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

Italy’s competition authority fined Philip Morris Italia S.r.l. €7 million after saying the company’s “smoke-free” marketing could mislead consumers into thinking its non-combustion products were harmless or materially safer than cigarettes. The ruling puts a hard line around one of the tobacco industry’s most aggressive global claims: that heated-tobacco and e-vapor products are part of a cleaner nicotine future.

The Italian Competition Authority said Philip Morris used terms including “smoke-free,” “smoke-free products” and “building/planning/accelerating a smoke-free future” in a wider promotional strategy for combustion-free tobacco products. Regulators said that language could affect minors as well as adult smokers, because it implied reduced risk without evidence strong enough to support that message. The authority said inspections and the wider investigation did not substantiate claims that the products were less harmful or harmless, pointing instead to current scientific and clinical knowledge and the continued presence of nicotine.

The probe began on October 15, 2025, after a complaint from Italy’s Ministry of Health. Inspectors visited Philip Morris Italia S.p.A. and Philip Morris Manufacturing & Technology Bologna S.p.A. with assistance from the Guardia di Finanza’s antitrust unit. The company was ordered to report back within 60 days of notification on the steps it had taken to stop the practice, underscoring that the case is not just about a fine but about changing how the products are sold.

Philip Morris said its communication was factual, truthful and consistent with Italian and European Union law, and said it would cooperate with the regulator and appeal the decision. The company also pointed to its Italian affiliates’ role in a supply chain involving 44,000 people. Philip Morris International says its smoke-free products are sold in 108 markets, giving the dispute significance well beyond Italy.

For U.S. readers, the case echoes a larger regulatory fight over e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products worldwide: companies market them as reduced-harm alternatives, while governments and public-health authorities increasingly challenge any language that could blur the line between innovation, cessation support and continued nicotine use. The World Health Organization has also published an evidence review on heated tobacco products as part of its work on novel nicotine and tobacco products, a reminder that the science and the marketing remain under intense scrutiny.