title: A brief overview of the tobacco industry in the last 20 years.
abstract: Since the launch of Tobacco Control 20 years ago, there have been several changes in the tobacco industry worldwide. The goal of this commentary is to present some of the keys changes of the past two decades. This time is marked by mergers and acquisitions that led to the existence, today, of four major transnational tobacco companies: Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. The possible role of the China National Tobacco Corporation in the world tobacco market is also discussed. In addition, in the past decade there was an increase in tobacco companies' investment in non-cigarette forms of nicotine delivery. The impact of these changes for tobacco control policy is briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Policy International,San Francisco, California, USA. stella@bialous.com
authors.forename: Stella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguinaga Bialous
authors.forename: Silvy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peeters
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D012907:Smoking / Q000266:history; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000266:history*; D061485:Tobacco Use Cessation Devices / Q000266:history