Philip Morris to phase out cigarettes in Japan within decade
10 May, 2021
The top of tobacco giant Philip Morris said the business will phase out conventional cigarettes in Japan within 10 years, in an interview with the Nikkei business daily.
The Marlboro maker announced in 2016 a long-term goal to avoid selling cigarettes and replace them with alternatives that it says are less harmful -- but it is the first time it has given a clear deadline.
"We wish Japan to be the first market" for the phase-out, newly appointed CEO Jacek Olczak told the Nikkei in an interview published in Japanese on Friday.
The company "will know a smoke-free society in Japan within a decade", he said.
Philip Morris International is betting on its IQOS: a sort of short cigarette inserted into a device that heats the tobacco and releases a vapor.
Olczak told the Nikkei they "intend to introduce devices using new technologies".
Japan, considered by some a smoker's paradise, is definitely an outlier in the developed world for cigarette use.
Under a law that arrived to effect in 2020, smoking cigarettes regular cigarettes is banned generally in most restaurants, while heated products are allowed while eating and drinking when certain conditions are met.
Japan's government earns vast amounts of dollars annually in cigarette tax revenue, and owns a one-third stake in Japan Tobacco, the world's third most significant tobacco company.
Smoking in the pub is banned in lots of places under local regulations that impose hefty fines on violators.
Cigarettes cost only around 450 to 570 yen a pack and carry modest health warning labels.
Despite that, tobacco use in Japan has been falling, consistent with a broader global trend.
Source: japantoday.com
TAG(s):