A key resolution of the Nigeria Industrial Standard has said that flavoured cigarettes like strawberry, banana, apple and menthol amongst others shall not be used in the manufacture of cigarettes in Nigeria. This will also apply to imported cigarettes after the reviewed standard is approved.
This follows the conclusion of the review of the Nigeria Industrial Standard (NIS) 463:2014 for Tobacco and Tobacco Products – Specifications for Cigarette in Abuja by the technical committee on Tobacco and Tobacco products.
Other countries where flavour in cigarette and other tobacco products have been prohibited include Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia and Uganda while menthol cigarettes will be banned in the European Union, Turkey and Moldovia from May 2020.
However, Head of public Relations at the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Mr. Bola Fashina said the technical committee resolutions were still mere proposals, subject to approval by the Standards Council.
In the UK, there’s a four-year phase-out from 2017 before a final ban on menthol cigarettes in May 2020. There is evidence that menthol relax the airways and the flavour masks the harshness of the smoke, therefore making younger people to find it easier to smoke.
The FDA had since 2009 banned flavoured cigarette in the USA, including candy, spice, herb, cola, fruit and coffee flavours. CThe law in the USA defines a cigarette as any rolled tobacco product- regardless of the wrapper – “likely to be offered for purchase too consumers as a cigarette.
Brazil’s National Health Protection Agency (ANVISA) announced the ban on use of additives in cigarettes and other tobacco products on 13 March 2012. The Board of ANVISA declared that additives, including flavourings such as mint, chocolate, cinnamon and fruit mask the bad taste of tobacco, reduce coughing, facilitate drag, and help develop dependence. It believes that additives act as a means of luring young people into starting and maintaining use of tobacco products.
