TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Tobacco Inc (2914.T) plans to spend $500 million to quadruple its smokeless tobacco production capacity by the end of 2018, as it races against bigger rival Philip Morris (PM.N) for a larger share of the Japanese vaping products market.

Japan Tobacco Inc (JT) President and CEO Mitsuomi Koizumi smokes the company's smokeless tobacco Ploom TECH during an interview with Reuters at the compnay's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Global tobacco firms see Japan as a fertile test ground for vaping products since e-cigarettes using nicotine-laced liquid are not allowed under the country’s pharmaceutical regulation. While the Marlboro maker’s heat-not-burn “IQOS” tobacco device is already enjoying strong demand in Japan, Japan Tobacco’s launch of its “Ploom Tech” product has run into delays.

“It’s embarrassing for a tobacco company top to say this, but I did not expect this,” said Japan Tobacco CEO Mitsuomi Koizumi, referring to the popularity of IQOS, which had about a 10 percent market share in April, from 7.6 percent in January.

Japan Tobacco is looking for mergers and acquisitions (M&As;)in emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as opportunities to invest in startups that have patents and technology for alternative tobacco products, the CEO of the world’s No.3 tobacco company said.

With more people shifting to smokeless products such as IQOS due to health concerns, Japan Tobacco’s domestic cigarette sales volume is likely to fall 9.6 percent this year.

“It’s shocking. I am doing this business for more than 35 years but I have never experienced losing 10 percent in volume in one year,” said Koizumi, a career insider who took the top job at the company in 2012.

Demand for traditional cigarettes may come under further pressure given the prospect of tougher regulations as Japan tries to introduce an anti-smoking law ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Koizumi said he expects vaping products, including Ploom Tech and IQOS, to grab as much as 25 percent of Japan’s cigarette market by the end of 2018.

Philip Morris’ IQOS is a battery-powered device that heats cigarette-shaped sticks packed with tobacco leaves. Ploom Tech, also a battery-powered device, generates vapor that goes through a capsule packed with tobacco leaves.

Koizumi said his company was aiming for the top share of Japan’s vaping market in three years.

Japan Tobacco plans to ramp up the annual output capacity of tobacco capsules used for Ploom Tech to the equivalent of 20 billion cigarette sticks in 2018, from 5 billion planned at the end of this year, the CEO said, adding the company was also developing other tobacco vaping products.

The former state monopoly - still a third owned by the government and whose top brands include Winston, Mevius and Camel - last week announced it would start selling Ploom Tech in Tokyo on June 29, later than initially expected.

There has been speculation Japan Tobacco, which has a market capitalization of 8.4 trillion yen ($75.3 billion), is ripe for major M&A;, especially after British American Tobacco (BATS.L) agreed a $49.4 billion takeover of U.S. rival Reynolds American Inc RAI.N, creating the world’s biggest listed tobacco firm.

Some analysts speculate Japan Tobacco could even potentially acquire Britain’s Imperial Brands (IMB.L)

But Koizumi said the BAT-Reynolds deal was unlikely to have a direct impact on his company’s business and that Japan Tobacco was not interested in large-scale acquisitions.

“Specific names aside, deals that would be potentially problematic in terms of anti-monopoly regulation are not realistic,” he added.</s>NONTHABURI – Action to stamp out tobacco use can help countries prevent millions of people from falling ill and dying of tobacco related disease, combat poverty and protect the environment. On World No Tobacco Day 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) is highlighting how tobacco threatens the development of nations worldwide, and is calling on governments to take strong action to curb tobacco use.

Around the world, tobacco consumption kills more than 7 million people each year and costs households and governments over US$ 1.4 trillion spent on health care and from lost productivity.

Tobacco consumption is very high in Thailand. One in five adult Thais and one out of six Thai youth smoke.That is almost 11 million smokers. Tobacco is a key risk factor for many diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and tuberculosis—these illnesses put financial strain on families and drain Government’s budget for universal health coverage.

In addition to the immense health burden, tobacco use hinders development by exacerbating poverty and hunger, damaging the environment, and negatively Tobacco use disproportionately affects the most vulnerable populations, namely, children, women and the poor.

“Tobacco is a major barrier to development globally,” says Dr Daniel Kertesz, WHO representative to Thailand. “Tobacco?related death and illness are drivers of poverty, leaving households without breadwinners, diverting limited household resources to purchase tobacco products rather than food and school materials, and forcing many people to pay for medical expenses.”

Dr Kertesz adds: “But by taking robust tobacco control measures, governments can safeguard their country’s futures by protecting people’s health, generating revenues to fund health and other social services, and saving their environments from the ravages tobacco causes.”

All countries have committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to strengthen universal peace and eradicate poverty. Recognizing that actions to control tobacco boost development, the Sustainable Development Goals call for accelerating the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), specifically: protecting people from exposure to tobacco smoke, banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, banning sales to minors, requiring health warnings on tobacco packaging, promoting tobacco cessation, increasing tobacco taxes and creating a national coordinating mechanism for tobacco control.

Thailand’s new Tobacco Products Control Act 2017 recently passed by the government of Thailand is a commendable legislation that incorporates guidelines recommended by WHO FCTC. When implemented effectively, this Act will help to reduce tobacco consumption, thereby protecting the health of Thai people, fighting poverty, generating revenues, and protecting the environment, thus paving the way for sustainable development of the nation.</s>GENEVA (Reuters) - Tobacco growing is causing "massive harm" to the environment through the extensive use of chemicals, energy and water, and pollution from manufacturing and distribution, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The United Nations agency called for the tobacco industry to compensate for its products that contribute to greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, but gave no estimate of damage.

The ecological footprint goes far beyond the effects of cigarette smoke, the WHO said in its first report on tobacco's impact on the environment. "From start to finish, the tobacco life cycle is an overwhelmingly polluting and damaging process."

"Tobacco growing, the manufacture of tobacco products and their delivery to retailers all have severe environmental consequences, including deforestation, the use of fossil fuels and the dumping or leaking of waste products into the natural environment," Oleg Chestnov, WHO Assistant Director-General, said in the report to mark World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday. Tobacco use kills 7 million people a year, according to WHO. It clinched a landmark treaty in 2005, now ratified by 179 countries, that calls for a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, and taxes to discourage use. Tobacco plants require large quantities of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and fumigants to control pest or disease outbreaks. "Many of these chemicals are so harmful to both the environment and farmers’ health that they are banned in some countries," the report said. Vast quantities of wood are burned to cure tobacco leaves, contributing to deforestation. Some big growers like China and Zimbabwe are also using coal, which emits carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, the WHO said. Millions of kilogrammes of non-biodegradable cigarette butts are discarded every year, it said. Tobacco waste contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carcinogens, it added. Japan Tobacco Inc, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco report on their use of environmental resources and waste streams, but the self-reported data is "limited and opaque", the report noted. It also criticised the China National Tobacco Company, which produces roughly 44 percent of cigarettes consumed globally, for not publishing comprehensive environmental data. The WHO said it should be mandatory for tobacco companies to supply information on environmental damage. "All producers should be required to compensate for the environmental harms caused by deforestation, water use, waste, etc. through offsets in order to ultimately reduce the long-term ecological harm their business causes," it said.</s>GENEVA - Smoking and other tobacco use kills more than seven million people each year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, also warning of the dire environmental impact of tobacco production, distribution and waste. The UN agency said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, urging countries to ban smoking in the workplace and indoor public spaces, outlaw marketing of tobacco products and hike cigarette prices. “Tobacco threatens us all,” WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement. “Tobacco exacerbates poverty, reduces economic productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and pollutes indoor air,” she said.

In a report released ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday, WHO warned that the annual death toll of seven million people had jumped from four million at the turn of the century, making tobacco the world’s single biggest cause of preventable death. And the death toll is expected to keep rising, with WHO bracing for more than one billion deaths this century. “By 2030, more than 80 percent of the deaths will occur in developing countries, which have been increasingly targeted by tobacco companies seeking new markets to circumvent tightening regulation in developed nations.”

Tobacco use also brings an economic cost: WHO estimates that it drains more than $1.4 trillion (1.3 trillion euros) from households and governments each year in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, or nearly two percent of the global gross domestic product.

In addition to the health and economic costs linked to smoking, the WHO report for the first time delved into the environmental impact of everything from tobacco production to the cigarette butts and other waste produced by smokers.

“From start to finish, the tobacco life cycle is an overwhelmingly polluting and damaging process,” WHO Assistant Director-General Oleg Chestnov said in the report.

The report detailed how growing tobacco often requires large quantities of fertilisers and pesticides, and it warned that tobacco farming had become the main cause of deforestation in several countries.

This is largely due to the amount of wood needed for curing tobacco, with WHO estimating that one tree is needed for every 300 cigarettes produced.

WHO also highlighted the pollution generated during the production, transport and distribution of tobacco products.

The report estimates that the industry emits nearly four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually - the same as around three million transatlantic flights.

And waste from the process contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carcinogens, WHO said.

Once in the hands of the consumer, tobacco smoke emissions spewed thousands of tonnes of human carcinogens, toxic substances and greenhouse gases into the environment.

Cigarette butts and other tobacco waste make up the largest number of individual pieces of litter in the world, the agency said.

Two thirds of the 15 billion cigarettes sold each day are thrown on to the street or elsewhere in the environment, it said, adding that butts account for up to 40 percent of all items collected in coastal and urban clean-ups.

WHO urged governments to take strong measures to rein in tobacco use.

“One of the least used, but most effective tobacco control measures... is through increasing tobacco tax and prices,” Chestnov said.</s>OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (KSWO)- On World No Tobacco Day, Tobacco Stops with Me encourages Oklahomans to explore free resources for supporting a tobacco-free community.

“Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, homicide, and suicides combined,” said John Woods, TSET executive director. “A world with no tobacco means millions of lives saved, and World No Tobacco Day allows our community and state as a whole to work together to spread awareness about the dangers of tobacco use. A tobacco-free world ensures that our kids can lead healthier, tobacco-free lives.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in Oklahoma, smoking kills more than 7,500 adults annually and leaves thousands suffering from chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. 1-in- 5 Oklahoma children lives with secondhand smoke contributing to asthma, ear and lung infections and more missed school days.

By providing tools and information to support healthier tobacco-free environments, Tobacco Stops With Me strives to “stop the start” in Oklahoma when it comes to youth tobacco use. Talk to kids about tobacco.

Learn more about motivating peers to be tobacco free at StopsWithMe.com. Call 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit OKhelpline.com to explore the free services available through the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline.</s>MULTAN-An oncologist warned on Monday about one billion people are likely to die in 21st century because of medical conditions and diseases caused by tobacco use across the globe, asking the world to take necessary action for banning tobacco consumption forthwith.

Talking to The Nation here, Prof Dr Abrar Ahmad Javed pointed out that the tobacco control could break the cycle of poverty, contribute to ending hunger, promote sustainable agriculture and economic growth and combat climate change. “Each year tobacco cultivation uses 4.3 million hactres of land, resulting in two to four percent global deforestation. It requires heavy amounts of pesticides and fertilizers which pollutes water supplies,” he added. He said that tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world and by 2030, it would become the leading one with eight million deaths. He further disclosed that 30 percent of all cancer deaths are caused by tobacco worldwide.

Referring to Pakistan, he said that Pakistan had the highest consumption of tobacco in South Asia and 45 per cent males as well as about 10 per cent females smoked. “In just one year (2014), Pakistanis smokes 64 billion cigarettes costing the economy Rs264 billion,” he added. Citing a report of Euro Monitor 2015, he said that the consumption of chewable tobacco, the most dangerous form of tobacco, also increased in Pakistan.

He pointed out that 45 percent of all cancers in Pakistan are caused by tobacco which included lung, mouth, throat, stomach, kidney, urinary, bladder and others. “The centre for disease control US conducted the analysis of 30 brands of chewable tobacco from Pakistan which disclosed that the samples contained high values of toxicants like cadium and arsenic which increase the cancer risk by 100,000 times.

He demanded the government to impose heavy taxes on tobacco, impose ban on advertisements of cigarettes and ensure implementation of ban on smoking at public places. He urged upon media, health workers and civil society to develop such an environment where smoking is unacceptable to all, protect the rights of non-smokers and the physicians should prescribe tobacco cessation. He declared that the upcoming World No Tobacco day would be celebrated under the slogan of “Tobacco—A Threat to Development” by the Cancer Society of Multan on May 31.</s>Indonesia's tobacco industry employs millions of workers and contributes almost 10 percent to government revenues through taxes, but has faced a backlash from the health ministry and anti-smoking organizations.

Health Minister Nila Moeloek said her ministry "definitely" opposes the tobacco bill as it has the responsibility to "safeguard the health of the people".

The bill, which covers production, distribution and excise taxes, has to be approved by President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia's industry minister, Airlangga Hartarto, said the government has to assess how the tobacco bill would affect existing regulations for the industry.

Firman Subagyo, the parliament member who initiated the bill, played down health concerns, saying tobacco is a "strategic" commodity that can increase the prosperity of Indonesian farmers and state revenues.

"Health should not be used as an excuse to destroy people's livelihood," Subagyo, who comes from Indonesia's second-biggest political party, Golkar, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Under the draft law, manufacturers of tobacco products have to use locally sourced tobacco for at least 80 percent of their production, while imports of ready-to-use cigarettes may be subject to an excise tax of 200 percent.

Abdus Setiawan, a board member at the Indonesia Tobacco Growers' Association, said he welcomed the draft law as it could help to protect farmers. But an increase in production should be balanced with "rational pricing", he said.

Indonesia was the world's fourth-biggest cigarette producer with an output of 269.2 billion sticks in 2015, according to the latest data from research firm Euromonitor International. The market was valued at 231.3 trillion rupiah ($17.3 billion).

Nearly two-thirds of men are smokers in Indonesia, where an average pack of cigarettes costs less than $2.

Major cigarette companies operating in the country include Phillip Morris-controlled PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk, Djarum Group and PT Gudang Garam Tbk.

Sampoerna, through its tobacco suppliers, has partnered with about 27,000 tobacco farmers in Indonesia and gets almost three-quarters of its tobacco domestically, said Elvira Lianita, Sampoerna's head of fiscal affairs and communications.

However, the industry's total tobacco requirements have outpaced the domestic growth in tobacco output, Lianita said. Restricting access to raw materials through import regulations or taxes would disrupt the "overall economic stability", she said.

"Partnership programs, not risky restrictions, would be the solution to bridging this gap and increasing farmer prosperity," she added.</s>These Tobacco Loud Mouths And The Rest Of Us

By Mohammed Kabir

 There is a general perception, and rightly so, that tobacco companies are economical when it comes to disclosing facts about the nature of their business. To burnish their unsavory image, the tobacco industry will often employ seemingly credible third parties that are referred to as “front groups” who claim to represent one agenda but actually serve that of the industry. A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report: Tobacco Industry Interference with Tobacco Control, notes that the industry has a very long history of using these ’front groups’ to advance its cause.

 Australian documents leaked in 2010 showed that the trio of British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco paid substantial funds to set up and run an Alliance of Australian Retailers (AAR) with the industry heavily involved in the day-to-day management of the group through The Civic Group, a Public Relations firm charged with creating and running the AAR.

 While such developments may not easily strike a chord in the mind of the average Nigerian, a better understanding of the arguments and counter-arguments that lurched for the hearts of our lawmakers’ on the nation’s thorny road to passage of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act would seem to be very instructive.

 At the time there were a host of groups also claiming to be independent of the industry but expressing sympathy to the industry’s demands for a legislation that would not bite. Some claimed to be smokers’ rights groups while others claimed to be tobacco retailers. Yet, others claimed they were farmer groups averse to a strong tobacco legislation. At the Public Hearings organised by the Senate and House of Representatives to sample public view of the NTC Bill now Act, many of such groups came to the hearings in branded T-shirts, Aso Ebi etc.

 In all this, one thing was however certain: While public health advocates stood up for the ideal, arguments supporting watered down tobacco legislation were rehearse of the exactly lines found in tobacco industry internal documents.

 One individual who has etched his name in the hall of fame of industry mouthpieces is Thompson Ayodele, a director at the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA). The IPPA prides itself as a policy think-tank whose major concern is with the principles and institutions that enhance economic development and wealth creation, with particular focus on Nigeria and Africa alike.

 IPPA’s penchant for rising to the defence of the tobacco industry even when it is not necessary is legendary to the point that it can now be described as worrisome. This stance may actually be at variance with the stated mission of the IPPA which is supposedly to serve as promoter of social, economic and political freedom.

 IPPA it was, that advocated that Nigeria should welcome big tobacco companies currently outdoing themselves to etch their foothold on our soil, to supposedly check illicit tobacco trade which ironically, the same big tobacco corporations have been linked to in recent reports.

 IPPA it was, that forecast without sound logical reason that Nigeria would lose revenue by introducing tobacco legislation to regulate the activities of tobacco companies currently operating with all manner of deceptive marketing gimmicks to capture the lungs of our people.

 Failing to stop the passage of the NTC Act and inauguration of a National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) which would advise the current Ministry of Health on tobacco regulations, it was the IPPA again, that attempted to discredit the membership of that advisory body with a spurious claim that its membership was funded by external parties. Till date it is yet to provide proof of this claim.

 In as much as the IPPA asserts it is a policy research advocacy group with the sole purpose of promoting Nigeria’s interest (contents of its website confirm this), in the last decade, the IPPA has systematically rebranded to become a tobacco industry PR firm.

 Anyone in doubt about the organisations links to the tobacco industry may need to do a quick scan of its four Advisory Board Members in the US and United Kingdom, especially with respect to their current and past involvement in organizations and movements which advocate for a ‘free’ society and economy with minimal government regulation. There is Brian Lee Crowley, Managing Director of Macdonald-Laurier Institute which held an anti-contraband tobacco working group meeting with Dawson Strategic -a PMI lobbying firm in 2014.

 There is also Gordon Johnson – a previous Adjunct scholar of Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty which has historically received funding from PMI and the Koch brothers. Another is Prof. George Ayittey who was Adjunct Scholar (1999) of the Cato Institute. He has worked closely with PMI and RJ Reynolds, raised objections to cigarette taxes, and claims that ‘secondhand smoke risks are debatable.’

 Linda Whetstone, a board member of Atlas Network is also another. Atlas headquarters receives donations from the industry and channels funding from tobacco corporations to think tank actors to produce publications supportive of industry positions. With such track record, it is no wonder that the IPPA always advances industry positions.

 In as much as there is no direct connections between these individuals and the tobacco industry, virtually all of them have ties to the Koch brothers, powerful right-wing billionaires with ties to tobacco companies.

 For the Nigerian government, the need to be wary about tobacco industry front groups is now more than urgent and coming at a time that the tobacco industry is obstructing the passage of tobacco control policies across Africa.

 In Kenya where it took a 13-year legislative battle for the passage of her Tobacco Control Act which happened in 2007, BAT petitioned a Kenyan court to stop the adoption of regulations that would facilitate implementation of Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act. The tobacco giant claimed the Kenyan Ministry of Health violated due process procedures under the Constitution by not consulting with the tobacco industry in fashioning its Tobacco Control Act.

 After several deliberate attempts to arm-twist the ministry, the Kenyan court ruled that there were various meetings during the framing of the regulations that BAT was represented in, and consulted. The suit was thrown out.

 Uganda also suffered the same fate. Last week a panel of five Justices of the Constitutional Court led by the Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma, dismissed BAT’s application to temporarily halt the implementation of the Tobacco Control Act 2015 on the basis that it was unconstitutional.

 Last year, BAT dragged the government to court, challenging 22 clauses in the Act, which is a fulfilment of Uganda’s obligations to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which the country signed on March, 5, 2004 and ratified on June, 20, 2007.

 The lesson here is that the Nigerian government must remain undeterred even in the face of this observed pattern of tobacco industry booby traps and the lies peddled by its front groups masquerading as lovers of our people. The government must also have Article 5.3 of the WHO-FCTC at the back of its mind as tobacco industry interference poses the single greatest threat to tobacco control policies. It must guard against industry influence. Only such caution will save Nigerians from lifelong addiction to tobacco. The other alternative is to allow the industry have its way to our jeopardy.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>The state government Tuesday joined hands with about 40 NGOs to control sale of illegal tobacco in state along with measures to implement Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

Since July 2016 until February 2017, the state government has issued 2,195 challans and collected Rs 1.30 lakh fine under Section 4 (smoking in public places) and Section 6 (selling tobacco to minors) of COTPA.

“We will continue to take action against offenders under COTPA. While complete ban cannot help reduce tobacco consumption, awareness and education of its harmful effects can reduce the habit,” said Vijay Satbir Singh, additional secretary of health department.

With May 31 observed as the World No Tobacco Day, NGO Salaam Bombay released a survey of 313 tobacco vendors near stations and schools that found 97.4 per cent vendors sold lose cigarettes in contravention to COTPA. The survey conducted in March this year also found that at least 107 shops sold lose cigarettes near schools leading to higher chances of schoolchildren purchasing it.

India has an estimated 27.5 crore tobacco consumers. “Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states with around 2 crore people addicted to some form of tobacco. This coalition is the first steps towards tobacco control over the next few years,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

For all the latest Cities News, download Indian Express App</s>Philip Morris said it has so far sold more than 3 million iQOS, a battery-powered device that heats tobacco leaves packed in cigarette shape. The company began nationwide sale in Japan in April last year after test marketing in major cities.

The product has become an instant hit and a severe supply shortage has persisted. It is priced at 9,980 yen ($88.30), but traded at 12,000 yen or more on Internet auction sites.

Paul Riley, president of Philip Morris Japan, told reporters the company has more than doubled its supply of iQOS since February and is ramping up the production to meet the demand. "But the question is what is the demand? We continue to increase the production but they get sold out as soon as they hit the stores," he said. Philip Morris, known for Marlboro, Lark and Parliament cigarettes, has said its market share in Japan rose 1.7 points to 27.1 percent in 2016, helped by the popularity of iQOS. Marlboro HeatSticks, cigarette-like tobacco used for iQOS, accounted for 7.6 percent of Japan's cigarette market in January, the company said. It said it will add two flavours in March to existing four.

iQOS is currently sold in 20 markets, including most notably Japan, and will be in as many as 30 by the end of this year, Philip Morris has said.

Global tobacco companies see Japan as a fertile test ground for "Heat but not burn" tobacco products, since e-cigarettes, which use nicotine-laced liquid, are not permitted under the country's pharmaceutical regulation.

British American Tobacco (BAT) has said initial results were very encouraging for a new tobacco heating device called glo it launched in Sendai, Japan in December, which takes aim at iQOS.

Japan Tobacco Inc, which commands over 60 percent share in domestic cigarette market, said last month it expected its domestic cigarettes sales volume to decline by 9.6 percent this year partly because of the growing popularity of tobacco e-cigarettes.

Japan Tobacco has said it will begin selling Ploom Tech tobacco-based electronic cigarettes in some parts of Tokyo from June. ($1 = 113.0300 yen) (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka)
Japan Tobacco announces plans to quadruple its output of smokeless tobacco by the end of next year.