Twenty Years Of Tobacco Control Efforts Have Led To The Emergence Of New Tobacco Control Policies Becoming A New Focus Of Global Policies.

The latest "Global Tobacco Epidemic Report 2025" released by the World Health Organization was presented at the World Tobacco Control Conference in Dublin. This coincided with the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Two important documents jointly revealed a deeper reality: The global consensus on traditional tobacco has largely been established, while the governance battle against emerging tobacco has just begun.
Traditional Tobacco: System established, but implementation weak Since the entry into force of the FCTC in 2005, global tobacco control policies have gradually become institutionalized. Graphic warnings, advertising bans, public smoking bans, and tax regulation are among the "classic measures" that have become consensus.
However, by 2024, some obvious changes began to emerge:
Weak implementation: 40 countries have not yet implemented the core measures of MPOWER; Divergence emerged: High-income countries have increasingly raised taxes, while low-income countries have begun to lower taxes; The issue of tobacco control has spilled over: Environmental protection, human rights, social equity, etc. have been included in the tobacco agenda, exceeding the traditional health discourse system.
In summary: The governance of traditional tobacco is increasingly resembling a "structural optimization" rather than a "bottom-level reconstruction".
Emerging Tobacco: Regulatory chaos, extended battlefront Compared to the "standard answer" that is gradually clear for traditional tobacco, emerging tobacco - including e-cigarettes, heated non-combustible tobacco, nicotine pouches, etc. - is triggering a regulatory tug-of-war globally.
As of 2024, 133 countries have begun to regulate or impose bans on e-cigarettes, but there are still over 60 countries without clear laws;
In terms of regulatory stance, the world is roughly divided into four categories:
Absolute prohibition (such as India) is stricter than cigarettes (such as Singapore) is broader than cigarettes (such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand) is not yet clear (most developing countries)
It is particularly notable that nicotine pouches are becoming a "gray bestseller" for teenagers, spreading rapidly in the United States and Sweden, but global regulation is still extremely lagging.
New products, new groups, new flavors, all are driving the tobacco governance to shift from "tobacco control" to "nicotine control".
Governing paradox: The end of global coordination, local competition? This year's "Global Tobacco Epidemic Report" emphasizes that 6.1 billion people (accounting for 75% of the global population) are protected by at least one MPOWER measure. This sounds like a remarkable achievement, but it also exposes problems:
The core strategy of tobacco control has been solidified, and the innovation space is getting smaller; The regulation of new tobacco products has entered a lagging stage, and multinational companies and local regulations form a dynamic game;
Young people are turning to e-cigarettes, but regulation is stuck in place.
Controlling "tobacco" is actually controlling a gray intermediary that spans health, technology, culture, and capital.

Trend Judgment: It is not the tobacco that is changing, but the logic of "control" that is changing. In the future tobacco governance, it will no longer be merely a public health issue, but rather a multi-objective, multi-dimensional, and multi-participant game system.
Tobacco control is no longer just "reducing harm", but rather answering questions such as: Who can define "reasonable consumption"? Who decides "public risk"? Who is shaping the new standards of "health"?
We are moving towards an era:
Tobacco control ≠ Prohibition of smoking and quitting smoking ≠ Reducing harm by not using nicotine ≠ Letting new types of tobacco grow freely unchecked.
Summary of Views: The traditional tobacco governance system has taken shape, but its marginal benefits are slowing down and its execution is weak;
Emerging tobacco has not yet established an international regulatory consensus, and it is the new main battlefield for global tobacco control;
Tobacco control governance is evolving from "health-oriented" to "comprehensive governance", with cross-domain integration deepening;
National differentiation is intensifying, and local regulation based on local conditions will become the norm in the next 10 years.