Crack down on illegal vapes rather than introducing redundant cigarette policies, says BAT

The UK government should be cracking down on illegal vapes rather than introducing redundant policies on cigarettes, a senior executive at British American Tobacco has said.

Speaking at an event in London Tuesday (18), Kingsley Wheaton, chief corporate officer of Britain’s biggest tobacco company, said its analysis shows by the time a UK plan to stop young British adults buying cigarettes comes into force, smoking rates will have already fallen below 5 per cent in that age category.

“We need to move on to a more mature dialog with real solutions for the problems that are out there,” Wheaton said in an interview.

BAT, which currently derives about 80 per cent of its revenue from sales of cigarettes, is instead pushing for licensing for retailers selling vapes. BAT outlined its plan to reduce traditional tobacco cigarette sales to 50 per cent of revenues by 2035, by pushing alternative products such as vapes, nicotine pouches and heated cigarettes.

Wheaton said the 2035 target balanced the interests of shareholders with customers. “We’ve got investors to think about, we’ve got dividends to pay, we’ve got debt to pay-down and buybacks to fund,” he said.

Vapes have surged in popularity among smokers looking to quit and younger adults. Wheaton said licensing, with proper enforcement, will help reduce the number of underage children getting their hands on e-cigarettes and level the playing field for all companies operating in the industry.

The UK’s previous Conservative administration announced Tobacco and Vapes Bill under which it will be an “offence to sell tobacco products to those born on or after 1 January 2009. The new Labour government is continuing with the bill and is also concerned about the prevalence of disposable vapes.

The world’s biggest tobacco companies are trying to generate more sales from tobacco alternatives as rates of smoking decline. The World Health Organisation said that one in five adults worldwide smoked in 2022, compared with one in three at the start of the century.

Rival Philip Morris International Inc, whose brands include Marlboro cigarettes and IQOS heated tobacco sticks, is targeting two thirds of sales of smokeless alternatives by 2030.