Yunnan University researcher Ming Deng proses integration of regulation and innovation in tobacco harm reduction interventions
Head of the Next-Generation Products (NGPs) industry at Yunnan University, Douglas Ming Deng, has proposed that there should be integration of regulation and innovation into all the interventions designed to reduce harm from tobacco consumption.
Deng made the proposal during his presentation at the 2023 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) Conference in Seoul.
Yunnan is the largest production base of both tobacco leaf and cigarettes in the world and Deng started to conduct research on the tobacco industry in 2004 when he participated in the program China’s Joining the FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control).
He then chaired several research programs on tobacco industry organizations. In recent years, Deng has actively been studying next-generation products (NGPs). He has engaged in several studies on NGPs, such as the regulation of vaping in China, the evolution of heated-tobacco products and global flavour regulation trends. His latest research is in the integration of the value chain and industry chain in the transition of the tobacco industry toward NGPs.
During the presentation, Deng said despite NGPs emerging in the early millennium, with the primary goal of facilitating tobacco harm reduction, regulations have not supported their uptake.
He said this is evident in the leading tobacco science forums such as GTNF Conference where tobacco harm reduction and NGPs were frequently discussed in recent years.
“Our buy below metric study has unveiled an intriguing pattern while the volume of articles and citations on THR steadily rises. That division exists with academic institutions and tobacco companies, primarily conducting studies. There is a lack of cooperation among the multinationals,” said Deng.
In his scrutiny of NGPs in Asia, while focusing on countries with the largest economies and smoker populations, the researcher said he found that Japan, China, Indonesia, and India are the countries whose regulations are not comprehensive enough and mostly contradictory.
He cited Japan where nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are regarded as drugs, which means one needs prescriptions from doctors to access and consume them.
“China, on the other hand, has implemented a comprehensive regulatory framework called one plus two plus n since October 2022. One refers to the amendment of the regulations on the implementation of the tobacco monopoly law of the People’s Republic of China and the other means the electronic cigarettes national standard and the measurements for the administration of electronic cigarettes and refers to all the detailed regulations notice published later on,” he said.
He added, “But here I especially would like to lay out the outlines for the regulations. In China, there are tobacco flavours only, and manufacturers as well as brand owners and retailers are required to obtain licenses and products that are subject to premarket review and approval. Heated tobacco products are regulated as cigarettes. The e-cigarette penetration in China was never above 2% and it decreased further after the regulation took place.”
Turning to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or namely FCTC, Deng observed that it began addressing the next-generation products at COP4, but till late, the harm reduction properties of the next-generation products are still vague within the FCTC contexts.
He said such ambiguity could potentially create regulatory loopholes among member countries.
“This suggests that multinationals should consider embracing the value chain,” he said.
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