48
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MAY/JUNE 2013
they comply with the
Smokeless Tobacco
Act
as amended. FDA estimates that
36 companies will be affected by this
information collection.
Snus
—The expanded distribution of
snus continues. Kretek International
Inc. will market Swedish snus Thunder
Xtreme, Offroad and Oden’s Extreme
to U.S. distributors and retailers
nationwide. Kretek CEO Mark Cassar
said snus is expected to be “an active
part of the future of tobacco,” and “a
tipping point is coming that will favor
snus as a regular choice for many adult
tobacco users.”
Twelve snus will be available in the
new product line, with each brand
packaged in round 20-pouch cans. Each
of the three brands reportedly adheres
to Swedish standards for ingredients,
preparation, pasteurization and other
quality measures.
Overall Harm Reduction Products
—
Some states are opting new tax
structures regarding existing harm
reduction products like smokeless
and e-cigs. Last year in Indiana, the
legislature adopted language requiring
the state to take tobacco harm reduction
into account when making policy, and
Oklahoma is considering a bill for a
tax of 5 cents per unit on other tobacco
products compared to $1.03 per pack
on cigarettes.
Jeff Stier, senior fellow at the National
Center for Public Policy Research,
recently wrote in the
Huffington Post
that states should embrace “products
of innovation to reduce the risk of
smoking-related diseases” and adopt
tax structures that would discourage
cigarette smoking and encourage the
use of harm reduction products as have
states like Indiana and Oklahoma.
He argued that sin taxes are a bad
idea and if price is intended to influence
behavior, states should tax cigarettes at
a higher rate than lower-risk products.
If the tax is to be proportional to risk,
e-cigs should be taxed at under a penny
per piece, he reasoned.
Stier mentioned Oregon as being
among those states with an “upside
down approach,” taxing cigarettes at
$1.18 per pack versus $2.14 per tin of
smokeless tobacco.
New Modified Risk Tobacco Products
(MRTPs)
—The Institute of Medicine
(IOM) recently recommended that an
independent body oversee any research
provided to the FDA by manufacturers
of MRTPs, with the third party to
design and conduct research, oversee
studies and distribute research. In early
April the FDA said that in addition to
the IOM’s recommended research to
support MRTP applications, it is also
interested in information on third-party
governance as it relates more generally
to industry-sponsored tobacco research.
The FDA is specifically requesting
comments on: potential models of
third-party governance of tobacco
product research; criteria that the FDA
could use to evaluate any model; the
role that various stakeholders, such
as individual researchers, academic
institutions and research organizations,
would play in a third-party governance
model; how a model could be structured
to reduce conflict of interest and
bias in industry-sponsored research;
barriers, if any, that would have to be
overcome to encourage the broader
scientific community to participate in
a third-party governance model; how
to address unique research challenges,
if any, faced by small manufacturers;
what kinds and aspects of tobacco
product research could be subject to
third-party governance; and what
other steps the FDA can take to more
effectively oversee research to produce
general knowledge, such as establishing
better testing/research methods and
standards.
States should embrace “products
of innovation to reduce the risk of
smoking-related diseases” and adopt
tax structures that would discourage
cigarette smoking and encourage the
use of harm reduction products.
