News
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Industry Mourns Dr. Iqbal Lambat
Dr. Iqbal Lambat, founder of Star Agritech International and a longtime figure in the global tobacco industry, has passed away.
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Malaysia Defends Nicotine Delisting
Malaysia’s former health minister, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, defended her 2023 decision to remove liquid nicotine from the country’s Poisons Act...
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Illicit Tobacco Drains ASEAN
ASEAN’s six largest economies lost an estimated US$13.1 billion in tax revenue to the illicit tobacco trade during 2024 and 2025, according to a new report from the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) and Euromonitor International.
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WHO Scrutiny Hits Pouches
The World Health Organization intensified its scrutiny of nicotine pouches and renewed calls for tighter oversight of nicotine pouches, citing concerns...
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Makary Resigns from FDA
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Marty Makary resigned on May 12 following mounting political pressure, internal disputes, and controversy surrounding the agency’s recent shift on flavored vaping products.
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Australia’s Illicit Tobacco and Vape Crisis
Australia’s tobacco control policies have long been among the strictest in the world. Through a sustained strategy of steep excise tax increases and tough regulations, the country has pushed cigarette prices to the highest levels globally.
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China’s Five-Year Plan Points to a Health Pivot as Nicotine Rules Tighten Quietly
Nicotine never appears by name in Beijing’s latest Five-Year Plan. Yet what’s being signaled is hard to miss. China’s newly approved 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030)...
Industry Mourns Dr. Iqbal Lambat
Dr. Iqbal Lambat, founder of Star Agritech International and a longtime figure in the global tobacco industry, has passed away.
May 19, 2026
Malaysia Defends Nicotine Delisting
Malaysia’s former health minister, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, defended her 2023 decision to remove liquid nicotine from the country’s Poisons Act...
May 19, 2026
Illicit Tobacco Drains ASEAN
ASEAN’s six largest economies lost an estimated US$13.1 billion in tax revenue to the illicit tobacco trade during 2024 and 2025, according to a new report from the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) and Euromonitor International.
May 19, 2026
WHO Scrutiny Hits Pouches
The World Health Organization intensified its scrutiny of nicotine pouches and renewed calls for tighter oversight of nicotine pouches, citing concerns...
May 19, 2026
Makary Resigns from FDA
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Marty Makary resigned on May 12 following mounting political pressure, internal disputes, and controversy surrounding the agency’s recent shift on flavored vaping products.
May 19, 2026
Australia’s Illicit Tobacco and Vape Crisis
Australia’s tobacco control policies have long been among the strictest in the world. Through a sustained strategy of steep excise tax increases and tough regulations, the country has pushed cigarette prices to the highest levels globally.
May 19, 2026
China’s Five-Year Plan Points to a Health Pivot as Nicotine Rules Tighten Quietly
Nicotine never appears by name in Beijing’s latest Five-Year Plan. Yet what’s being signaled is hard to miss. China’s newly approved 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030)...
May 19, 2026
Tobacco Asia Podcast #54: Mark McQuillan, Nicobrand
Thomas Schmid interviews Mark McQuillan, the managing director of Nicobrand, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical-grade nicotine suppliers.
May 19, 2026
Clarifying Thailand’s Nicotine Pouch Rules
Thailand has tightened oversight of nicotine pouches, reinforcing a regulatory model that allows the products on the market but subjects them to the same controls that apply to conventional tobacco.
May 5, 2026
Hong Kong Expands Vape Crackdown
Hong Kong has begun enforcing one of the region’s most restrictive frameworks on alternative nicotine products, extending existing controls on vaping...
May 5, 2026
JTI Malaysia Flags Illicit Surge
Malaysia’s illicit cigarette market continues to expand, reshaping the country’s tobacco landscape as price disparities widen and enforcement struggles to keep pace.
May 5, 2026
UK Enacts Generational Smoking Ban
The United Kingdom has enacted the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, putting into law a generational sales restriction that is expected to steadily reduce the size...
May 5, 2026
The TA Q&A: Understanding China’s New Nicotine Regulation
On January 9, 2026, the STMA – China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration – issued the country’s first formal regulation governing literally any product...
May 5, 2026
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