New Zealand at the forefront of fight against smoking

As New Zealand introduces the world's most stringent anti-smoking law, British American Tobacco and other manufacturers are threatening to sue the government over its review of vaping products.

Submitted for first reading in Parliament in June 2022, the strengthening of the law against smoking was adopted this Tuesday, December 13[1]. It places New Zealand as the most advanced country in the fight against smoking and is part of the perspective of a generation without tobacco from 2025. By this date, New Zealand intends to place its smoking prevalence at 5 % of the population, while it is currently 8 %.

Reduction in sales locations, age limit for tobacco sales

Three main axes emerge from this law:[2] :

• The sale of tobacco products will be prohibited to anyone born on or after 1^er January 2009. A similar measure has so far only been adopted in two cities, Brookline in the United States and Balanga City in the Philippines.
• The number of establishments that will be allowed to sell tobacco will be limited to 600, while it is currently around 6,000, a reduction of 90 % in the number of points of sale. Tobacco retailers will soon have to be approved by the public authorities, according to conditions and procedures defined in the text of the law.[3]. Outside of this authorization, the sale of tobacco may be punished by a fine of up to 150,000 $NZ (95,000 $US). The distribution of points of sale is planned according to the geographical distribution of smokers.
• A reduction in the nicotine content of cigarettes to a level that prevents the development of addiction.

More broadly, smoked tobacco products will have to be approved each year by a public body, under penalty of a fine ranging from 400,000 to 600,000 $NZ (256,000 to 384,000 $US). The conditions for accreditation of these products (safety standards, ingredients, quantity of certain components – including nicotine) can be modified by the Prime Minister. Product testing is the responsibility of manufacturers and importers.

Supervision of sellers of vaping products

The new law has little impact on the sale of vaping products, but more strictly regulates the conditions for access to seller status, which will be subject to approval by the authorities. In particular, sellers will have to have a fixed physical point of sale, where 60 to 70 % of the products sold are intended for vaping.

Among the reactions to this bill, that of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH-NZ) is quite surprising. The organization welcomes these measures, but calls instead for more help to stop smoking, attributing to e-cigarettes alone a greater drop in smoking prevalence than two decades of anti-smoking policy.[4]. ASH-NZ's most surprising argument is to mention the risk of an increase in contraband that the new law could bring, a speech usually reserved for tobacco manufacturers and taken up by the liberal party ACT New Zealand, opposed to the extension of the anti-smoking law. However, New Zealand has a particularly low contraband activity, at the level of 5.4 % market. ASH-NZ had already criticised the very low nicotine cigarette project a few weeks earlier, believing that this theory was not verified.[5].

By contrast, the US branch of ASH (ASH-Washington) was much more vocal in welcoming New Zealand's progress. The same organisation welcomed the government's focus on the supply of tobacco products rather than the demand.[6]

Pressure from manufacturers around the revised system for vaping products

Shortly before this law was returned to parliament, the Vaping Regulatory Authority had, in October 2022, sent vaping manufacturers a request for detailed sheets of the products put on sale, with a view to a review covering more than 2,000 substances. 8,083 vaping products are thus targeted by this review, which has already led to the withdrawal of 466 of these products. 1,683 substances were still pending as of December 9, the date of submission of the detailed sheets, a date finally postponed by one week.

The aim of this operation is to ensure that manufacturers comply with established nicotine standards, i.e. a maximum of 20 mg/ml for freebase nicotine and 50 mg/ml for nicotine salts. A study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has revealed that many e-liquids and vaping products contain more or less nicotine than advertised.[7].

British American Tobacco New Zealand (BATNZ) has written to the Minister of Health requesting an urgent meeting to discuss nicotine salts and obtain an extension of the review period, while threatening to take the matter to court.[8]. In parallel, a group of ten vaping manufacturers are considering legal proceedings against this revision of vaping products and its definition of nicotine salts. Demands from manufacturers that look more like a form of legal intimidation, just before the vote by parliamentarians.

To go further, consult our information sheet: Key measures in New Zealand’s proposed “Smokefree 2025” legislation.

Keywords: New Zealand, Smokefree 2025, ASH, BAT

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

[1] McClure T, New Zealand passes world-first tobacco law to ban smoking for next generation, The Guardian, published December 13, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022.

[2] Associate Minister of Health, Thousands of lives and trillions of dollars to be saved with smokefree bill passing, Scoop, published December 13, 2022, accessed December 15, 2022.

[3] Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, New Zealand Legislation, accessed 13 December 2022.

[4] ASH Supports New Smoking Legislation But Urges The Government To Now Give More Help To Smokers To Quit, Scoop Regional, published December 13, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022.

[5] Assumptions behind plans to remove nicotine from cigarettes “significantly flawed”, ASH NZ, published on November 7, 2022, accessed on December 13, 2022.

[6] A Global First: New Zealand Passes Tobacco Endgame Bill Package, ASH-Washington, published December 13, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022.

[7] Up in steam: ESR scientists reveal what's really in vape liquid, ESR, consulted on December 13, 2022.

[8] Dahmen A, Exclusive: British American Tobacco threatens legal action over Government vaping review, NZ Herald, published 12 December 2022, accessed 13 December 2022.