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Philip Morris International: News
Philip Morris International (PMI) raised its quarterly dividend by 8.8% to an annualized $6.40 per share, marking its 18th consecutive annual increase since going public in 2008 and bringing its total dividend growth to 248%.
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Tobacco Regulation: South Korea
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has unanimously upheld the country’s volume-based tax system for e-cigarette liquids, rejecting a legal challenge brought by local importers and retailers. The petitioners argued that flat-rate levies per milliliter unfairly ignored product price and nicotine concentration, thereby violating their property rights. However, the court ruled that volume offers an objective, easily verifiable metric that ensures tax administrative efficiency while supporting public health efforts to curb nicotine consumption.
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Heated Tobacco: Products
Heat-not-burn brand REJO is expanding across key European markets – including Italy, Germany, Spain, and Austria – to showcase its proprietary “puff-twice” dual-heating technology. Owned by Shenzhen-based iMiracle, the manufacturer behind popular disposable vape brands like Elf Bar and Lost Mary, REJO marks the company’s strategic push into alternative heat-not-burn hardware and zero-tobacco herbal sticks. The featured technology integrates bottom and circumferential heating, allowing compatible sticks to be reused across multiple sessions.
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Tobacco Regulation: Australia
The Australian Government has introduced legislative reforms to simplify prosecutions against the illicit tobacco trade and streamline the seizure of criminal assets. By replacing the need to prove subjective intent with an objective “reasonable suspicion” standard, law enforcement can now target the entire supply chain based on red flags like below-duty pricing, non-compliant packaging, or missing invoices. While opposition parties have called for steep cuts to tobacco taxes to curb illicit market demand, the Labor government remains committed to maintaining high tax rates for public health alongside strict legal enforcement.
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Tobacco Regulation: European Union
The European Union has paused negotiations on its Tobacco Excise Directive overhaul until after Sweden’s national election due to Stockholm’s opposition to proposed minimum taxes on oral nicotine pouches. Swedish officials argue that maintaining lower tax rates on non-combustible alternatives drives their EU-lowest smoking rates, conflicting with EU goals to standardize taxes across novel nicotine products to curb youth use. While Council presidency holder Ireland is focusing on technical framework language ahead of a targeted October vote, Sweden’s potential post-election coalition talks could cause further delays.
Read More: Tobacco Regulation: European Union
Tobacco Regulation: Asia
Hong Kong has published new legislation introducing mandatory plain cigarette packaging and a statutory duty stamp system, joining 27 countries and regions worldwide with similar standardized packaging rules. The regulations strip brand logos, colors, and tar/nicotine yield numbers from packs while adding anti-counterfeiting stamps to help law enforcement identify illicit trade. Scheduled to come into force on March 1, 2027, this dual policy aims to curb consumer demand and illegal supply ahead of full enforcement by December 2027.
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Tobacco Lawsuits: USA
Reynolds American has joined Altria Group in a federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. FDA’s review framework for Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs). The manufacturers contend that the FDA illegally circumvents its statutory 180-day decision deadline by keeping applications stalled for years in preliminary administrative stages, which distorts the market and enables unregulated products to flourish. The suit seeks to vacate the agency’s 2021 PMTA final rule and force the FDA to enforce a strict 180-day timeline starting immediately upon application submission.
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Tobacco Regulation: Canada
Canada’s federal government is considering easing its sales restrictions on nicotine pouches, potentially allowing authorized products to return to convenience store and gas station shelves. The reevaluation follows mounting pressure from provincial leaders, convenience store operators, and harm-reduction advocates who argue that pharmacy-only sales unnecessarily restrict adult smokers’ access to lower-risk alternatives. Any regulatory relaxation would strictly apply to legally licensed, low-dose products, while Health Canada maintains heavy enforcement against high-strength illicit imports.
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India: Cigarette Market
ITC has implemented another round of price hikes across key cigarette brands, including Classic Connect and Gold Flake Super Star, to absorb a heavy tax burden introduced earlier this year. The sequential price increases follow a February tax overhaul that raised the GST on tobacco products from 28% to 40% alongside new length-based excise duties. By staging the hikes incrementally, ITC aims to protect profit margins in its core cigarette division while mitigating a potential volume shift to the illicit market, mirroring similar pricing actions across the industry.
Read More: India: Cigarette Market
Turkey: Cigarette Market
Turkey has introduced draft legislation outlining a phased plan to achieve a total ban on the production, sale, import, and consumption of all tobacco and nicotine products by January 1, 2040. Ahead of the hard deadline, the bill imposes immediate restrictions in the world’s fourth-largest tobacco market, including broad public smoking bans, concealed retail displays, and mandatory electronic payments for digital age verification. Enforcement will be transferred to local administrative governors, with non-compliant businesses and post-2040 commercial operators facing heavy court and administrative fines.
Read More: Turkey: Cigarette Market
