Health Canada Warns IQOS Retailers to Remove IQOS Promotional Signage

According to the Toronto Sun, Health Canada has issued warnings to stores selling IQOS, ordering them to remove IQOS promotional signage.

[Reason]: Health Canada classifies heated tobacco products as tobacco products rather than vaping products, and believes that displaying IQOS advertisements to the public is illegal. All restrictions that apply to cigarettes now also apply to IQOS. So the rules are different.

IQOS manufacturer RBH argues that IQOS is a device that heats tobacco sticks to produce vapor at around 350°C without causing smoke, and therefore its product is better categorized with vaping products, meaning the company should be allowed to advertise it.

The company insists that heating tobacco without burning it does not produce smoke containing high concentrations of harmful chemicals, making it a potentially safer option for smokers.

Peter Luongo, managing director of RBH, pointed out: “Health Canada should be encouraging us to open more stores, not removing the signs from the stores where we already operate.” The company’s two stores selling IQOS are located on Yonge Street near Wellesley Street and on Queen Street near John Street.

Health Canada said that as of May 23, devices used with heated tobacco products are subject to all tobacco-related provisions under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, “including those that prohibit furnishing tobacco product devices to young persons and those that restrict their promotion.”

On October 9, Health Canada sent IQOS a non-compliance letter under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, specifically citing Section 22, which states that “no person shall promote a tobacco product by means of advertising that depicts, in whole or in part, a tobacco product,” or strong brand elements, or evokes a tobacco product or a tobacco product-related brand element.

Health Canada spokesperson Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge said: “Health Canada is monitoring the situation, and if violations of the Act are identified, it will intervene.”

The federal public health agency said RBH has 30 days to comply. Failure to do so could result in severe financial penalties and possible jail time.

Peter Luongo said the company is keeping its legal “options” open to challenge Health Canada in court, although that process could take years. For now, however, they still have to remove all promotional signs bearing the name “IQOS.”

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