Philip Morris wants to stop selling cigarettes in Japan "within ten years"

Exit Marlboro in Japan: the new CEO of US tobacco giant Philip Morris announced in an interview with the

daily

broadcast Friday that his group would stop selling classic cigarettes in the country "within ten years". "We will achieve a smoke-free society in Japan ten years from now," Philip Morris International boss Jacek Olczak, who has just taken office, said in the interview. "I want Japan to be the first market" in which Philip Morris is withdrawing from the classic cigarette segment, he added. 

The American group, which markets brands like Marlboro and Chesterfield outside the United States, had already predicted last year the end of its sales of traditional cigarettes within "10 to 15 years" in certain countries, but had not specified at the time those he was thinking of.

Strengthen the segment of "electronic heated tobacco products"

Philip Morris International is not, however, going to withdraw from the Japanese market, Jacek Olczak said.

On the contrary, the group plans to continue to strengthen its position in the alternative segment of heated (smoke-free) electronic tobacco products, of which it is currently the dominant player in Japan with its Iquos brand.

"We will bring to the market new devices with new technologies," said the boss of Philip Morris.

Liquids for electronic cigarettes (vaping) containing nicotine are prohibited in Japan.

Smoking on public roads is also banned in Japanese cities, except in restricted areas.

Many bars and restaurants in the country allow smokers, but recent legislative developments now promote smokeless products in these places.

According to the

nearly 30% of tobacco sales in Japan now come from heated tobacco products.

Manufacturers claim that these products are less harmful than conventional cigarettes, an assertion however much disputed. Cigarette sales in Japan have fallen by about a third from their peak in 1996, according to the

.