18 Jul 2024

Costello cuts excise rate on Heated Tobacco Products

From Morning Report, 7:23 am on 18 July 2024

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has delivered a fifty percent cut to the excise tax rate on Heated Tobacco Products - where tobacco is heated to a vapour rather than burned - as she aims to make the products a more attractive alternative to smoking. The New Zealand First Minister is also considering allowing the sale of oral nicotine products, such as snus and nicotine pouches. But Ministry of Health advice shows officials are opposed to the idea. Guyon Espiner has the story.