Product Safety Assessment
Each employee has a responsibility to implement attention, caution and prudence when developing and maintaining products.
It is the collective responsibility of our teams to:
01 Understand our products from idea to retail and consumer consumption, spanning all stages of product development and all elements of our products, including ingredients, materials, electrical safety, and consumer exposure to emissions.
02 Respond and act on any new information that may impact the safety of our products
03 Confirm that our products meet the appropriate standards required to deliver consumer products that align with our Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) strategy.
Toxicological Assessment
For our Smokeless Products, we apply toxicological assessment principles to identify hazards and contextualise the risk to adult consumers.
Electrical Safety of Devices
We employ robust checks to ensure the safety of our electrical devices. We conduct appropriate safety testing and meet the applicable regulations for our electrical devices, such as Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), electrical safety, battery safety, etc.
Product Compliance
Each product manufactured by BAT meets the regulatory requirements for its market. We assess the technical requirements, identify and check packaging/devices requirements, and notify regulatory bodies of new launches as required.
Post Market Surveillance
Robust internal processes and procedures monitor any consumer complaints, and we act accordingly, in line with the TPD, FDA, or other similar requirements. We intake, triage, process and analyse cases systematically. Our database ensures seamless reporting to regulators, when necessary, along with signal detection, efficient support for adult consumers, the carrying out of investigations and the generation of aggregated safety reports
Duty of care statement
In line with the business principle of responsible product stewardship, we will continue to ensure that our products are developed and manufactured in a responsible manner. This means products will meet legal and regulatory requirements in the country of sale and will meet the Group’s duty to use adequate attention, caution, and prudence in bringing a product to market.
In addition, we maintain scientific expertise relevant to our products by undertaking our own programme of research, participating in scientific engagement and keeping abreast of external scientific and regulatory developments.
"For our Smokeless Products, we apply toxicological assessment principles to identify hazards and contextualise the risk to adult consumers."
Dr Karina McQuillan
Group Head of Toxicology
