12 March 2026
An opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive lists all the arguments that the tobacco lobby also puts forward against the proposal. Attempts by an EESC member to bring the opinion more into balance all failed.
read more...26 February 2026
As a fellow at the School for Moral Ambition, Eline Goethals wrote a report on communication around the tobacco endgame. In a personal opinion piece, she reflects on her astonishment at an industry that drives millions to their deaths while the profits flow to shareholders.
read more...25 February 2026
A new report from Action on Smoking and Health USA shows why the idea of ending the tobacco industry, the so-called Tobacco Endgame, is gaining little political traction, and how better communication can change that.
read more...10 February 2026
After four years of research by Maastricht University and RIVM into the acute harmfulness of heated tobacco products for the heart and blood vessels and lungs, it can be said with certainty: heated tobacco products are harmful to health.
read more...05 February 2026
In a Smoke Free Partnership webinar experts warned against the misleading lobby of the tobacco industry, which claims that Swedes smoke less thanks to snus and nicotine pouches. In reality, the lower smoking figures are due to a consistent tobacco control policy. However, nicotine use among young people is increasing enormously.
read more...03 February 2026
The EU Tobacco Tax Directive needs a quick and thorough update, because both the minimum rates and the scope of the directive are outdated. The review “is not a finance issue, but a health issue,” an EC official said at a European Respiratory Society conference.
read more...02 February 2026
UPDATE 04-02-2026
The age limit for the purchase of nicotine products will go from 18 to 21 years in the Netherlands, if it is up to the upcoming government. The three coalition parties are also criminalizing the possession of illegal vapes and plan to intensify enforcement.
26 January 2026
UPDATE 29-01-2026
For the documentary ‘Enfumés’, journalist Manon de Couët went undercover to work at Philip Morris in Paris. The result: an unfiltered insight into the deception and cunning of the tobacco industry, which prefers to operate in the shadows.
22 January 2026
The Swedish ex-member of the European Parliament Johan Nissinen now acts as a lobbyist for the industry organization Global Institute for Novel Nicotine. This is not surprising, since he already campaigned for ‘tobacco harm reduction’ in his time as MEP.
read more...15 January 2026
Biodegradable filters are proposed as the solution to the environmental damage caused by cigarette butts. But those butts are just as toxic and, like plastic filters, they offer no health benefits. They only help manufacturers not to have to pay for cleaning up litter.
read more...12 January 2026
With an urgent letter to Ursula von der Leyen and Wopke Hoekstra in December, the tobacco sector tried to change the European Commission’s mind about the proposed revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive. Drama was not shunned.
read more...11 December 2025
UPDATE 05-01-2026
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has already repeatedly urged the House of Representatives to comply with FCTC Article 5.3 in order to keep out the tobacco industry’s lobby. A new letter was sent to the new House after the recent elections, the responsible official said in an interview.
09 December 2025
In 33 years, Belgian Johan Vandermeulen rose from marketing trainee at BAT Belgium to Chief Operating Officer of the world’s second largest tobacco company. The Fleming is responsible for the global implementation of BAT’s strategy to offer alternatives to the ‘lost smoking moments’ due to smoking bans.
read more...08 December 2025
Two coinciding reports show the seriousness of the situation regarding nicotine use among young people in the Netherlands. A third of vaping school students also do so at night, and the number of reports of hospital treatments because of vaping has doubled in a year.
read more...04 December 2025
Without causing any commotion, a representative of the tobacco industry was able to openly try to undermine the proposals during a hearing of the European Parliament on the revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive. FCTC Article 5.3 is completely ignored by the EP.
read more...20 November 2025
Denmark, Iceland and Norway are implementing the provisions of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC Convention with a guideline for public servants. The document explicitly states that the rules also apply to members of parliament. The Dutch government has been complying with 5.3 since 2016, but here parliament does not want to commit itself.
read more...17 November 2025
The Netherlands is at the top of the Tobacco Industry Interference Index of the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobaco Control. This is mainly due to the lawsuit that Youth Smoking Prevention filed against the Dutch state in 2014 about compliance with FCTC Article 5.3. Now, only parliament is still open to influence by the tobacco industry.
read more...30 October 2025
A patent application shows that PMI wants to persuade customers in its stores with a carbon monoxide test to switch to alternative nicotine products. The collected test data can be used to influence the public and policy. The test set-up turns out to be another smart marketing plan.
read more...22 October 2025
Once again, news site EU Reporter appears to be an outpost of the tobacco lobby, with a story that praises the Swedish model of harm reduction. But snus is not the cause of the low smoking prevalence in Sweden, and the Swedish Cancer Institute mainly sees disadvantages.
read more...13 October 2025
Two ex-fellows of the School for Moral Ambition have set up a fund to finance lawsuits against the tobacco industry. The laws are already there, they argue, but they must be enforced in court. ‘The costs of health damage must be returned to those who cause it.’
read more...08 October 2025
Since June 2024, tobacco lobbyists have already had 220 meetings with MEPs. In particular, the revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive is now under discussion. The lobby is trying to get exceptions to the regulations for alternative nicotine products. Health organizations do little in return.
read more...29 September 2025
For the fourth time, the nicotine industry seized the opportunity of the United Nations General Assembly to organize a conference on harm reduction. One of the proposals made there: abolish the ban on US government export support for the nicotine industry.
read more...22 September 2025
A report by the Times of Malta reveals how British American Tobacco organised a two-day press trip to Stockholm to convince journalists of the benefits of smokeless nicotine products. They heard that many politicians are still in the ‘stop or die’ approach.
read more...18 September 2025
An open letter to the European Commission advocating a more flexible tax policy for tobacco alternatives brings to light a long list of doctors and scientists who allowed themselves to be used for the nicotine lobby. Lobby vehicle EU Reporter is the messenger.
read more...08 September 2025
In an advice to the European Court, the Advocate General sees no possibility for legal entities such as Youth Smoking Prevention to require an alternative measurement method for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke. But he does want to discuss whether the existing standard is valid.
read more...27 August 2025
UPDATE 09-09-2025
UPDATE 27-08-2025
After doctors in the Netherlands asked Snapchat in June for measures against vape and tobacco dealers, little has changed, according to research by a youth panel. Teenagers still know how to easily find dealers. That is why an enforcement request has been submitted to the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets.
24 July 2025
To counter the arrival of new nicotine products, a coalition of tobacco control organisations in Latin America decided to adopt a surprisingly effective strategy: they use the same tactics as the tobacco industry uses, but this time against the industry itself.
read more...23 July 2025
The excise duty increases on tobacco proposed by the European Commission will reduce the differences in tobacco prices between Member States. This will put an end to the disproportionate revenue that Luxembourg derives from tobacco sales without having to pay for the related healthcare costs.
read more...21 July 2025
In a recent letter to the British government, the American think tank Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) argues against the introduction of a generational sales ban for tobacco. However, the think tank appears to rely on experts who work for the tobacco industry.
read more...15 July 2025
A generational ban on the sale of nicotine products is not possible now for legal and practical reasons, writes outgoing State Secretary Tielen to parliament. However, the legal argument does not hold up, says lawyer Steven Baylis, and 60,000 doctors argue for the introduction of a generational ban.
read more...08 July 2025
At the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin at the end of June, it became clear that all over the world the focus is shifting from tobacco control to eliminating tobacco. Constant attempts by the industry to influence policy are the main obstacle.
read more...02 July 2025
The general public is already much further along in thinking about gradually introduced tobacco bans than most policymakers. This became apparent during the first Global Tobacco Endgame Summit at the end of June in Dublin. The time is ripe to ban the sale of tobacco products.
read more...30 June 2025
A report by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) states that a generational sales ban on tobacco products can legally be introduced by individual EU member states, without the EU being able to stop it. The report also offers a step-by-step plan for this.
read more...12 June 2025
The Dutch health institute RIVM investigated the concentrations of nicotine that smokers of tobacco-free nicotine sticks ingest, and concluded that these are up to 25 times higher than previously calculated advisory values.
read more...10 June 2025
In an urgent letter, medical doctors in the Netherlands call on Snapchat to protect children from the distribution of vape-related content on the platform. Youth Smoking Prevention threatens legal action if Snapchat does not meet the requirements within two weeks.
read more...22 May 2025
Global trade publication for the advertising industry, AdWeek, recently provided a platform to Philip Morris International (PMI) by inviting senior vice president Marian Salzman to appear on a podcast. During this episode, misleading information was spread, and a deadly industry was normalized.
read more...24 April 2025
An organisation that bills itself as an agency and PR firm for talented writers turns out to be part of a broad original US network of libertarian organisations around the Atlas Network. Young Voices is therefore another mouthpiece for the tobacco industry.
read more...01 April 2025
For over 20 years, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been funding an exclusive scholarship for Romanian journalists to train them in independent reporting on European policy. In doing so, JTI has managed to grow over 280 press pawns.
read more...17 March 2025
The European Commission must take action to curb the rigged cigarette. That was the tenor at the hearing of the European Court of Justice in the enforcement case that the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation started in 2019. The Advocate General will share his conclusion on 10 July.
read more...03 February 2025
Dutch Customs has released a secret cooperation agreement between the Dutch government and the tobacco industry on combating tobacco smuggling after TabakNee requested this. Experts say such agreements conflict with international agreements and, above all, do not work. ‘The Dutch government has fallen into the industry’s trap.’
read more...28 January 2025
On 10 March, the European Court of Justice will hear the questions posed in the context of the appeal in the enforcement case concerning the rigged cigarettes, initiated by Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation.
read more...18 December 2024
The Dutch citizens' initiative Nicotinee (No to nicotine) has turned out to be a resounding success. Parliament has asked the government to investigate Nicotinee’s proposal for a ban on the sale of nicotine-containing products to people born from 2012 onwards.
read more...05 December 2024
Urged by public health activists, Dutch parliament this month will debate a national ban on selling tobacco and vaping products to residents born after 1 January 2012. The ‘generational ban’ would gradually erase smoking and vaping among future Dutch generations while leaving current nicotine-users untouched.
read more...29 August 2024
A pavilion with the inscription ‘Tobacco Innovations’ during the Zandvoort Grand Prix raises question marks and especially a lot of indignation. The Dutch organization was not happy with the pavilion, but could not get out of a deal with the international F1 organization. The NVWA is investigating the matter.
read more...18 December 2023
Philip Morris International (PMI) has been a major sponsor of NATO Defense College Foundation conferences in Rome for eight years. The prestigious think tank offers the tobacco giant access to politicians, ministers and other influential people from around the world. Critics are baffled, especially now that PMI continues to swell the Russian war chest.
read more...
Nieuw deze week:
Johan Vandermeulen, COO British American Tobacco
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