Japan Tobacco launches new tobacco-free nicotine sticks in Romania

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announced on July 6, 2026[1] The launch in Romania of LYO, a new range of tobacco-free nicotine sticks for its Ploom heated tobacco device, has sparked controversy. Marketed as "tobacco-free" products, these flavored sticks reflect a broader trend within the tobacco industry, which is developing tobacco-free nicotine products to circumvent restrictions on heated tobacco. As the European Union revises its tobacco product directives, organizations such as Smokefree Partnership and the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) are warning of the need for strict regulation of these products, with the possibility for member states to ban them outright.

A new tobacco-free product launched on the Romanian market

The tobacco company launched its new LYO range in early July, designed exclusively for Ploom, its global brand of heated tobacco products. The product is distributed in Romania through most outlets already carrying the heated tobacco range, as well as on the brand's online store. Ploom has been available in Romania since 2023, and the company presents this launch as confirmation of Romania as a strategic market.

LYO sticks are offered in two flavored versions, "Arctic Mint" and "Wild Berry," both menthol-based and featuring a crushable capsule designed to enhance the flavor. According to JTI, these sticks are "completely tobacco-free" and designed for use with Ploom's Smart HeatFlow technology. The group also announced a global investment of approximately 800 billion yen (several billion euros) between 2026 and 2028 to develop its "reduced-risk" product category, particularly heated devices with or without tobacco.

This launch is part of a market trend already documented in Central and Eastern Europe: Romania, along with the Czech Republic, is among the countries where tobacco-free sticks have already seen rapid adoption. By the end of 2023, they represented approximately half of the sticks sold by JTI's competitors in these two countries. This rapid adoption of tobacco-free products in Central and Eastern Europe is part of a broader context in which these countries appear particularly susceptible to tobacco industry lobbying. The Tobacco Control Scale protocol, which annually assesses the tobacco control policies of European countries, regularly ranks Central and Eastern European states among the lowest-rated on the continent, particularly regarding the protection of public policies against industry interference. This region also has a strong industrial presence, with several tobacco and heated device production plants established by major groups (Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International). This industrial presence fosters close economic ties with national authorities. This situation is reflected in concrete consumption figures: smoking prevalence remains among the highest in Europe, and the adoption of heated tobacco products is growing faster than in the rest of the continent, as these markets are often used by manufacturers as prime testing grounds for new products before wider rollout. It also allows tobacco companies to exert pressure on these countries to influence European decisions in a way that favors their interests.

Products designed to allow the industry to circumvent regulations on heated tobacco

By not containing tobacco, these nicotine sticks at least partially escape the strict restrictions imposed by the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), including the ban on attractive flavorings, labeling and health warning requirements, and the pre-market assessment that apply to heated tobacco products. This strategy is not new: as early as 2023[2], Philip Morris and British American Tobacco had launched comparable tobacco-free sticks (LEVIA, or rooibos tea-infused substrates), explicitly presented by their executives as a way to circumvent the European ban on flavorings for heated tobacco and to escape certain tax categories. More recently, in June 2025[3], The Dutch public health agency (RIVM) also warned about tobacco-free sticks whose nicotine levels far exceeded the permitted thresholds, stressing that this legal loophole allowed the industry to circumvent European bans on flavors while exposing consumers, especially young people, to major risks of addiction.

This attempt to circumvent existing regulations takes on particular significance as the European Union undertakes the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD). Several public health organizations are calling for these texts to explicitly cover all nicotine-containing products, whether or not they are derived from tobacco. Smokefree Partnership, in its contribution to the revision of the directive, argues for a strengthening of the legislative framework to take into account the rapid evolution of tobacco alternatives and the circumvention strategies implemented by manufacturers. This framework could, in particular, allow member states to outright ban these products. For its part, the National Committee Against Smoking, which is also closely monitoring these revision efforts, reiterates that European regulations should include a complete ban on these products, as is the case in France and other member states.

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] Ploom introduces LYO in Romania, Business Review, published July 6, 2026, accessed the same day

[2] New "tobacco-free alternatives" in the sights of certain European countries, Tobacco-Free Generation, published April 3, 2024, accessed July 7, 2026

[3] The Netherlands warns of new high-dose nicotine sticks, Tobacco-Free Generation, published on June 9, 2025, accessed on July 7, 2026