸²

Individual tobacco companies have also described these products using terms such as ‘alternative’ and ‘novel’ products, as well as adopting risk-based terminology.¹⁸³

As of 2022 the broad collective term used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is ‘Novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products’.¹⁸⁴¹⁸⁵ Some tobacco control researchers take a longer, historical view and refer to these as ‘non-conventional’ products.¹⁸⁶

TTCs have also promoted some tobacco products previously only used in particular regions or countries, to new customers in the global market. One prominent example is Swedish style snus (see below).

E-cigarettes

E-cigarette, or electronic cigarette,  is a commonly used term. Tobacco companies still use this word, but in their PR and marketing they favour the terms vapour/vapor and vaping.^187188189 This has the effect of distancing these products from conventional tobacco.¹⁹⁰

The term Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is used by the tobacco control community and policy makers, including the WHO. TobaccoTactics adds this term where it is useful. The WHO uses the term e-cigarette alongside ENDS.¹⁹¹ E-shisha (waterpipe) is included in the definition of ENDS. Tobacco companies do not generally use the term ENDS.

The term Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENNDS) is also sometimes used, but rarely on TobaccoTactics. ENNDS are not a primary interest of TTCs. (Note that ENNDS are sold in some countries where nicotine e-cigarettes are banned, including Japan. See below for more on product regulation)

Heated tobacco products (HTPs)

This term is widely used by tobacco control, policy makers and the tobacco industry.

Tobacco companies have at times referred to these products as ‘Heat-not-Burn’ (HnB) products, or ‘non-combustible’ products.¹⁹² These terms are contested.^193194195

Other terms have been used by industry, including ‘tobacco heating systems/products/devices’¹⁹²¹⁹⁶ and ‘tobacco vapor product’.¹⁹⁷

There are some issues with TTCs associating or conflating HTPs with e-cigarettes: JTI, for example refers to its hybrid HTP on a webpage about its ‘vaping products,¹⁹⁸ while PMI has conflated its e-cigarette Veev with its heated tobacco product IQOS.¹⁹⁹

Products for placing inside the mouth (oral products)

Some oral products contain tobacco leaf. Some oral products do not contain tobacco leaf but still contain nicotine. This nicotine can be derived from tobacco leaf, or synthesised in a laboratory:

• Smokeless tobacco includes chewing tobacco, snuff and Swedish style snus pouches.  Smokeless tobacco is not new but newer products have been developed recently and older products have been marketed and introduced more widely.
• Snus-style nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco leaf. All TTCs now own these products.
• Oral nicotine products include gums and lozenges, in which some tobacco companies have interests. May be referred to as ‘dissolvables’.²⁰⁰
• Some oral products are classed as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) only after a process of medical approval. NRT is usually a pharmaceutical company product – some tobacco companies own pharmaceutical companies.

For a timeline of TTC investments in newer products, and current flagship brands, see the main page on Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products (previously called Next Generation Products).
TTCs have also invested in various cannabis products.

Adoption of risk-based terms

Tobacco companies have moved towards using harm or risk-based terms to describe their products. These terms have changed over time. In January 2022, the terms used on the public facing websites of the three largest TTC’s were identical:

• PMI –  “Reduced-Risk Products” (RRP), which was widely used until later that year.²⁰¹ It also uses “Modified Risk Tobacco Product” (MRTP) for its HTP IQOS, aligned with the US FDA regulatory term.²⁰² PMI increasingly uses the term “Smoke-Free Products”.²⁰³²⁰⁴
• BAT – “Reduced-Risk Products” (RRPs)¹⁹⁶
• JTI – “Reduced-Risk Products” (RRPs)¹⁹⁸
• IMB – “Potentially Reduced Harm Products” (although it was still also using the term “Next Generation Products”, and NGP).²⁰⁵²⁰⁶

The primary motivation of TTCs is to create new markets for their addictive products, and develop a new customer base for the future.¹⁷⁵ Read more about how TTCs use the concept, and terminology, of tobacco harm reduction to further their commercial goals.

Product regulation

Some information about product regulation can be found on specific pages.

For detailed, up to date information at country level, see the searchable database on the Tobacco Control Laws website, published by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK).

The Policy Scan Project, by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (at Johns Hopkins University) tracks and reports regulatory approaches to newer products around the world.

For countries that are parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) progress towards implementation of relevant articles, including newer products, is detailed in the FCTC implementation database.²⁰⁷

Relevant Links

WHO Health Topics: Tobacco

US Food and Drug Administration: Products, Ingredients and Components

UK Government Tobacco Products Glossary

Tobacco Control Research Group statement on novel nicotine and tobacco products

TobaccoTactics Resources

Companies & Products category

Tobacco Industry: Definitions

Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products

Harm Reduction

Tobacco Supply Chain

References

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