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Alastair Mackay
Senior Director, Regulatory Policy
Philip Morris International

Alastair Mackay is Senior Director, Regulatory Policy at Philip Morris International (PMI). With more than 13 years of experience in the nicotine and tobacco sector, working first for PMI’s UK business, before moving to its Asia and then global Corporate Affairs teams, he specializes in the regulation of nicotine products worldwide. His work focuses on advancing regulatory frameworks that can accelerate the transition of adult smokers to smoke-free alternatives and minimize underage access and illicit trade. Prior to joining the industry, Alastair worked for law firms in London and Brussels and was educated in the UK and US.

Sessions with Alastair Mackay

Panel
The Ban Wagon Effect: Do Bans Work
14:19 - 15:19
Product category, flavor, birthdates – are bans effective or simply creating new problems. Does legislating a ban get rid of a problem? Bans are being proposed around the world in innovative and traditional forms: phased illegalization based on date of birth, constriction of product attributes and sales channels, and, of course, outright prohibitions. Measures are gaining traction from one geography to another. But if we dive deeper, what is a ban, and what does it actually do? Bans are simple and easy to package to constituents: "Because of X, we are banning Y." Simple messaging often belies more complexity in an issue hiding below the surface. This panel explores that complexity from why bans come about, what's standardized and what's unique to them, and, most importantly, to their highly complex effects: incentivization of illicit markets to satisfy demand; economic impacts from resource diversion for enforcement to losses throughout the value chain; and frustration of overarching THR and wider public health goals tied to consumer demand shifts to illicit products, backsliding to less harm-reduced ones, and social costs of the "illicitization" of products.

Moderators

  • Dr. Jessica Zdinak

    Founder and Chief Research Officer, Applied Research and Analysis Company

Speakers