Company reaffirms commitment to offering Canadians potentially less-risky alternatives with nation-wide launch of vaping products
TORONTO, May 31, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - On World No Tobacco Day, Imperial Tobacco Canada reaffirmed its commitment to transforming tobacco and set out a path to decrease smoking rates. Citing technological advances and evolving societal attitudes as key drivers of change, the company continues to embrace the principles of harm reduction by providing smokers with potentially reduced risk products – such as vaping and tobacco heating products. This commitment to offer adult smokers viable nicotine alternatives with reduced risk potential, has led Imperial Tobacco Canada to announce the launch of its vaping product – Vype – following the passage of Bill S-5 last week – which legalized the sale of nicotine-containing vapour products.
"This is a very important time in the history of our company in Canada," said Jorge Araya, CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco. "Now that Bill S-5 has passed, we're able to forge ahead with our commitment to transform tobacco by offering a range of products that offer reduced risk potential."
Vapour products are an important part of the company's vision to transform tobacco, as they are widely understood to offer reduced-risk potential compared to conventional cigarettes. The company believes that with these new product offerings, it can help the Government of Canada attain its stated health goal of a sub-five per cent smoking rate by 2035.
As government health officials, as well as tobacco control advocates, discuss increasingly-strict tobacco regulations at a conference in Montreal this week, Imperial Tobacco Canada strongly believes that real change will come from the result of harm reduction tools and not prohibition-like laws.
"The evidence is clear from countries such as Australia and France that excessive tobacco control regulations, like plain packaging, simply do not lower smoking rates," continued Araya. "If Health Canada is going to achieve its smoking rate targets, it will have to do so by encouraging the use of less risky alternatives to cigarettes."
After years of research and development, consumer feedback, and consultations with public health groups, the company believes the industry is now entering its most dynamic period of positive change, and is marking this moment in Canada with the launch of its own Vype brand of vaping products.
"The quality of the products now available gives me great hope that this transformation will be both long term and successful," stated Araya. "We encourage consumers, public health bodies, and regulators to embrace the principles of harm reduction, which incentivize smokers to migrate to less harmful nicotine alternatives."
Supporting documents, such as fact sheets and product images can be found on this Dropbox link.
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SOURCE Imperial Tobacco Canada
or for interview requests with our spokespersons, please contact: ON and Western Canada, Karen Parucha, Torchia Communications, Office: 416-341-9929 ext. 228, Cell: 416-898-4336, [email protected]; QC and Atlantic Canada, Ludovic Iop /Paul Vaillancourt III, Torchia Communications, Office: 514 288-8290 ext. 224 / 243, Cell/PV: 514 996-6224, [email protected] / [email protected]
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