As 2019 draws to an end, many of us would have spent a reflective moment or two thinking about all that transpired in the past year – achievements, challenges, memorable events, etc. Some of the more proactive among us might have even already determined what we want to achieve in 2020 and how we’re going to go about doing it, down to the last possible detail.
From an industry standpoint, 2019 was certainly an eventful year, full of both positive and less positive events. Some of the happenings that stand out include former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s sudden resignation; FDA finalizing its guidance for manufacturers submitting new tobacco product applications through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway; the initial public offering of China National Tobacco’s international arm, China Tobacco International (HK) Co., becoming the best performing IPO in the Hong Kong stock market for years; raising the smoking age to 21 in a number of US states; the legalization of cannabis in a growing number of states and countries; (including medical marijuana in Thailand - see story on page 56); the wishy-washy stance the current US administration adopted on a flavor ban; reports of illnesses across the US believed to be linked to vaping; (see follow up story “Industry’s Response to EVALI” on page 22); and PMI getting FDA approval to market iQOS in the US, just to name a few.
At the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, the nominee for the new US FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn waits for an expected full Senate vote confirmation; PMTAs for reduced nicotine tobacco products have successfully gone through the vetting process and authorized to market in the US; there’s a new bill that raised the federal minimum smoking age to 21 across the US; a partial ban on mint and fruit flavors in e-cigarette cartridges but not in pen-tank vaping systems has been announced; CBD products becoming the newest, hottest item, opening a huge market segment with great growth potential; the Centers for Disease Control determined that vape-related illnesses are linked to vitamin E acetate mostly used in THC-containing e-cigarette or vaping products and recommends people to not use THC-containing e-cigarette or vaping products, especially those from less credible sources, which is, coincidentally or not, what large industry players had already been saying all along; and the heat-not-burn segment is growing rapidly one in markets around the world.
The year 2020 should prove to be eventful and exciting as well, especially with it being the last stretch of the 2020 US elections. It’s been an absolute blast sharing news of the goings-on of the industry throughout 2019. We can hardly wait to see how 2020 unfolds!