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BAT in talks to resume sales of Lyft

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The British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Industrial Area plant in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

BAT Kenya #ticker:BAT is lobbying the government to reverse the ban on its nicotine pouches, according to its parent company BAT Plc.

The multinational says its local subsidiary has beefed up talks with the government to address a regulatory dispute that has halted the sale of the nicotine pouches which traded locally under the Lyft brand.

“In Kenya, we continue to engage with the relevant authorities on the regulatory and fiscal framework to support a commercially sustainable reentry into the modern oral category,” BAT Plc says in its latest annual report.

“We continue to believe that modern oral represents an exciting opportunity to offer affordable new category alternatives to adult nicotine consumers in emerging markets given the absence of an electronic device and a pre-existing ritual of oral product consumption in a number of markets.”

The multinational has in recent years been diversifying from cigarettes in response to flagging sales across the world.

As part of the global strategy, Kenya was chosen to host a plant for the production of non-combustible nicotine pouches targeting the African market at an estimated cost of Sh2.5 billion.

But Kenya wanted to classify BAT’s nicotine pouches as tobacco products that are under the tobacco control law, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said last February after the product was declared illegal by his ministry.

The move would place on the nicotine pouches similar marketing restrictions that are imposed on cigarettes and other tobacco products by the Tobacco Control Act, which include promotions and advertising, usage in public areas, and use by minors.

The nicotine pouches are placed under the lip so that the nicotine can be absorbed by the body, but they do not contain tobacco.

Treasury recently changed the way of calculating taxes on liquid nicotine products which is expected to see the cost of electronic cigarettes and vapers rise.

Treasury CS Ukur Yatani proposed to change the taxation regime for liquid nicotine to Sh70 per milliliter.

The regulation is meant to constrain access and consumption of the new form of tobacco which is popular among young people.

There has been a high proliferation of products with liquid nicotine such as vapes, vaporisers, vape pens, and e-pipes in the markets which have been used as a substitute for conventional cigarettes.

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