Philip Morris Ukraine will comply with AMCU instructions, strengthen consumer info about tobacco heating systems

Tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris Ukraine welcomes the completion of the study by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), which confirms the veracity of the information about the properties of tobacco heating systems (IQOS) and points to the need to clarify it for better understanding by consumers.

As the company's press service reported to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, during the study on the reliability of the information disseminated by the company about IQOS releasing 95% less harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes, the AMCU was provided with scientifically based, correct information about the product, which is confirmed by more than 50 scientific studies conducted in different countries around the world.

"For Philip Morris, trust and honest relations with consumers have always been and remain in the first place… Philip Morris awaits the full text of the AMCU recommendations and will take them into account in order to make information about such studies and the properties of IQOS even more detailed, accessible and understandable for Ukrainian consumers, which will contribute to their better awareness of such products," the company emphasized.

In addition, it is reported that, since 2008, the company has invested more than $ 12.5 billion in the development, scientific research and commercialization of IQOS in the world. Since the product entered the Ukrainian market in 2016, investments in Ukraine amounted to about UAH 7 billion. In 2024 alone, $ 11 million was invested in the launch and development of commercial infrastructure for the innovative IQOS ILUMA tobacco heating system.

Philip Morris Ukraine emphasized that the scientific basis is one of its key priorities, and promised to inform consumers about the results of scientific research in order to make information about them more accessible and understandable, and added that they have ambitions to further develop this area.

On Tuesday, the AMCU provided Philip Morris Ukraine with recommendations to stop the dissemination of inaccurate information about the properties of tobacco heating systems (IQOS), according to the regulator's website.

The committee recalled that the consideration of the case was preceded by a statement from an individual who contacted the regulator with a complaint about the actions of Philip Morris Sales and Distribution LLC, in particular, about the dissemination of claims about the greater safety of IQOS compared to cigarettes, which, in the applicant's opinion, misleads consumers.

The WHO Representative Office in Ukraine and the Ministry of Health informed the AMCU that there is currently little research on the impact of electrically heated tobacco products (in particular on humans), since widespread marketing and use of these products is relatively new, and therefore additional research is needed to substantiate claims about the reduced risk of long-term impact of IQOS on consumer health.

The AMCU, during a consumer survey, found that some of them misinterpret the information that the tobacco product manufacturer wants to convey to them, claiming that IQOS is safer than cigarettes.

"When considering the case on variations of the claim "IQOS emits 95% less harmful chemicals than cigarettes" with explanations/reservations to them, it was established that they do not contain an indication of the specific amount of harmful chemicals on which the calculation of the reduction in the level of such substances emitted during smoking IQOS and cigarettes was based, therefore, such claims are inaccurate," the regulator emphasized.

The AMCU also found that claims about the lower risk of IQOS compared to cigarettes lack information about the studies on which such a conclusion is based, therefore, such claims are inaccurate.

The regulator instructed Philip Morris Sales and Distribution LLC to further inform consumers about the properties of IQOS in a way that eliminates inaccuracies.

As reported, on December 30, 2022, the AMCU opened a case against Philip Morris Sales and Distribution LLC on possible unfair competition, since the company, when advertising its IQOS tobacco heating systems, claims that they are safer for smokers' health than regular cigarettes.

PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine is part of Philip Morris International, which is one of the world's largest tobacco manufacturers. It has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years and owns a factory in Kharkiv region. Before the Russian armed invasion, the company employed about 1,300 people. Before the war, the factory was an export hub for more than 20 countries, including such large markets as Japan and Egypt.