Canada: Feds Take Second Try at Flavoured Cigar Ban

Source from:  The Chronicle Herald  10/13/2014

The federal government is trying once again to ban flavoured cigars.

Ottawa first banned tiny flavoured cigarillos in 2009 because they were deemed to be marketed toward children. But the industry quickly adapted.

The 2009 ban was against flavoured cigarillos that weighed up to 1.4 grams. Tobacco companies merely increased the weight of their products and removed the filters to get around the law.

Companies even manufactured their products with tipping paper, the brownish paper that typically surrounds a filter. The result was that cigars appeared to be filtered even though they weren't.

According to government research from 2012-2013, two in five youths who reported smoking in the past month said they had smoked a flavoured cigar.

Health Canada gave regulatory notice Friday that it plans to put a stop to this. The department wants to extend the ban on flavouring substances to cigars heavier than 1.4 grams. Flavours would also be banned from cigars fitted with tipping paper.

There are some exceptions, including menthol flavouring and "certain traditional flavours that appeal to adults." These include flavours attributed to port, wine, rum or whisky.

The changes still have to go through the regulatory process, which includes a 30-day period for the public to comment. Enditem