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A statement from British American Tobacco on the need for robust and effective vapour product regulation

PRESS RELEASE

20 SEPTEMBER 2019

A statement from British American Tobacco on the need for robust and effective vapour product regulation

British American Tobacco has today issued a statement highlighting the need for robust and effective regulation of vapour products, following the recent tragic consumer cases reported in the media.

Dr David O’Reilly, Director of Scientific Research at British American Tobacco, said: “As the world’s second largest vapour company, providing high quality products to more than 9 million consumers worldwide, we take consumer safety very seriously. Quality and safety testing are a crucial part of the way we develop and manufacture our products and we scrutinise the ingredients we use in them.

“We are fully supportive of the efforts of the various government agencies in the US, Canada and around the world who are working to understand the exact cause of the recent tragic consumer cases. To the best of our knowledge, no product developed or manufactured by BAT has been involved in these cases.

“However, these cases clearly demonstrate the need for robust and effective regulation which ensures high product standards, particularly with regard to the testing and reporting of the ingredients used in vaping liquids.

“Governments also need to ensure relevant authorities enforce manufacturer compliance with these regulations. Only through effective regulation and enforcement will consumers retain confidence in vaping products which could potentially reduce the public health burden related to smoking.

“Given the significant investment and scientific resources we deploy to the testing and stewardship of our own products, we stand ready to work with governments and the science community to help in any way we can to support the development of robust product standards.”

Forward looking statements

This is a release by British American Tobacco p.l.c. Associate companies are excluded. References to ‘British American Tobacco’, ‘BAT’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ when denoting opinion refer to British American Tobacco p.l.c. (the Company, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), and when denoting tobacco business activity refer to Group operating companies, collectively or individually as the case may be. This release contains certain forward-looking statements, made within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations reflecting knowledge and information available at the time of preparation and concerning, amongst other things, prospects, growth and strategies. BAT undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “would,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “will,” “estimate,” “strategy” and similar expressions. It is believed that the expectations reflected in this release are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated.

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