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Tag: Canada

  • Trade Group Speaks up for Vape Flavors

    Trade Group Speaks up for Vape Flavors

    Photo: DD Images

    The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has expressed concern over recent attempts by tobacco control lobbyists to convince the government to ban vape flavors nationwide. According to the trade group, such a ban would have negative public health consequences and undermine Canada’s goal of reducing smoking rates to less than 5 percent by 2035.   

    “We must acknowledge and not ignore that more than 1.5 million adult vapors in Canada use flavored vaping products to stop smoking,” the CVA wrote in a statement.

    “We agree underage youth should not vape; however, more needs to be done through education and providing the necessary tools for parents, teachers, coaches and community members to understand the underlying issues as to why youth are vaping and providing solutions to solve their nicotine dependence.”

    According to the CVA, Canada already has some of the best vape regulations globally, covering labeling, packaging, marketing, promotions, reporting and nicotine concentration limits. The group also urged the tobacco control lobbyist to consider the risks of the illicit market.

    “The bullying tactics of anti-harm reduction lobbyists pressuring Minister Saks and Health Canada to act quickly will only help grow the black market of vaping products,” the CVA wrote. “This will make vaping more accessible to youth at much lower prices and greater risk to their health.”

  • Canada to Crack Down on Pouches

    Canada to Crack Down on Pouches

    Photo: JHVEPhoto

    Nicotine pouches may be sold in Canada only by individuals working under the supervision of a pharmacist, under a new ministerial order targeting “new and emerging” nicotine-replacement therapies (NRTs). Sellers will also be required to store nicotine pouches behind the pharmacy counter.

    In addition, the new rules prohibit youth-appealing advertising or promotion and sales of nicotine pouches with flavors other than mint or menthol.

    Manufacturers will be required to print a front-of-package nicotine addiction warning as well as a clear indication of the intended use as a smoking cessation aid for adults trying to quit smoking. They must also submit mock-ups of labels and packages for all new or amended NRT licenses to ensure no youth appeal.

    The new restrictions will take force Aug. 28, 2024, though there will be a six-month transition period for the provisions on advertising and labeling. Established smoking cessation aids, such as nicotine gums, lozenges, sprays and inhalers, will continue to be available in a wide range of retail locations, with a variety of flavors.

    “Stronger measures are needed to protect youth from the harmful effects of nicotine and stop dependency before it starts,” said Minister of Health Mark Holland in a statement. “The action our government is taking will keep these products available for adults who need them to quit smoking while making sure they don’t get into the hands of youth for recreational use.”

    Public health advocates welcomed Health Canada’s announcement. “These new measures put an end to the easy access young people have had to a very addictive substance,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, in a statement. “These restrictions will help protect youth from tobacco industry marketing and from nicotine addiction. We must avoid a repeat of the experience that has seen a dramatic increase in youth vaping.”

    Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN), which makes the popular Zonnic nicotine pouches, warned that the ministerial order would derail efforts to reduce smoking rates.

    “The Minister of Health is making smoking cessation products more difficult to buy for adults who smoke and who want to quit,” said ITCAN Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Eric Gagnon in a statement. “It goes against all logic for a country that wants to reduce smoking rates to target products that actually help people quit.”

    According to ITCAN, Zonnic is quickly becoming the leading smoking cessation aid product in locations where it’s sold. The company claims to have received testimonials suggesting that consumers have stopped or reduced smoking by using Zonnic.

    Canada regulates NRTs as drugs under the Food and Drugs Act. All NRTs must be approved by Health Canada and carry an approved health claim to be legally sold in Canada. Health Canada authorized sales of Zonnic in October 2023.

  • ‘Carcinogens Among Permitted Additives’

    ‘Carcinogens Among Permitted Additives’

    Photo: New Africa

    Canada’s proposed list of permitted vapor product additives includes dangerous ingredients, according to Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN).

    “To put it bluntly, the list contains at least one known substance that could cause cancer,” said ITCAN Vice President, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Eric Gagnon in a statement.

    According to ITCAN, several ingredients on the flavor ban proposal list of permitted ingredients are substances that its parent company, British American Tobacco, categorically avoids in its vaping products.

    The company says BAT’s toxicological risk assessment prevents the use of substances classified as having carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) properties, as per the Globally Harmonized System for classification and labelling of substances.

    “It is shocking that the government would include a proven and classified CMR substance in its lists of permitted additives for vaping products,” ITCAN wrote on its website. “The effect of a regulation that formally permits such ingredients is simply an encouragement to manufacturers—particularly smaller producers with limited access to scientific literature—to use an inherently unsafe substance in a product that is designed to be inhaled into the lungs.”

    Gagnon cited isophorone as an example. “This substance is classified by the European Union as cancer-causing and acutely toxic. It is also banned by Canadian food and drug regulations from use in human cosmetics,” he said.

    “We encourage Health Canada to reconsider the list and consult with experts to determine the best way forward.”

  • Health Canada Recalls Zyn Pouches

    Health Canada Recalls Zyn Pouches

    Image: Swedish Match/ HstrongART

    Health Canada recalled eight types of Zyn nicotine pouches on June 12, saying they were sold without market authorization, reports Global News.

    They affected variants are flavored apple mint, bellini, black cherry, citrus, cool mint, espresso, original and spearmint. The pouches had 1.5 or three milligrams of nicotine in them.

    Philip Morris International, which manufactures Zyn products, said it does not sell in Canada and applauds Health Canada for taking action.

    “The products at issue are being sold by unauthorized parties,” a spokesperson for PMI’s Rothmans Benson & Hedges affiliate was quoted as saying by the Global News.

    “RBH works with law enforcement to stop illicit trade and we are supportive of government efforts on this front.”

    Health Canada has approved only one nicotine pouch for sale—Imperial Tobacco Canada’s Zonnic brand.  

    The introduction of nicotine pouches in Canada has run into opposition from health activists.

    Experts say these products are appealing to children, who face the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine.

    In March, Health Minister Mark Holland said that he was “seeking authority” to restrict such products “so they are solely for the purposes of cessation.”

     

  • Revenant Rule

    Revenant Rule

    Image: MarijaBazarova

    Canada’s new health minister is breathing new life into a 2021 proposal to ban vape flavors nationwide.

    By Stefanie Rossel

    Thomas Kirsop

    There’s life in the old dog yet: In March 2024, Canada relaunched a three-year-old plan to ban all vape flavors except tobacco, mint and menthol. The regulations were first published in June 2021 in the Canada Gazette, signaling the government’s intention to implement the flavor ban within six months after the obligatory public consultation. But the rule that was supposed to launch in January 2022 never came, and Canada’s health authorities never mentioned the flavor ban again—until Health Minister Mark Holland, in office since July last year, recently revived the idea.

    Outrage about the proposed ban among vapers, consumer advocacy groups and the vape industry was as huge in 2021 as it is now: Canada’s planned rule goes further than most flavor bans, which tend to prohibit only certain “characterizing flavors” or flavor descriptors. Under the Canadian proposal, all sweeteners in vaping products would be prohibited, and vape manufacturers would be allowed to create their liquids using only approved ingredients.

    They would have to select from a list of 82 approved compounds, 40 of which can be used to impart a tobacco flavor and 42 of which can be used to impart flavor of mint, menthol or a combination of the two. “Menthol tobacco” or a “mint tobacco” are off limits under the rules.

    “Should the flavor ban be adopted as it was written in 2021, Canadian users of vaping products will see the removal of nearly all existing flavor profiles in the legitimate vaping products market within 180 days of publication of the proposed order and regulation from 2021,” says Thomas Kirsop, managing director of Canada’s Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA).

    “The only two products on the market that would not require removal or reformulation would be ‘unflavored’ liquids and unadulterated ‘menthol.’ All existing ‘tobacco’-flavored vaping products would need to be removed from the market, reformulated to remove sweeteners and flavoring compounds not on the permitted constituents list and then reintroduced to the Canadian market.”

    The proposed rule would also prescribe “sensory attributes standards,” which are defined only vaguely, stipulating, for example, that a vaping product or its emissions should not have “sensory attributes that result in a sensory perception other than one that is typical of tobacco or mint/menthol,” thus limiting manufacturers’ ability to make vape products that have “a highly pleasant smell or taste.”

    “Sensory attributes regulations are referenced over 40 times in the proposal, but there is no specific section explaining how these regulations would be drafted, implemented or enforced in a clear manner,” says Kirsop. The VITA interprets this part of the planned regulation as meaning that manufacturers can make their liquids using the 82 permitted compounds, and at some time in the future, the government will pay a third party to smell, taste and possibly vape this product. “If that third party thinks that the liquid does not align with the permitted flavor profiles or is ‘too palatable,’ then that formulation will be prohibited regardless of its adherence to all the objective standards in legislation,” says Kirsop.

    Relapse to Combustibles Expected

    The impact of such a regulation on Canada’s 1.5 million vapers would be dramatic, according to Kirsop. His organization anticipates a major relapse to combustible cigarettes among consumers. “The number of cigarettes consumed per capita will increase,” he says. “It is well understood that vaping products and combustible products are economic substitutes in the nicotine market. A regulatory impact on one will result in an inverse reaction of the other.”

    Kirsop refers to a 2023 study by Abigail Friedman that investigated the effects of e-cigarette flavor restrictions on tobacco product sales in the U.S. and found that while the flavor restriction did impact vaping rates in the manner intended, the impact on legitimate cigarette sales was substantial, with 12 extra cigarettes sold in the legitimate market for every 0.7 mL pod not sold due to a flavor ban. The VITA has similarly calculated that a nationwide flavor ban in Canada would result in additional cigarette sales of almost 4 billion sticks per year.

    For the country’s independent vape manufacturers and estimated 1,800 specialty vaping product shops, such a measure would have a significant, possibly existential, impact, according to Kirsop. “It is the variety of flavored vaping products that make a specialty store economically viable,” he says. The illicit market, by contrast, would receive a boost, especially if the flavor ban comes on top of the 12 percent federal vape product tax hike planned for July.

    “From any historical reference point, the removal of a product with significant consumer demand from the legitimate market will result in that demand being met by the illicit market,” says Kirsop. “Our investigations lead us to believe that the black market will expand quite rapidly to fill the void. Our only question is whether that illicit trade will favor small players, producing flavored liquids in garages and basements, if it will follow the Australian model, with organized crime groups importing flavored disposable vaping products from overseas, or if it will be some hybrid combination of both.”

    There are plenty of cautionary examples close to home. Six of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories have already restricted the sales of e-cigarettes to tobacco-flavored varieties. “In Nova Scotia, over 40 percent of specialty vape stores closed immediately following the flavor ban, and when VITA commissioned an investigations company to survey the market, we found significant illicit trade and a consumer outlook that supported that illicit trade,” says Kirsop. “News reports showed that in the year after the flavor ban, tobacco excise collection increased 13.6 percent. We also identified that consumers are starting to adapt by adding their own third-party commercial flavoring products to vaping liquids.”

    Goal Missed

    Maria Papaioannoy

    Kirsop says it’s too early to determine the impact of flavor bans on youth usage. However, the VITA has found no data that differentiate Nova Scotia, which was the first province to ban flavored vaping products, from provinces that kept them on the market or banned them at a later date. “Nova Scotia shows youth past-30-day vaping behavior has dropped from 25.1 percent to 23 percent since their flavor ban,” says Kirsop. “However, all provinces except Quebec saw youth vaping rates drop in the same category during that time frame, and some of them did significantly better. Alberta saw youth use drop from 19.9 [percent] to 14.8 percent, British Columbia 27.6 [percent] to 16 percent, Manitoba 21.5 [percent] to 16.7 percent and Saskatchewan 29.6 [percent] to 23.7 percent. All the latter have no bans on flavors.”

    So, while the intended impact on adolescents remains questionable, the effect on adults would be devastating, according to Maria Papaioannoy of Rights4Vapers. “Flavors are a critical part of what makes vaping such an effective alternative to cigarettes,” she wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “If a person who smokes decides to move to vaping, they do not want to be reminded of the taste of tobacco.” A ban on flavors as proposed, she argues, would mean a prohibition of the entire category through the back door. “Who would pay for an unpalatable product?”

    In 2021, Rights4Vapers started a letter-writing campaign, resulting in more than 20,000 Canadians submitting arguments to Health Canada against the proposed regulation. Papaioannoy has organized a similar campaign now. To date, the government has received more than 27,000 letters from adult consumers raising concerns over this ban. In mid-March, Papaioannoy spoke at Health Canada’s stakeholder meeting but left disillusioned. “Consumers had a huge voice in vaping regulation with previous health ministers,” she says. “In this call, all I felt from Health Canada representatives was sympathy, not compassion.”

    Like many, Papaioannoy believes that the proposed flavor prohibition is not so much an action of bureaucracy but a mandate being driven by Holland, who formerly worked for the nongovernmental organization Heart and Stroke, a known opponent of vaping.

    Both tobacco harm reduction activists hope that as lawmakers debate the measure, reason will prevail. “The wild card is the minister of health,” says Kirsop. “Generally, one would think that policy decisions that could impact millions of Canadian smokers and 1.5 million adult Canadian users of vaping products would be based on scientific data and academic literature and not driven by emotional talking points and flag waving.

    “This minister has demonstrated that he has no grounding in literature or the science, and it does not appear at this point that he cares much for it if it does not align with his ideology or that of his former peer group. Ideology forms a very poor starting point for public health decisions.”

    Papaioannoy is more optimistic, noting that the proposal still has to go through the Treasury Board of Canada, with the time frame between proposing and enacting being long and opposition strong against a measure that would affect small businesses. “Besides, I believe in the institution,” she says. “Someone from the government will raise the flag.”

    Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.
  • ‘Quebec Lobby Groups Blind to Illicit Trade’

    ‘Quebec Lobby Groups Blind to Illicit Trade’

    Photo: Thorsten

    Imperial Tobacco Canada is taking anti-tobacco groups to task for their silence about the boom in illicit sales following Quebec’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes.

    “You cannot claim ‘Mission Accomplished’ by simply passing regulations,” said Eric Gagnon, vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, in a statement. “The regulations must work. And these ones don’t. Flavored vapor products are still being sold in Quebec. The problem is that they are now being sold illegally.”

    Quebec banned flavored vapes Oct. 31, 2023, following years of pressure by anti-tobacco groups. According to Imperial Tobacco Cananda, the same groups refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem with the regulations and will not call on the government to fully enforce the regulations.

    “It’s time that the Coalition Quebecoise pour le controle du tabac and other so-called health groups acknowledge that there is a problem with the regulations and push to fix it,” Gagnon said. “If the real objective of the regulations was to ban flavors, where are these health groups now that flavored vapor products are being sold illegally?”

    Imperial Tobacco Canada noted that some of the lobby groups have ties to the provincial government and receive funding from them.

    “It is time for the public to see the real intentions behind these anti-tobacco lobby groups,” said Gagnon. “They hide behind the virtue of public health, but their recent silence demonstrates that their only real objective is going after tobacco companies, even if this means pushing consumers to illegal products.”

    “It is astonishing to see that Quebec’s anti-tobacco lobbyists prefer turning a blind eye to illegal flavored vaping products rather than recognizing that this is a failed policy and working with us to demand concrete enforcement measures to Minister Dube,” said Gagnon. “This says a lot about the real intention behind the individuals leading these organizations.”

  • Canada Relaunches Flavor Ban

    Canada Relaunches Flavor Ban

    Photo: DD Images

    Canada is set to enact a three-year-old flavor ban, according to Vaping360. The regulations were first published in June 2021 in the Canada Gazette but then never went into effect. Now, however, Health Minister Mark Holland has reinvigorated the ban.

    Holland previously worked at Heart and Stroke, where he was the national director of children and youth. “I was with Heart and Stroke when we dealt with the issue of vaping,” he said, “and there were many voices at that time, when information was uncertain, who said, ‘Let this exist as a cessation tool. Don’t take action.’ The result of that, unfortunately, was that the tobacco industry was able to addict a whole new cohort of young people—who had no exposure to nicotine—to something that’s absolutely deadly for their health. It has had very injurious outcomes for our health system.”

    Vaping proponents warned that the measure could backfire. “As presented, Minister Holland’s proposal will not achieve the desired public health objectives and could, on the contrary, seriously harm a significant number of Canadian adult ex-smokers, the Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA) wrote in a press release.

    “This appears to be a personal legacy project for the Minister of Health, supported strongly by his former peers at the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association and some smaller anti-smoking NGOs [nongovernmental organizations],” said VITA Managing Director Thomas Kirsop.

    The ban would give manufacturers a list of fewer than 100 allowable flavoring ingredients that can only be used to create e-liquid in tobacco, mint and menthol flavors. Sweeteners of any kind would be banned. The regulations will also “prescribe sensory attributes standards to prevent a sensory perception other than one that is typical of tobacco or mint/menthol.”

  • Canada to Crack Down on Pouches

    Canada to Crack Down on Pouches

    Image: Imperial Tobacco Canada

    Canada Health Minister Mark Holland promised to crack down on nicotine pouches, issuing a warning to tobacco companies that he claimed are marketing the products to children, according to City News Everywhere.

    “I would say to the tobacco companies that continue to look for ways to use loopholes to addict people to their products, get away, stay the hell away from our kids,” Holland said during a press conference.

    He accused Imperial Tobacco of using a loophole to get its oral nicotine pouch, Zonnic, approved by Health Canada, branding the product as a quit-smoking aid. Health Canada’s approval did not include a minimum age limit. Holland claims that this product is now being used to hook another generation on nicotine products.

    Imperial denied claims of using a loophole to gain approval; the company stated it simply applied to Health Canada and received approval.

    Holland plans to restrict access to Zonnic as well as restrict flavors and marketing.

    “To me, it is absolutely essential that we see these products move behind the counter,” Holland said.

    “Whatever dark corner the tobacco industry crawls and creeps into to go after our children, wherever they go, whatever loophole they think they can find, they will meet me like an iron wall,” he said.

    “To single out Zonnic for practices that are widespread across the industry is not only unfair but also smacks of hypocrisy, suggesting an anti-tobacco company bias rather than a genuine concern for public health,” said Eric Gagnon, vice president of regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada.

    Gagnon noted that Imperial Tobacco Canada is open to discussing Holland’s proposed restrictions, but he believes that they should apply to all stop-smoking products, including nicotine gum. He also noted that the company has moved to place Zonnic behind counters, despite not being required to do so, but he feels that flavors are helpful to those trying to quit smoking and that Zonnic should be available everywhere that cigarettes are sold.

    Health Canada issued a consumer safety alert the same day as the health minister’s press conference regarding Zonnic: “They should not be used recreationally, by nonsmokers, by people under the age of 18 or by others at risk of nicotine’s toxic effects.”

    Tobacco control advocates have applauded the health minister’s plans. “We’re thrilled that Minister Holland is taking steps to stop this cycle and protect youth,” said Doug Roth, chief executive of Heart and Stroke, which Holland worked for between 2011 and 2015.

  • Health Groups Urge Pouch Prescriptions

    Health Groups Urge Pouch Prescriptions

    Photo: DW labs

    Leading health organizations are urging Canadian lawmakers to crack down on flavored nicotine products and make nicotine pouches available upon prescription only.

    In a full-page ad in The Hill Times, Action on Smoking and Health, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association, the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control, Heart and Stroke, and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada assert that flavors play a key role in attracting kids to nicotine products and call on the federal government to ban flavors, including mint and menthol, in e-cigarettes.

    The ad also calls for action to protect minors against the sale and promotion of nicotine pouches by making them a prescription-only product. Under the current federal rules, nicotine pouches authorized under the Natural Health Products Regulation can be legally sold to minors in convenience stores and promoted on television, billboards and social media, including by means of lifestyle advertising.

    “Several additional options are available to the health minister, like temporarily suspending the sale of nicotine products, which would also allow federal, provincial and territorial authorities to strengthen relevant laws and regulations. For example, nicotine pouches could be subject to many of [the] same provisions regarding promotion that apply to tobacco and vaping products,” said Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, in a statement.

    The ad is in part a response to the success of Imperial Tobacco Canada’s Zonnic pouches, which Health Canada approved for sale in 2023. The health groups rebuffed the company’s insistence that its pouches are intended for adult smokers who want to quit. “Unlike other manufacturers of nicotine-replacement therapies, this company deliberately chose to distribute its product through convenience stores and promote them with lifestyle messaging and images of young adults,” said Flory Doucas, co-director and spokesperson of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control.

  • BC Restricts Pouch Sales to Pharmacies

    BC Restricts Pouch Sales to Pharmacies

    Photo: StratfordProductions

    British Columbia has restricted the sale of nicotine pouches to drug stores, forcing users to consult a pharmacists prior to purchase, reports CBC.

    “By limiting access to these products and ensuring they are dispensed by trained health-care professionals, our goal is to prevent their misuse, especially among young people for recreational purposes,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.

    The Canadian Cancer Society applauded the move, noting that while youth smoking rates in B.C. are down, other methods of nicotine consumption are up significantly.

    “With the introduction of flavored nicotine pouches last year, youth once again can become addicted to these new tobacco industry products,” it said in a statement.

    BAT subsidiary Imperial Tobacco Canada, manufacturer of the Zonnic nicotine pouch brand that was authorized for sale by Health Canada in October 2023, said British Columbia’s move would make it harder for smokers to quit.

    “It is mindboggling that the only cessation product in BC that is currently stored behind the counter in convenience stores with retailers requiring age-verification is being targeted by today’s announcement,” said Eric Gagnon, vice-president, corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada, in a statement.

     “If today’s announcement was truly about protecting youth against nicotine, we question why Premier Eby isn’t putting the same restrictions on the other cessation products that contain nicotine and are available over the counter without proof-of-age,” he added.

    In November, federal health minister Mark Holland said regulators had been “duped” and vowed to close the loophole that allowed Zonnic to be sold openly.

    “There are very serious questions about what the tobacco industry is doing here and what their intention is. And it would seem that their intention is to addict new young people to nicotine, which is disgusting,” Holland said at the time.

    Zonnic does not contain tobacco, and because the pouches contain less than four milligrams of nicotine each and are not inhaled, they do not fall under existing federal or provincial tobacco or vaping legislation.