Meeting between Health Canada and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. – November 21, 2023

Subject:

Compliance challenges related to smokeless tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations.

Date:

November 21, 2023

Participants:

Health Canada (HC)

• Sonia Johnson (Chair), Director General, Tobacco Control Directorate (TCD)
• Denis Choinière, Director, Tobacco Products Regulatory Office (TPRO), TCD
• Sophie Corriveau, Acting Associate Director, Office of Compliance of Tobacco and Vaping Products (OCTVP), TCD
• Acting Manager, Operations, OCTVP, TCD
• Senior Policy Analyst, Vaping Regulations, TPRO, TCD
• Policy Analyst, International and Regulatory Policy Unit, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, TCD (Secretariat)

Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Inc. (RBH)

• Katherine Ridings, Regulatory Compliance Supervisor Canada
• Mischa Armin, Legal Counsel
• Sabrina Sotiriu, Federal Government Relations Lead

Introduction:

A meeting was held at the request of RBH who wanted to present their compliance challenges relating to the new labelling requirements for smokeless tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations (TPAPLR).

The Chair opened the meeting with round table introductions.

HC reminded participants that this meeting is subject to disclosure as per HC's Openness and Transparency policies. In the interest of transparency, the Department stated that it would be making a record of the meeting publicly available. The handling of information and privacy notice was mentioned and acknowledged.

HC also referred to Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), its international obligation to protect tobacco control policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. It was acknowledged by RBH representatives.

Subjects:

RBH presented technical challenges related to the new labelling requirements under the TPAPLR, which came into force in August 2023, specifically as they apply to smokeless tobacco products (in cylindrical packages).

In particular, RBH identified the following aspects of the TPAPLR as challenging to implement:

• Under paragraph 90(2)(b), the display area on RBH's current snuff packaging is not large enough to meet the 4,000mm² requirement; and
• Health warning formats provided in the source document (e.g. landscape, portrait and square) do not fit well on RBH's cylindrical packaging.

RBH suggested the following changes to the TPAPLR to address their challenges:

• For primary packages containing chewing tobacco or snuff, RBH would like for health warnings to be displayed on the greater of 75% of the display area and an area of 1,500mm².
• Allow health warnings to be adapted to fit the circular display area on cylindrical packages until new circular images for cigarette tobacco tubs can be developed for rotation in July 2026.

HC explained that, in regards to smokeless tobacco products, the objective of the regulations requiring a minimum size of 4,000mm² is to ensure the pictorial health warnings are clearly visible and legible. HC asked the following questions:

• Does RBH have any technical challenges that would prevent them from widening the size of their cylindrical packages? RBH was not aware at the time.
• Does RBH or RBH's parent company, Philip Morris International (PMI), have smokeless products like these in other markets around the globe? RBH does not, but PMI does and the packages are the same.
• How did RBH come up with a recommendation of 1,500mm²? RBH answered that their surface area is 1,860mm², and 1,500mm² is simply a round number.

In closing, HC reiterated the requirements for health warning messages in the TPAPLR, and that stakeholders are expected to comply with the regulations.

RBH expressed that this will be a challenge for several manufacturers with existing products on the market, and asked if it would be possible to be granted an exception to launch their packages with the existing format, or if others have asked or have been granted the same exception.

HC invited RBH to consult online industry meeting summaries at Canada.ca to learn if other companies had met with HC over similar issues. HC pointed out that regulatory changes under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act typically follow the same process, that is including informal consultations, pre-publication, and final publication.

Conclusion:

The meeting was then concluded.

Documents:

• Agenda as provided by RBH