NEXT GENERATION PRODUCTS
Imperial Brands Develops NGP “Belief System” Needed: A unified, fact-based conversation delivering a consistent and accurate message. Imperial takes a first step by developing a 13-point belief system to advance next generation products and ensure consumer safety Provided by Imperial Brands BELIEF 1: Product standards and science are of crucial importance We believe it’s crucial for adult smokers and vapers to trust the products they choose to use. There are currently too many irresponsible players in the market, particularly in the vaping space. This is damaging the category and must be addressed. In developing our NGPs, we are guided by comprehensive principles of design and quality, as well as strict manufacturing standards. We strongly believe that NGP standards need to rise significantly across the industry. Any manufacturer must be able to stand scientifically, behind their products and be able to demonstrate that they operate to the highest standards of product stewardship. We have over 300 scientists working on our Scientific Assessment Research Program; this program includes understanding: • how smokers use our Next Generation Products; • the chemical constituents of our NGPs and how levels compare to combustible tobacco products; • the effects of using our products on the human body in clinical assessments. This program forms part of our growing PMTA dossier which will be submitted to the FDA in the coming months. These types of assessments, and the teams of scientific experts required
to carry them out, are major financial commitments, and in our view they should be mandatory. We urge governments and regulators to play a key role in ensuring this aspiration becomes a reality to enable all of us in the industry to invest with confidence. BELIEF 2: NGPs are for adult smokers only We don’t target children; our marketing programs are focused solely on adult smokers and we are totally committed to enforcing and enhancing Youth Access Prevention measures. Specifically, in the USA, we have an end-to-end Youth Access Prevention program to ensure our products are responsibly designed, packaged, marketed and sold. And we insist our retail and on-line partners make stringent commitments to prevent underage access, which we enforce through compliance oversight. In our view, only companies committed to upholding the highest prevention standards for Youth Access & Youth Appeal should be allowed on the market. BELIEF 3: Knowledge and learning must be invested in and shared We believe it’s important to constantly improve our knowledge of the NGP categories. We focus on understanding long-term NGP use and encourage proactive, transparent intra-industry collaboration to address any data gaps. We believe policy should be based
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on evidence, underpinned by good science and regulatory rigor. But we also recognize many NGPs are still evolving in scientific terms, and that long-term epidemiological data is something we must continue to pursue. We acknowledge that no NGP is entirely risk-free, although both our ongoing research, and the broader scientific evidence base, suggest NGPs are potentially a lot less harmful than combustible cigarettes. It’s so critical to be able to share knowledge and learnings; to enable credible conversations about the harm reduction potential of NGPs; and ensure appropriate regulation is implemented. This requires us to undertake the right scientific studies to better understand long term use, and to give everybody— regulators, public health bodies, the media and consumers—the opportunity to scrutinize the ensuing data. This will take time, but we are playing our part with multiple studies: pre-clinical, clinical and behavioral across our whole NGP portfolio, either already published or in the pipeline. BELIEF 4: Strong brands have an important role to play We know that brands matter to smokers, so NGPs must have: • brand values that resonate with smokers; • a narrative that relates to who they are and how they feel about smoking.
