Italy fines Philip Morris €7 million over 'smoke-free' marketing claims

ROME, June 10 (Reuters) - Italy's competition authority on Wednesday slapped a €7 million ($8.1 million) fine on Philip Morris' Italian unit over allegedly misleading marketing for non-combustion tobacco products.

Philip Morris Italia said it would appeal against the decision, which it called "erroneous and flawed on several levels."

The authority said it had conducted a "complex investigation prompted by a complaint from the Ministry of Health" into the way Philip Morris Italia promoted increasingly popular combustion-free products, such as heated tobacco or e-vapor devices.

"Expressions and claims such as 'smoke-free', 'smoke-free products' and 'building/planning/accelerating a smoke-free future' (...) mislead consumers – including minors – into believing that the products are harmless to health and/or less harmful than other tobacco products, particularly traditional cigarettes," the authority said.

"The evidence gathered (...) actually indicates that current scientific and clinical knowledge does not support the claim that these products are less harmful or harmless, not least because of the presence of nicotine," said the regulator, which opened its probe in October 2025.

Philip Morris Italia said the terms challenged by the competition authority were accurate and "fully compliant" with Italian law and the relevant European Union Directive, which uses the term "smokeless" to define tobacco products that do not involve combustion.

It accused the authority of "contributing to confusion about tobacco and nicotine products with a decision suggesting there is no difference between smokeable and smokeless products."

($1 = 0.8648 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, Mirko Miorelli, editing by Gavin Jones)