Tobacco industry 'looking forward'
The tobacco industry is looking to the future despite regulation in all its forms.
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The Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum is taking place in Bologna, Italy this week.
Speakers included chief executives, R&D heads, regulatory experts, World Trade Organisation lawyers and health campaigners.
Exane BNP Paribas’ James Bushnell says the overall tone of the conference is that the industry is looking forward.
“The Tobacco industry is (slowly) changing.
“The core product may be generic, old and very profitable but this is a well-run and forward thinking industry.”
Bushnell said a lot of the discussion focussed on next generation products, including e-cigarettes.
“As has long been our view, the industry accepts that the current generation of e-cigarettes are not good enough to make it a mainstream product.
“More effective, better-tasting, simpler and more reliable products are needed.”
Those products may be on the market within two years.
Regulation was also on the cards, including plain packaging laws which are being considered by 21 different countries, and have already been implemented in Australia.
But Bushnell said the tobacco industry has a good chance of winning on some points of the World Trade Organisation challenge against Australia.
“The issue is whether this will be enough to act as a deterrent and whether it comes in time to halt the spread of a measure that is hard to reverse.”
He said EU decisions may come first and those will be crucial.