Tobacco Asia

32 tobaccoasia PRODUCT NEWS 产品新闻 rette packs in the first half of the year, down from 17.8 billion packs reported a year earlier. The market share for heat-not- burn tobacco products increased to 16.5% from the reported 14.8% for the entire year of 2022. Meanwhile, taxes on cigarette sales in the first half of the year totaled KRW5.7 trillion (US$4.4 billion), a decrease of 0.4% from the prior year. According to health officials, as of 2021, 31.3% of Korean men aged 19 or older were smokers, while 19.3% of all adults smoked. Taiwan Warns Travelers Against HTP The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) issued a warning that travelers who bring heated tobacco products (HTP) into Taiwan may be subject to a maximum fine of NT$5 million (US$161,186). According to an HPA statement, the penalty will be applied regardless of whether the products were purchased on behalf of another person or were brought in by the traveler for their personal recreational use. New tobacco products, including HTP, and the components required for their use are prohibited in Taiwan unless they have been approved following a health risk assessment by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), according to a revision of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act that went into effect in March. No HTP has been approved by MOHW to date. A fine of up to NT$50 million might be imposed on the manufacture, importation, sale, supply, exhibition, advertising, and use of designated tobacco products that have not been authorized, according to Liu Chia-hsiu a representative of HPA's Tobacco Control Division. According to Liu, the penalty for using heated tobacco products is NT$2,000-10,000, while the fine for bringing them into the country is between NT$50,000-5 million. Customs agents are already thoroughly inspecting packages and checking passengers' checked and carry-on luggage. US E-Cig Sales Spiked in 2020-2022 New data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed e-cigarette sales in the US surged by 46.6% – from 15.5 million to 22.7 million units – during January 2020-December 2022. The CDC study found that after January 2020, sales of disposable e-cigarettes with fruit, sweet, and other flavors increased while those of pre-filled cartridges with mint and other flavors were discontinued. The sale of disposable e-cigarettes with flavors that appeal to young people has surpassed that of pre-filled devices. CDC, the CDC Foundation (CDC's nonprofit, charitable arm), and the Truth Initiative carried out the study. The researchers analyzed retail scanner data from 2020 to 2022 to look at e-cigarette products, flavors, and top-selling brands in order to investigate the trends in e-cigarette use. However, the data in the study solely includes sales from physical stores and not online retailers or tobacco-specialty stores like vape shops. The number of e-cigarette brands increased by 46.2% from 184 to 269 brands throughout the study's time frame, parallel- ing the rise in e-cigarette sales. The top five e-cigarette brands were Vuse, JUUL, Elf Bar, NJOY, and Breeze Smoke. Elf Bar was the top-selling disposable brand in the US. Pre-filled e-cigarette sales fell from 75.2% to 48.0%, while disposable e-cigarette sales increased from 24.7% to 51.8% of total sales. According to the study, the changes resulted from an FDA announcement in 2020 that prioritized enforcement against pre-filled e-cigarette cartridges that were not tobacco or menthol flavored. Sales of pre-filled cartridges with tobacco and mint flavors, however, decreased following the announcement. Disposable e-cigarettes with fruit, sweet, and mint flavors saw a sharp increase in sales, however. From 2020 to 2022, sales of "other-flavor" e-cigarettes, such as those with fruit, sweet, and chocolate flavors, rose by 29.2% to 41.3%. Although overall e-cigarette sales climbed during the research period, they actually fell from May to December 2022. The report states that a number of factors, including local and state limits on the sale of flavored tobacco products, FDA regulations, and supply chain disruptions due to Covid-19, may have contributed to the decline. US FDA Strikes at Vape Menthol Again The fourth most popular brand of menthol electronic ciga- rettes in the US is the target of the newest in a string of marketing denial orders from the US Food and Drug Adminis- tration (FDA). It is unclear as to whether FDA's prohibition would be stopped by an anticipated federal court challenge. The prohibition applies to the 2.4% nicotine kind of myblu Menthol produced by Fontem US, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands Plc. Myblu is part of the blu e-cigarette portfolio, which has a 1.3% market share., R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.'s Vuse e-cigarette is in first place with 42% market share. Fontem is required under FDA prohibition to "not market or distribute this product in the United States, or they risk enforcement action." Any product on the market must be removed. Fontem is permitted to resubmit a fresh application "to address the deficiencies" in the first one. Seven myblu e-cigarette products—myblu Device Kit, Intense Tobacco Chill 2.5%, Intense Tobacco Chill 4.0%, Intense Tobacco 2.4%, Intense Tobacco 3.6%, Gold Leaf 1.2%, and Gold Leaf 2.4%—had their marketing applications rejected by FDA in April 2022. According to FDA, legal action is still being taken against those restrictions. So far FDA has authorized just 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products and devices, which are the only e-ciga- rettes that can be lawfully sold or distributed in the US. IQOS Sales Surge in US Philip Morris International (PMI) reported that sales of its IQOS smokeless devices were one of its fastest-growing segments during the second quarter as traditional cigarette sales fell. In contrast to a 26.6% increase to 31.4 units in heated tobacco unit sales during the quarter, PMI sold 157 billion packs of cigarettes, a decrease of 0.4% from the same period last year. In the second quarter, PMI reported 27.2 million IQOS users, up from 23.7 million in the same period last year. In the first half of the year, smoke-free net revenues, including those from the company's wellness and healthcare products, accounted for 35% of the total adjusted net rev- enues, up from 30.9% in the same period last year. Shipments for the company's nicotine pouch brand Zyn in the US increased 53.1% over the previous year to 89.9 million cans. In comparison to the same quarter last year, when revenue was US$7.8 billion, the second quarter's revenue increased 14.5% to slightly under US$9 billion. Operating income dropped 16% to US$2.57 billion, compared to more than US$3.06 billion over the same three months last year.

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