Tobacco Asia

18 tobaccoasia PRODUCT NEWS 产品新闻 UK Gov't to PMI: Stop Advertising "Healthier" Products UK public health minister, Steve Brine, has warned that the Department of Health was prepared to take legal action against Phillip Morris International in order to protect UK consumers from being targeted by advertisement posters for "healthier" products, promoting its IQOS device. PMI denies the adverts are illegal and claims it wants to help smokers by providing them with better tobacco alternatives. Both the Department of Health and the National Trading Standards Institute have confirmed that the IQOS posters are in breach of a strict long-standing ban on advertising tobacco and tobacco- related products. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC La Galera Cubes Heading to Stores Four new La Galera vitolas, all in cubes, are being shipped to stores. Using an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, a Dominican criollo 98 binder, and piloto cubano fillers, the La Galera 1936 Box Pressed Rounds is a 6 3/4 x 52 vitola that features a round head and a box-pressed foot. The Gavillero Perfecto, a 6 3/4 x 38/48/38 thin perfecto and also possessing a unique shape, uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Dominican corojo binder and Domini- can criollo 98 and piloto cubano fillers. Wrapping up the collection is the La Galera Connecticut Shorts, a 4 x 46 short perfecto that looks similar to the Arturo Fuente Short Story. It uses an Ecuador- ian wrapper, a Dominican corojo binder and Dominican criollo 98, piloto cubano and pelo de oro fillers. JAPAN JTI Seeks Ministry Approval for Price Hikes Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has files for Finance Ministry approval over its plans to raise the prices of most of its products in line with the tobacco tax hike set for October 1. The tobacco tax hike will be JP¥1 per cigarette, with an additional tax hike of ¥2 to be imple- mented by October 2021. If JTI receives ministry approval, its cigarette prices would go up by ¥Y20 to ¥40 per 20-cigarette pack. Mevius brand products would sell for JPY480 (US$4.30), which is ¥Y40 more than current prices. Capsules for Ploom Tech heat-not-burn devices would go up by ¥30 to ¥490 in the first price hike for the brand. Other tobacco-makers who have moved in the same direction are Philip Morris Japan Ltd., who has already filed for ministry approval for its planned price increases for its mainstay Marlboro cigarette brand and its IQOS heat-not- burn tobacco device, and British American Tobacco Japan Ltd. who is also considering a price revision. US Bespoke Cigars Changes Brand Name for US Market Bespoke Cigars will change the name of its brand to Casdagli (cas-dag-lee) for the US market. The change is due to a trademark issue with Alec Bradley, which holds the trademark for the word "bespoke" in the US market. The transition will take place by Christmas 2018. Outside the US, the cigars will continue to carry the Bespoke name. Jeremy Casdagli, the company's founder, said in a press release, "Our family has a rich history of trading luxury goods since the 1800s. In the search for a new brand name, I felt it was inherent to celebrate the family tradition by renaming Bespoke Cigars' brand as Casdagli." The company's logo remains nearly identical, with Casdagli replacing the word Bespoke underneath an image of the Colossus of Rhodes. New Good Times USA Products After acquiring the historic House of Windsor brands of tobacco, cigars, rolling papers, and snuff products in March 2017, along with the iconic Wolf Bros and Caribbean Royales cigar brands, Good Times USA LLC will be launching a new line of products in Q4 2018. The company will also be introducing redesigned, attractive packaging for its existing products. House of Windsor's tobacco products have been known for genera- tions by many to be the finest made products. "Many have enjoyed the Connecticut shade, the broad leaf and other hand selected leaves, blended by senior tobacconists to give consumers the best aroma and the best smoking experience for over 100 years," said Joe Tabshe, Good Times president. Good Times USA markets and distributes quality tobacco products across the US. Its product line includes traditional cigarillos, natural-leaf cigarillos, natural-leaf palma cigars, hemp papers, cones, pipe tobacco cigars, filtered cigars, premium cigars, wraps, rolling papers, and natural rustic cigars. FDA Requires E-Cig Warning Labels Since August 10, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires new warning labels on e-cigarettes and certain other tobacco products. The labels must read, "WARNING: this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical." "Bot" Army Spreading Positive Messages About E-Cigs According to a new scientific study, the online debate over the health benefits of e-cigarettes is being driven largely by automated "bots" in social media accounts. San Diego State University (SDSU) researchers compiled 194,000 geocoded tweets from across the US posted between October 2015 and February 2016. A random sample of 973 tweets were analyzed for their sentiment and source. Results found that more than 70% of the tweets came from automated accounts, or "bots", and that most of them carried a positive message about vaping. "We are not talking about accounts made to represent organizations, or a business or a cause," said Lourdes S. Martinez, an assistant professor in SDSU's School of Communication and the lead researcher in the study. "These accounts are made to look like regular people. This raises the question: To what extent is the public health discourse online being driven by robot accounts?" he asked. Juul to Use Bluetooth to Combat Teen Usage Juul is working on a Bluetooth-connect- ed version of its popular device, and its features could help the company combat underage use. Valued at US$15 billion, Juul claims over 70% of the US e-ciga-

• Cover