In the context of increasing pressure to lift the ban on electronic cigarettes. The Brazilian Health Bureau plans to visit British and American tobacco production plants, but the government has no plans to restart relevant issues for the time being.
Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) plans to allocate around 70,000 reais (about $10,000) to send two directors and two staff members to visit production plants of British American Tobacco (BAT) and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca next week. The visit is expected to take place from 28 to 31 January. The mission was approved last week, but no clear targets have been set, nor has the timing of each plant visit been revealed.
The visit comes against the backdrop of pressure on Brazil to lift its ban on vapes. The issue is currently being debated in Congress and has been debated within Anvis. In April 2024, Anvisa’s board of Directors decided to maintain the ban on vapes based on the precautionary principle, arguing that the production and sale of these devices should only be liberalized if safety evidence is provided, which is not currently supported by relevant research.
The assignment has sparked unease among employees at Anvisa, who say no tobacco-related issues are currently being discussed. JOTA interviewed members of Anvisa’s board of directors, who said that such visits are routine and do not require a specific reason, even if there is no specific discussion or item on the regulatory agenda, production sites in regulated industries are visited. In response to inquiries, Anvisa did not provide a specific itinerary for the visit, except to say in a statement that there are currently no plans to restart e-cigarette-related issues on Anvisa’s regulatory agenda.
