Canada's new regulations limit nicotine pouches to pharmacies, Imperial Tobacco protests, saying it's unfair

Canada's new regulations limit nicotine pouches to pharmacies, Imperial Tobacco protests, saying it's unfair

Recently, the Canadian Ministry of Health issued new regulations to limit the sale of nicotine bags to pharmacies. This move has caused dissatisfaction among Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN), which said that the measure targets its nicotine bag brand ZONNIC and makes it more difficult for citizens to quit smoking.

According to Western Standard on August 28, Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland issued a controversial ministerial order that from Wednesday (28th), Canadians can only buy nicotine bags in pharmacies.

The order has attracted criticism because it makes it more difficult for smokers to obtain these smoking cessation products, while other smoking cessation aids are still widely available.

Eric Gagnon, vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN), said,

"Today is a tragic day for Canadians who want to quit smoking. This is an extreme abuse of power, with the Minister of Health unilaterally imposing new rules on our smoking cessation product, ZONNIC. These rules do not apply to any other smoking cessation products, and singling out ZONNIC is a personal attack on our company by the Minister, which will only make it harder for adult smokers to quit."

ZONNIC is a nicotine pouch brand owned by Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN).

Gagnon pointed out that other nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) were not affected by the order, and although a large pharmaceutical company in the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) market had at least five meetings with the Minister's office after the launch of ZONNIC, ITCAN was denied similar meetings.

In addition, Gagnon said that a public opinion survey conducted by Health Canada in January showed that the illegal nicotine pouch brand recognized by young Canadians was not ZONNIC, but another well-known illegal nicotine pouch brand. Still, the ministerial order does not specifically address the issue of nicotine pouch use among youth, contradicting the minister's statement of commitment to protecting youth.

"Health Canada is fully aware that the nicotine pouch market has been overrun by illegal sellers. There are many active online and specialty stores selling these products, and the ministerial order will not make them go away. In fact, illegal sales will continue to increase."

Gagnon also stressed that ITCAN has taken steps beyond product licensing requirements to ensure that ZONNIC is stocked behind the counter and sold only after age verification. Despite the objections, ITCAN complied with the new regulations, instructing its convenience store, gas station and grocery store partners to remove its product ZONNIC from their shelves.

"We will seriously support our pharmacy partners as they are now the front line of smoking cessation counseling."