Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleItaly's antitrust regulator is investigating Philip Morris Italia for allegedly misleading marketing of smoke-free products. The company maintains compliance with regulations.
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday it had opened an investigation into Philip Morris Italia for alleged unfair commercial practices for its smokeless tobacco products.
The tobacco giant allegedly promoted them in an incorrect way, using expressions like 'smoke-free', and slogans such as 'a future without smoke', the authority said in a statement.
"These expressions may be unclear and misleading for consumers, as they refer to products that, despite the absence of combustion, are not free from potential harmful health effects, nor are they less harmful than others, and may cause addiction," the watchdog said.
It added that it had carried out inspections at the group's offices and at a manufacturing site in the central city of Bologna.
Philip Morris said in an emailed statement that it had always acted in compliance with the applicable regulations, adding "communication is factual, truthful, and fully consistent with Italian and European legislation, which associates the absence of smoke with the absence of combustion."
The company also said it would continue to cooperate with the regulator throughout the proceedings "to demonstrate the full legitimacy of its actions".
The group offers a growing range of smoke-free products, which provide nicotine without burning, as an alternative to traditional cigarettes.
These include heated tobacco products such as IQOS, e-vapor ones like Veed and nicotine pouches and snus like Zyn.
"A smoke-free future has been the main global objective of Philip Morris International for the last ten years - a goal that its Italian affiliates have been working towards for years, including the supply chain involving 44,000 people," the statement added.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Gianluca Semeraro, Kirsten Donovan)
An antitrust investigation is a legal process conducted by regulatory authorities to determine if a company is engaging in unfair business practices that harm competition and consumers.
Unfair commercial practices involve misleading or deceptive actions by businesses that can harm consumers, such as false advertising or misrepresentation of products.
Heated tobacco products are devices that heat tobacco to release nicotine-containing aerosol without combustion. They are marketed as alternatives to traditional cigarettes.
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