煙草在線據金融時報報道編譯　　在美國，電子煙制造商越來越積極地做廣告，一家公司甚至宣稱“大煙草”已經遇到了對手。但是這個蓬勃發展的行業擔心稅收和監管的沖擊，可能會扼殺其最近的成功。

　　新的自信來自煙草分析師開始承認，美國對電子煙的需求不斷增長，奪取了奧馳亞、羅瑞拉德和雷諾的消費者。

　　諸如NJOY、蒸汽和邏輯這些一夜暴富的公司，都在營銷和廣告上的花費越來越高，使它們的產品成為一個可行的吸煙替代品。

　　電子煙制造商甚至涉足美國和英國的電視——這些渠道禁止煙草集團進入——為它們的產品做廣告。

　　“我們的使命是使卷煙‘過時’，”按市場份額計算是美國最大的電子制造商的NJOY的首席執行官克雷格·韋斯說。“我們把自己看做是它們產品的數字化。”

　　在過去10年中，傳統卷煙的銷售已穩步下降。據美國疾病控制和預防中心統計，從2000年到2011年有煙煙草產品的消費下降了27%，因為稅收增加了，酒吧和餐廳實施了禁煙令。

　　與此同時，電子煙的銷售已大幅上升，在過去兩年中，翻倍增至3億美元，據高盛估計在接下來的幾年里，年銷售額將達到10億美元。該類產品與能量飲料和希臘酸奶對比，是正在下降的消費者市場的亮點。

　　“我們仍預期，在未來10年，電子煙的消費，可能會超越傳統卷煙的消費，”富國銀行煙草分析師邦尼·赫爾佐格說。

　　電子煙通過汽化可以吸入的尼古丁液體，復制沒有任何致癌物質的吸煙行為。

　　然而，隨著衛生監管機構準備對產品實施新限制，而各州議會考慮對它們征稅時，電子煙的成功可能很快就遇到一些障礙。

　　電子煙目前陷入監管的灰色地帶。美國食品和藥物管理局（FDA）預計在4月份提供如何規范該產品的指導。在2010年，該機構試圖阻止電子煙的進口并一直懷疑它們發表的無害聲明，打官司輸給了電子公司。

　　“需要更進一步的研究，來評估電子煙和其他新煙草產品的潛在公共衛生利益和風險，”FDA的發言人詹妮弗·哈里斯說。

　　制造商說，它們期待著更大的監管力度，使人們更難以開始向美國進口和銷售低質量的電子煙，但是它們害怕更多的州計劃對它們的產品征稅。

　　明尼蘇達州最近開始對電子煙征稅，去年夏威夷也在考慮納稅問題。

　　“政府將對這個行業征稅，試圖彌補它們在卷煙方面失去的稅收，”新澤西的電子煙公司邏輯公司的首席執行官艾利·阿萊洛夫說。

　　煙草蒸汽電子煙協會的首席執行官雷·史陶銳警告稱，對電子煙征稅，只會使煙草公司受益，而不利于公共衛生。消費者一直在嘗試電子煙的其中一個原因是，因為它們只要大煙草公司出售的傳統卷煙一半的價格。

　　電子煙被越來越多的人所接受，最初使大煙草公司措手不及，但是它們慢慢認識到，它們不能忽視消費者口味的變化。

　　去年，羅瑞拉德以1.35億美元購買了Blu電子煙，雷諾開始開發自己的電子煙技術。萬寶路的美國制造商奧馳亞，迄今為止一直在旁觀，但是分析師預計，很快這個煙草巨頭或者收購一家電子煙制造商或推出自己的品牌。

　　拒絕透露其計劃，一家奧馳亞集團的發言人說：“顯然，我們正在監測這個領域的進展。”

US: Sales of E-cigarettes Continue to Soar

　　Electronic cigarette makers have become increasingly aggressive in their advertising in the US, with one company even proclaiming that "Big Tobacco" has met its match. But the burgeoning industry is worried that an onslaught of taxes and regulations could snuff out its recent success.

　　The new assertiveness comes as tobacco analysts have started to acknowledge that growing demand for "e-cigs" in the US is peeling away customers from tobacco giants such as Altria, Lorillard and RJ Reynolds.

　　Upstarts such as NJOY, Vapor and Logic are spending more on marketing and advertising, to make the case for their products as a viable smoking alternative.

　　E-cigarette makers have even ventured into television in both the US and UK - taboo for tobacco groups - with advertising for their products.

　　"Our mission is to 'obsolete' cigarettes," said Craig Weiss, chief executive of NJOY, the leading US e-cigarette maker by market share. "We think of ourselves as the digital to their analogue."

　　Sales of traditional cigarettes have been declining steadily in the past decade. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, consumption of smoked tobacco products fell 27 per cent from 2000 to 2011, as taxes increased and smoking bans at bars and restaurants took hold.

　　Meanwhile, sales of e-cigarettes have soared, doubling during the past two years to $300m in 2012 and on pace to reach $1bn in annual sales in the next few years, according to estimates by Goldman Sachs. The category is being compared with energy drinks and Greek yoghurt - bright spots in declining consumer markets.

　　"We continue to expect consumption of e-cigarettes could surpass consumption of traditional cigarettes within the next decade," said Bonnie Herzog, tobacco analyst at Wells Fargo.

　　E-cigarettes work by vaporising nicotine-laced liquid that can be inhaled, replicating the effect of smoking without all of the carcinogens.

　　The success of e-cigarettes could soon hit some obstacles, however, with health regulators preparing new restrictions on the products and state legislatures considering taxing them.

　　E-cigarettes currently fall into a regulatory grey area. The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to offer guidance in April about how the products should be regulated. The agency lost a legal battle with e-cigarette companies in 2010 after trying to block imports of e-cigarettes and has been sceptical about claims they are not harmful.

　　"Further research is needed to assess the potential public health benefits and risks of electronic cigarettes and other novel tobacco products," said Jennifer Haliski, an FDA spokeswoman.

　　Manufacturers say they are looking forward to greater oversight to make it more difficult for anyone to start importing and distributing low quality e-cigarettes to the US, but they are fearful of more states planning to tax their products.

　　Minnesota recently moved to tax e-cigarettes and Hawaii also considered a tax last year.

　　"The government is going to tax this industry and try to recoup the revenues they've lost from cigarettes," said Eli Alelov, chief executive of Logic, a New Jersey-based e-cigarette company.

　　Ray Story, chief executive of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, warned that tax rises on e-cigarettes would only benefit tobacco companies, to the detriment of public health. One reason consumers have been trying e-cigarettes is because they can be as little as half the price of traditional cigarettes sold by big tobacco companies.

　　The increasing acceptance of e-cigarettes caught big tobacco companies off guard initially but they are slowly recognising that they cannot ignore the changing tastes of their consumers.

　　Last year, Lorillard bought Blu Ecigs for $135m and RJ Reynolds has started to develop its own electronic cigarette technology. Altria, the US maker of Marlboro, has stayed on the sidelines thus far, but analysts expect the tobacco giant to either acquire an e-cigarette manufacturer or launch its own brand soon.

　　Declining to divulge its plans, an Altria spokesman said: "Obviously we're monitoring what's going on in that category." Enditem