The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) has called for a regulatory framework that encourages adult smokers to switch to smokeless alternatives, protects consumers with stringent safety standards, and prevents underage access.
The call was made in commemoration of this year’s World Vape Day, designed to celebrate harm reduction efforts around the globe among the vaping community.
The tobacco company also recommended four principles: access to consumer-relevant products, adult-only consumers, product quality and safety, and robust enforcement to make such regulations effective and highly impactful.
It argued that while the Access to Consumer-Related Products principle should allow a wide range of smokeless alternatives to enable consumers to make informed choices about switching, based on the available scientific evidence; the principle of the adult-only consumer should prohibit the use and sale of smokeless tobacco and nicotine products by and to the underage.
“Product Quality and Safety should be a robust and properly enforced quality and safety standard to protect consumers, while Robust Enforcement: Regulation should provide enforcement authorities with the necessary powers to apply penalties and sanctions to those who fail to comply with regulations, particularly those who supply non-compliant products and provide product to those who are underage,” the company stated.
The Managing Director, BAT West & Central Africa, Yarub Al-Bahrani, noted that providing adult smokers with reduced-risk alternatives to make informed choices is crucial both for countries planning to reduce their smoking rates and for global public health more broadly.
“Whether or not governments are able to take advantage of these products and maximise their harm reduction potential depends as much on the implementation of progressive, risk-proportionate regulation as it does on changes in consumer behaviour, he added
He stated that countries that have implemented regulations that recognise the harm-reduction potential of smokeless products and support their use for adult smokers have, over the years, experienced a decline in smoking.
He cited the United Kingdom, the United States of America (USA), and Japan as examples of such countries reporting their lowest smoking rates on record, with Sweden, he added, declaring itself smoke-free this year, 16 years ahead of the 2040 EU target.
“This is largely a result of widespread awareness, regulated availability, and usage of smokeless alternatives, such as vapour products, heated products, and nicotine pouches.
“There are widespread misconceptions about the risk of smokeless products compared to smoking. These discourage many smokers who don’t quit smoking from switching to these smokeless products.
“The science is clear: well-stewarded smokeless tobacco and nicotine products have a considerably lower-risk profile than smoking. It’s the toxicants released by the burning of tobacco that cause the harm associated with smoking,” added Yarub.
He reiterated the company’s purpose to create a better tomorrow by building a smokeless world, demonstrated in various ways, including the company’s investment of more than N548,000,000,000 a year in the development of smokeless tobacco and nicotine products, sold across over 75 markets globally.
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