A British lawmaker who visited the Swiss research center of one of the world’s largest tobacco companies is proposing a delay to the U.K.’s planned ban on the sale of heated tobacco products – potentially excluding them from landmark legislation slated to go into effect in two years.

Edward Vaizey, a Conservative peer in the U.K.’s House of Lords, is seeking to amend the government’s landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would ban the sale of all tobacco products to anyone born after 2008. If passed, the legislation would make the U.K. the second country in the world to implement such a ban.

Vaizey's amendment calls on the government to research the “potential” harms of heated tobacco devices, which warm pre-rolled tobacco sticks to a lower temperature than traditional cigarettes, before including them in the generational ban. 

The proposal comes a few weeks after Philip Morris International, which dominates the global heated tobacco market, paid for Vaizey’s flights and accommodation in a visit to Switzerland to tour its research facility, according to his parliamentary disclosures. There, he met with company scientists working on IQOS, the firm’s flagship heated tobacco product, which now earns the company more than Marlboro cigarettes. 

Vaizey described his visit during the House of Lords debate in April. “I want to say something controversial: a lot of the tone of this debate looks backward at the sins of the Big Tobacco. It does not perhaps acknowledge—though that might be too kind a word—that Big Tobacco has perhaps moved forward in terms of heated tobacco,” he said.

“Maybe one should be allowed to access nicotine via tobacco, provided that it can be accessed in a safe way, but maybe the experts will tell me that it cannot be done,” he added. 

In the amendment, Vaizey repeats an argument from the industry’s “playbook” by suggesting that the harms of heated tobacco should be compared to those of smoking cigarettes, rather than to those of not smoking at all said Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  

“Lord Vaizey displays a touching naivety in relying on the tobacco industry for advice,” he added.

The rise of heated tobacco

Public health experts said there is growing unease about the rise in heated tobacco products. Philip Morris International first launched IQOS in Japan and Italy in 2014, and has recently relaunched in the United States. Global sales of heated tobacco have more than doubled in the last six years, exceeding 178 billion units in 2024, according to Euromonitor data. 

The products have proven especially popular among adolescents and young adults, according to Italian epidemiologist Silvano Gallus, a professor at Italy’s Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research. 

Tobacco companies market heated tobacco products as a less harmful alternative to smoking, pointing to studies showing the devices emit fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes. But doctors and researchers warn that most of the research comes from the industry, that the long term health risks are not known, and that many users continue to smoke while using the devices.

There is growing concern that “dual use” of heated tobacco and cigarettes leads to greater harm than smoking cigarettes alone, said Gallus. 

Any attempt to delay a ban on heated tobacco is “deeply concerning” because the U.K. is a signatory to the World Health Organization’s tobacco treaty that aims to protect public health policies from industry influence, he said. “Public health decisions should never be shaped by the interests of the tobacco industry,” he added.

A 2020 review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that IQOS could not be marketed as safe, but the agency has allowed the company to promote the products as emitting fewer toxic substances than cigarettes. However, a study in 2018 by Italy’s national health institute, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, identified 80 substances in IQOS emissions – including some carcinogens – that were either absent or found at significantly lower levels in cigarette smoke. 

A Phillip Morris International spokesman said “the FDA doesn’t regard any tobacco products as ‘safe’, so that is not news.” 

There are other products – including the drugs varenicline and bupropion, gum and patches – which are known to be effective at helping people quit smoking and have fewer risks.

Heated tobacco products should definitely be part of the U.K.’s generational ban on tobacco sales, said Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health. 

“Past experience tells us that any loopholes will be ruthlessly exploited by an industry with a profound commercial conflict of interest,” she said. “Parliamentarians should exercise extreme caution in taking the words of tobacco companies at face value.”

An international influence campaign

Vaizey’s amendment asks the U.K. health secretary to commission an independent report assessing the health risks of “tobacco-related devices” compared to cigarettes before banning their sale. 

This appears to rehash elements of a legal threat brought by Philip Morris International’s’ U.K. affiliate in 2023 against the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, initially proposed by the previous government.

But government lawyers already addressed this argument in their response to the company’s legal letter. They said that if the generational ban comes into force then the harms of heated tobacco should be compared to no tobacco use at all. The company withdrew its legal threat after the robust government response.

The bill will now go to a committee stage, where amendments will be considered, though no date has been set for this.

Philip Morris International has invested millions of dollars in promoting heated tobacco products, featuring celebrities such as DJ Steve Aoki, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Jamiroquai. A Stanford University study found that IQOS’ marketing appeals to young people because of the company’s use of influencers, social media campaigns, launch parties and sponsorship of music and sports events. The brand has created IQOS-friendly cafes, flown influencers out to Milan for product launches, provided aura readings at events and hosted IQOS-branded parties for Playboy magazine in Germany and Cosmopolitan magazine in Russia. 

The company has also sought to host politicians from around the world. In Colombia last year, Philip Morris International’s local affiliate invited lawmakers on a five-day trip to its Swiss research hub while legislation regulating vapes and heated tobacco was being debated. After a public backlash, the trip was cancelled and the bill passed with strong restrictions on the industry.

Two Finnish members of parliament also failed to disclose a lobbying trip to the Philip Morris International research facility in Neuchâtel that took place in December 2024, according to reports from Finnish news programme MTV News. 

Vilhelm Junnila and Petri Huru took part in the trip and Junnila was accompanied by his wife. Both politicians told MTV they “forgot” to submit the required disclosure. They estimated the value of the trip at around €2,000 per person. Under Finnish law, any gift or travel worth more than €400 must be disclosed. 

Back in the U.K., Philip Morris’ U.K. affiliate has also worked with another member of the House of Lords: Karren Brady, star of the popular TV show The Apprentice and a prominent business figure. She was hired as a consultant up until the end of last year and provided strategic counsel on the company’s so-called “smoke-free future.” 

Brady said she has never visited Philip Morris International’s Swiss research centre and added she has never spoken “to a single politician from any party, in any capacity, and about any issues involving PMI”. 

Generational tobacco bans gain steam

Legislation to ban all tobacco sales in the U.K. was first introduced by the previous government under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but failed to be passed before the general election amid intense lobbying and legal threats by the tobacco industry. 

The Labour government resurrected the bill upon winning the election. In response to The Examination’s investigation into the lobbying, the incoming health secretary Wes Streeting pledged that the “vested interests” of Big Tobacco would not “choke” its proposed ban. 

The U.K.’s tobacco sales ban was inspired by similar legislation in New Zealand, which was later repealed by a new government amid allegations of tobacco industry interference. 

In April, the Maldives became the first country to implement a generational ban on tobacco sales after a decision by the President Dr Mohamed Muizzu during a Cabinet meeting.

It followed the launch of a poll on the president’s official X account to gather public opinion on the age at which the ban should begin.  

A ‘generational’ tobacco ban was proposed in Malaysia, but killed off by industry lobbying, according to the deputy health minister.  In the U.S. state of Massachusetts several towns have already successfully introduced generational bans. 

Vaizey did not respond to requests for comment. Philip Morris International refused to answer questions because The Examination receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Examination operates independently from its funders and is solely responsible for its content.