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The world’s second largest tobacco group is to push the European Union to end its ban on an alternative to smoking cigarettes.
British American Tobacco believes its tobacco snuff, marketed as ‘snus’, could persuade some customers to stop smoking – and could therefore be an important element in its corporate responsibility programme. It began test-marketing the product in Scandinavia and Africa in May, but cannot extend trials in Europe because of the 13-year EU ban.
‘We intend to engage with regulators, particularly in the EU, in the hope they will consider snus and other non-combustible products as valid options in tobacco harm reduction,’ said BAT.
Snus, which eradicate some of the dangerous chemicals produced by burning tobacco, are being marketed in South Africa and Sweden, which is exempt from the EU ban, under two of BAT’s best-known brands, Lucky Strike and Peter Stuyvesant – in an effort to encourage existing smokers to switch. No results from the pilots have yet been released.
The EU believes snus could appeal to young people and still pose a health risk, but BAT says the ban should be reconsidered, provided existing safeguards are maintained to block sales to persons under age and marketing is aimed only at adults.
Apart from snus, BAT is developing combustible products it hopes could reduce tar and toxic elements in smoke.
The pollster Mori, which has held stakeholder dialogue sessions for BAT, said most participants had responded ‘positively’ to such efforts and felt they should be a priority for the company. However, a minority were ‘sceptical’. BAT still finds it difficult to persuade some stakeholders to enter into structured talks on such issues, but reports that it has held ‘constructive individual discussions on snus with a number of public health scientists who prefer not to engage in formal dialogue’.
The anti-smoking pressure group Action on Smoking and Health agrees there is ‘no logic’ in a ban on snus, and BAT says it will now attempt ‘fuller dialogue’ on the subject. It will also form a working group to look at smoking in public places.
British American Tobacco believes its tobacco snuff, marketed as ‘snus’, could persuade some customers to stop smoking – and could therefore be an important element in its corporate responsibility programme. It began test-marketing the product in Scandinavia and Africa in May, but cannot extend trials in Europe because of the 13-year EU ban.
‘We intend to engage with regulators, particularly in the EU, in the hope they will consider snus and other non-combustible products as valid options in tobacco harm reduction,’ said BAT.
Snus, which eradicate some of the dangerous chemicals produced by burning tobacco, are being marketed in South Africa and Sweden, which is exempt from the EU ban, under two of BAT’s best-known brands, Lucky Strike and Peter Stuyvesant – in an effort to encourage existing smokers to switch. No results from the pilots have yet been released.
The EU believes snus could appeal to young people and still pose a health risk, but BAT says the ban should be reconsidered, provided existing safeguards are maintained to block sales to persons under age and marketing is aimed only at adults.
Apart from snus, BAT is developing combustible products it hopes could reduce tar and toxic elements in smoke.
The pollster Mori, which has held stakeholder dialogue sessions for BAT, said most participants had responded ‘positively’ to such efforts and felt they should be a priority for the company. However, a minority were ‘sceptical’. BAT still finds it difficult to persuade some stakeholders to enter into structured talks on such issues, but reports that it has held ‘constructive individual discussions on snus with a number of public health scientists who prefer not to engage in formal dialogue’.
The anti-smoking pressure group Action on Smoking and Health agrees there is ‘no logic’ in a ban on snus, and BAT says it will now attempt ‘fuller dialogue’ on the subject. It will also form a working group to look at smoking in public places.
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