Building a Smokeless World responsibly necessarily requires further commitments:

• To responsibly develop and market innovative products that support Tobacco Harm Reduction (“THR”) ;
• To invest in the science that underpins these products;
• To propose solutions to address underage access to tobacco and nicotine products; and 
• To engage with regulators and policy makers to facilitate the adoption of policies that support THR. 

We believe that Smokeless Product regulation should be based on scientific evidence, should mandate robust product quality and safety standards, and should encourage circularity and environmental responsibility.

As we continue our efforts to develop and provide a range of enjoyable, scientifically substantiated, reduced-risk^*† alternatives to smoking, we remain committed to responsible manufacturing and marketing practices and meeting the legal and regulatory requirements in each country of sale.

As a demonstration of our responsible approach, in 2024 we announced a commitment to a series of new industry-leading ambitions to tackle societal concerns around vaping.

BAT’s commitment to responsible vaping products

Since we released the goals detailed above in October 2024, we have made good progress on reaching our targets while continuing our dedication to high product quality and responsible product stewardship.

Underage Access Prevention

Vapour Products with age verification technologies have been launched in four countries: Canada, Germany, South Africa and the UK, enabling forms of age verification that help to restrict underage access to our app platform. We are on track to offer by the end of 2026 at least one such vapour system in those markets that make up 80% of our global net turnover for Vapour Products. 

All new Vapour Product launches since January 2025 have included accidental access prevention features to protect against unintended activation by the underaged.

The deployment of these technologies demonstrates that we are committed to investing in technological solutions that can help restrict underage access and accidental use.

Restricting Underage Appeal

We have transitioned our flavour naming conventions exclusively to factual-style names, and we do not sell dessert, candy, energy drink, soft drink or alcohol-like flavoured e-liquids that predominantly appeal to the underaged.

Environment

All new rechargeable devices launches now include removable batteries and at least one disposable device line in every market where we sell disposables includes a removable battery.¹ We are implementing the EU requirement for removable batteries ahead of schedule, and we are rolling it out outside the EU as well.

Product Stewardship

Robust product stewardship is fundamental to ensuring that we are developing and manufacturing legally compliant Vapour Products in a responsible manner. BAT continues to apply state-of-the-art science to our manufacturing and development process, ensuring the products satisfy legal and regulatory requirements in the country of sale, and demonstrating our responsible approach to robust product standards. 

Across all our Smokeless Product categories, we are committed to sustaining our efforts toward Responsibly Building a Smokeless World. We will continue to review the impact of our existing targets and the latest scientific evidence and technological advancements to assess whether further actions and goals are appropriate for future product offerings. And we will persist in pursuing multi-stakeholder solutions that build stronger connections between policymakers, regulatory, public health authorities and like-minded organisations that believe in the potential of Tobacco Harm Reduction.