UK Manufacturer Circumvents Menthol Ban and Generates Huge Profits

In the UK, Japan Tobacco International is exploiting a legal loophole to circumvent the ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco. This circumvention strategy allows the manufacturer to generate colossal profits, and keeps some smokers addicted[1].

Since 20 May 2020, the sale of menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco has been banned throughout the European Union. Despite Brexit, this ban also applies to the United Kingdom, which had already transposed into its domestic law the 2014 Tobacco Products Directive, which was the origin of this public health measure.

A regulatory loophole to continue selling menthol products

A few days after the ban came into force, the manufacturer Japan Tobacco International (JTI) rolled out new ranges of products containing menthol, but in compliance with the regulations. The latter effectively prohibits the sale of cigarettes and rolling tobacco containing a "characterizing" flavour, that is, according to the European directive, conferring "a clearly identifiable odour or taste other than that of tobacco, originating from an additive or a combination of additives, in particular based on fruits, spices, aromatic plants, alcohol, confectionery, menthol or vanilla (non-exhaustive list), and which is identifiable before or during consumption of the tobacco product". Thus, the manufacturer continued to market mentholated tobacco products, but at lower levels, supposedly non-characterizing.

“Dead silence” from the government

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said it had already alerted the government to the problem of this regulatory circumvention, which was to conduct a review of the regulations and publish a response by 20 May 2021. However, to date, the UK government has remained silent on the issue.

Profit of over 100 million euros thanks to regulatory circumvention

According to the Japan Tobacco Industry’s own figures, this strategy allowed the manufacturer to sell over 100 million packs of cigarettes in the year following the menthol ban, or over 2 billion units of tobacco. The regulatory circumvention allowed JTI to generate a profit of over €107 million. From a public health perspective, the spread of these new products is a key issue, as over 700,000 people in the UK had purchased menthol tobacco by the end of 2020.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: "As the sales figures show, limiting the ban to flavours defined as 'characterising' has created a loophole so big that the ban is virtually worthless. It is time for the government to act to stop people dying from smoking."

Keywords: Menthol, Circumvention, Japan Tobacco International, Regulation, United Kingdom

[1] Express, Menthol cigarette ban 'worthless' as £1bn worth sold in year via loophole, 07/08/2021, (accessed 07/12/2021)

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