LONDON, Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Marketing
Officer, British American Tobacco, said:
"We welcome the USA's Food
& Drug Administration (FDA) shining a spotlight on the
important issue of preventing youth access to vapour products and
consumer safety. We wish to work with governments and regulators
worldwide to ensure clear and responsible regulatory frameworks are
developed, which take account of all industry stakeholders –
including consumers, regulators and the industry.
"We have always been clear that children should not use
vapour products and we have had stringent measures in place to
address this issue for some time. Accordingly, we share the FDA's
concern that the marketing of some flavours could resonate with
children. At the same time it is hard to overestimate the role that
the responsible marketing of flavours plays in helping adult
consumers move on from combustible products to alternative tobacco
and nicotine products.
"As a responsible company, we have supported measures to
remove products which could be attractive to, or targeted at,
children. We also have procedures in place to ensure our products
are only ever marketed to adult smokers and vapers.
"We look forward to receiving the FDA's final guidance on
flavours and our US business will work with them regarding the
proposed changes.
"Given the tragic cases reported in the US recently, we fully
support the FDA's efforts to ensure the safety of those consumers
who use vaping liquids and devices. As the world's second largest
vapour company, providing high quality products to more than 9
million consumers worldwide, we take our consumer safety
responsibilities very seriously.
"We have invested billions of dollars in the research and
development of our potentially reduced products and the ingredients
and components used in these products have been scrutinised by our
team of 50 toxicologists for their suitability for vaping.
Consistent with this, we do not include oils containing THC or
Vitamin E Acetate.
"We are confident that our planned Pre-Market Tobacco
Applications (PMTA) for our four main VUSE products in the
USA will be submitted before the
FDA's deadline of May 2020 which, if
approved, will enable our Reynolds business to continue selling its
VUSE branded vaping products within the new USA regulatory framework."
Notes to editors
Measures Reynolds already have in place in the USA to address youth access
prevention:
- Reynolds has taken a responsible approach to developing, and
subsequently naming, its flavours to ensure they appeal to adult
consumers and not children.
- Reynolds age verifies through a third-party vendor that all
potential online purchases are 21 or older.
- Reynolds is a founding member of 'We Card', an organization
nationally recognized for retailer education and training for
age-restricted products. In 2017, We Card was recognized by 38
state governors.
- Reynolds funds 'Right Decisions Right Now: Be Tobacco Free'
(RDRN), a youth tobacco prevention education program which was
started in 1991 and is an evidence-based, independently tested
program for use by middle-school educators, parents and community
groups.
- Reynolds currently has a purchase limit of $200 per transaction and plans to implement a
more stringent limit of $80 per week
and three devices per quarter while instituting purchase pattern
monitoring.
- Reynolds has voluntarily implemented specific guidelines that
restrict the content of marketing and advertising materials for our
vapor products:
-
- No testimonials by sports figures or celebrities or any person
with special appeal to persons under 21 years of age;
- No person appearing in any advertising materials shall be under
age 25 or be styled to look under age 25;
- Content shall not include characters, images, or themes
designed to target youth;
- Content shall not be related to youth or youth-oriented
activities;
- Content shall not suggest that use of R.J. Reynolds Vapor
Company's ("RJRV") products is essential to social prominence,
distinction, success or sexual attraction, nor shall any content
picture a person using any RJRV products in an exaggerated manner;
and
- Content shall not depict persons participating in, or obviously
just having participated in, a physical activity requiring stamina
or athletic conditioning beyond that of normal recreation.
USA Pre-Market Tobacco
Application (PMTA) Process
- In May 2016, the US FDA finalised
their 'deeming' rule, which placed vapour products (among others,
including cigars) under their regulatory authority.
- As a result, manufacturers of vapour products must submit
Pre-Market Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) for consideration
of their products to be approved for sale.
- To receive approval, PMTAs must demonstrate that products are
appropriate for the protection of public health. This is determined
by evaluating the relative risks of the new product versus
pre-existing tobacco/nicotine products, the likelihood that
existing tobacco/nicotine users will stop using such products, and
the likelihood that those who do not use tobacco/nicotine products
will start using the new product.
- In July 2019, a Federal Judge
ordered the FDA to impose a deadline of May
2020 for PMTA applications to be submitted.
British American Tobacco's preparations are well advanced and as
such, we are very well positioned to meet the May 2020 deadline.
Forward looking statements
This is a release by British American Tobacco p.l.c. Associate
companies are excluded. References to 'British American Tobacco',
'BAT', 'we', 'us' and 'our' when denoting opinion refer to British
American Tobacco p.l.c. (the Company, and together with its
subsidiaries, the "Group"), and when denoting tobacco business
activity refer to Group operating companies, collectively or
individually as the case may be. This release contains certain
forward-looking statements, made within the meaning of Section 21E
of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, regarding our
intentions, beliefs or current expectations reflecting knowledge
and information available at the time of preparation and
concerning, amongst other things, prospects, growth and strategies.
BAT undertakes no obligation to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
These statements are often, but not always, made through the use
of words or phrases such as "believe," "anticipate," "could,"
"may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict,"
"will," "estimate," "strategy" and similar expressions. It is
believed that the expectations reflected in this release are
reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
currently anticipated.