‘Heat not burn’ cigarette warning
E-cigarette retailer Cosmic has warned the Government to beware of ‘‘heat not burn’’ tobacco devices.
The Ministry of Health is considering how to regulate e-cigarettes, which are electronic devices that deliver nicotine to the user without the harmful smoke.
But Christchurch-based Cosmic has used its submission on the proposed regulations to warn the ministry to be wary of a new kind of tobacco device developed by ‘‘Big Tobacco’’ as the giant international tobacco companies are collectively known.
Cosmic has written to the ministry calling for devices that ’’heat not burn’’ tobacco to be more tightly controlled than the e-cigarettes it sells, which deliver nicotine-laced water vapour free of the known carcinogens in tobacco.
‘‘Tobacco companies have launched products such as Marlboro’s ‘HeatStick’ and RJ Reynolds’ ‘Revo’ which feature loose leaf tobacco inside heating devices,’’ Cosmic’s submission to the regulations consultation said.
‘‘These should be strictly classified as tobacco products and should not be mistakenly grouped with e-cigarettes and e-liquid,’’ Cosmic said.
Cosmic’s Nell Rice said: ‘‘I know Big Tobacco are beginning to push these in the United States and Japan.’’
She said e-cigarettes that deliver nicotine in a water vapour could deliver huge health gains, as well as being a far less costly habit.
‘‘Heat not burn’’ devices don’t appear to offer the same health gains.
On a risk scale of exposure to ‘‘toxicants’’ on British American Tobacco’s (BAT) website tobacco heating products are rated as lower exposure that conventional cigarettes, but still higher than vapour-producing e-cigarettes.
Rice is an ex-smoker who switched to vaping two years ago. She’s been tracking the number of cigarettes she hasn’t smoked since then using a mobile phone app. It’s just told her she’s successfully not smoked 10,000 cigarettes since she quit.
Like other e-cigarette retailers, Cosmic is worried the Government may regulate e-cigarettes too harshly, for example banning their advertising and display, which could slow their uptake and limit education, given surveys showing widespread ignorance of how e-cigarettes work.
E-cigarette sales are booming in New Zealand with growth of around 60 per cent a year.
Tower to refund customers
Tower Insurance is to refund 23,000 customers who have had their multipolicy discounts calculated incorrectly. Those affected are some Tower, FinTel, Kiwibank and TSB Bank customers who had multiple policies between October 2014 and August 2016. ‘‘We identified that there was a package discount calculation error when one of our systems was changed. This meant policies that were previously linked, were not recognised, resulting in a miscalculation of your discount,’’ the insurer said. It offers a discount when customers hold more than one eligible policy for car, house, contents or boat insurance. The total discount varies depending on the number and type of policies a customer holds.
Fletcher CFO resigns
Fletcher Building’s chief financial officer has resigned to take up another CFO role in the United States. The country’s biggest construction firm said yesterday Gerry Bollman was leaving after four years at the company. Bollman would be replaced by Bevan McKenzie, who has been with Fletcher Building for three years.
Oil prices surging
Oil prices are surging, putting pressure on New Zealand petrol prices, after oil cartel OPEC agreed to cut production for the first time since 2008. Crude prices leapt 6 per cent on the news, after two years in which crude prices collapsed on market oversupply. OPEC reached an agreement to limit its production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0m barrels per day (bpd) at the International Energy Forum in Algiers, group officials told Reuters. OPEC estimates its current output at 33.24m bpd, meaning the cut could be up to 2 per cent of the cartel’s supply.
Bumper cruise season
Port Otago has confirmed visits from 87 cruise ships in the year ahead. This is an increase from the 70 that visited over the past year. The visits will include the 348-metre Ovation of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships to visit New Zealand and capable of carrying 4905 passengers. ‘‘It will be a busy time for the port but also for the greater economy of the region,’’ according to Port Otago chairman David Faulkner.