Japan International Tobacco joins France Vapotage: a wolf in the sheepfold

The company Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has just joined France Vapotage, the federation which represents and defends the interests of the electronic cigarette industry in France.

Japan Tobacco International is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, and owns the brands Winston, Camel, and LD. This membership in France Vapotage raises all the more questions as the Federation promotes the electronic cigarette as a " undisputed weaning tool[1] "It is therefore permissible to doubt the credibility and sincerity of a multinational like Japan Tobacco in a fight for " reduce or stop [the] consumption of tobacco ", yet displayed by France Vapotage.

Japan Tobacco International's strategy appears to be very different from that displayed by France Vapotage. Far from considering vaping as a smoking cessation tool, JTI sees the e-cigarette as a nicotine initiation product and a product to attract tobacco products for the younger generations. As a result, this is an operation to divert the initial objective of the e-cigarette, aimed at countering the phenomenon of the drop in smoking prevalence that can be observed, particularly in France, where 1.6 million people have stopped smoking since 2017.

It has been demonstrated for decades that the tobacco industry has systematically tried to undermine, block, or empty of content all health policies of any kind, and that it can in no way be considered a partner in the development of effective public policies.

It follows that a professional organization whose members are tobacco manufacturers cannot be a stakeholder in public health policies, as stipulated in the FCTC in Article 5.3, devoted to the modalities of interference by the tobacco industry through third parties.[2].