Tobacco giant Phillip Morris International has issued a statement saying it has not changed ingredients in its cigarettes in Saudi Arabia following a spate of complaints.
Since the implementation of a law regarding “plain packaging” on cigarettes in Saudi Arabia in August, a number of smokers have reportedly complained to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) about a perceived difference in the quality.
Local media in the kingdom reported that complaints have been filed despite the manufacturers’ insistence that there has been no change to their cigarettes, only to the packaging.
The SFDA and the Ministry of Commerce have contacted cigarette companies and requested an explanation for the complaints.
But PMI, which produces over 800 billion cigarettes each year sold in over 180 markets, said: “Not only do we abide by all applicable regulations, we also apply stringent and consistent global policies, standards and good manufacturing practices with respect to the machinery, ingredients, safety and quality for all our products, across all our facilities.
“All our cigarette products sold in Saudi Arabia are manufactured in our factories in Germany and Poland as well as in Turkey… there has been no change to the ingredients, manufacturing processes, quality and taste of tobacco relating to our products in the Saudi market before and after the implementation of the plain packaging regulation mandated by the SFDA.”
According to media reports, the SFDA has sent seven samples to product-testing lab Eurofins to see if there has been any change in the quality of cigarettes over the past two years.
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