New Zealand: Health Minister accused of bowing to tobacco industry

Health Minister Casey Costello, who is responsible for New Zealand's tobacco control policy, recently cut excise duty on heated tobacco products by 50 %, a move quietly announced on the Customs website.

Such a measure appears to meet the pressing demands of the tobacco industry, such as Philip Morris, the market leader in heated tobacco, which has been demanding tax breaks for these products since 2018.

Controversial decision seen as support for tobacco industry

The decision to grant a tax reduction to heated tobacco products has sparked outrage among public health professionals, who have accused the Minister responsible for combating smoking of favouring the financial interests of the tobacco industry. As Janet Hoek, a professor of public health, points out, this measure appears to favour the tobacco industry. Faced with this criticism, the Minister Delegate justified the measure as being a trial, implemented for a fixed period. [1]

A decision that goes against the very recommendations of the Ministry of Health

In her argument, Casey Costello presented heated tobacco as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes, and also as a potential cessation tool, particularly for heavy smokers. According to the Minister responsible for the fight against tobacco, heated tobacco products present a health risk similar to that of electronic cigarettes and are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Such a statement goes against the scientific literature, since no independent study confirms that the consumption of heated tobacco presents a reduced risk compared to traditional cigarettes. Similarly, the scientific literature emphasizes that heated tobacco is incontestably more harmful than electronic cigarettes. The Minister's argument is in total opposition to that of her own department, which recalls the harmfulness of these products and their ineffectiveness as a cessation tool. The speech of the Minister Delegate for Health in fact echoes the argument of the tobacco industry on heated tobacco, which seeks to develop this product by instrumentalizing the notion of risk reduction. These claims, which are not based on any independent scientific data, are primarily aimed at obtaining advantageous taxation from the public authorities.

Considering that such a measure could contribute to achieving the "smoke-free" objective by 2025, Costello also considers the possibility of authorizing the marketing of snus and nicotine pouches. Similarly, this proposal is not unanimous in his ministry, which has on the contrary expressed reservations, highlighting the potential ineffectiveness of snus and nicotine pouches as smoking cessation tools. The ministry has also argued that snus could lead to a higher risk of addiction than that associated with smoked tobacco among young people, and that its consumption could increase the risk of certain cancers.

The influence of the tobacco industry in the current government in New Zealand

This is not the first time that Casey Costello has found herself at the center of controversy due to the alignment of her proposals with the interests of the tobacco industry. In early 2024, she proposed to deindex tobacco taxes from inflation for the next three years, justifying this measure with the argument, often used by the industry, that a price increase would penalize the most precarious populations. However, the scientific literature shows that increasing tobacco taxes is one of the most effective methods to reduce consumption, particularly among vulnerable populations, thus helping to reduce social inequalities linked to smoking. At the same time, since her appointment in late 2023,[2] New Zealand's new government has decided to roll back several of the previous majority's commitments to tobacco control, abandoning key measures such as banning tobacco sales to young people born after 2009, restricting the number of outlets and reducing nicotine content in products. Costello's recent proposals appear to continue this trend, calling into question New Zealand's ability to meet its public health targets.

Furthermore, this new measure of more favourable taxation for heated tobacco goes against the international commitments of New Zealand, which has ratified the treaty of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization (FCTC). Indeed, Article 5.3 of the FCTC provides for a general obligation to protect public policies with regard to interference by the tobacco industry. The implementing guidelines associated with these provisions recommend not granting "incentives, privileges or advantages to the tobacco industry for the establishment or continuation of its activities".

©Generation Without Tobacco

DT