On 1 January 2021, new tobacco tax measures entered into force under Law 466-IX “On Amending the Tax Code of Ukraine on Improving Tax Administration, Eliminating Technical and Logical Inconsistencies in Tax Law". These relate to heated tobacco products (HTPs), where heat sticks will no longer be taxed per kilogram of tobacco but per 1000 sticks. This is expected to improve the structure of the excise tax on HTPs and will increase the tax per stick further.

On 17 December 2020 the regulation (EU) 2020/2151 implementing Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment was adopted in the European Union. This regulation establishes the harmonised marking specifications for, inter alia, tobacco products with filters and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, and which contain plastics. It shall apply from 3 July 2021.

On 31 December 2020, the Government of Cabo Verde adopted Law No 109/IX/2020, which incorporates the State Budget for 2021. The specific tax on cigarettes was increased, introducing a fee of 40 $ escudos for each package of cigarettes, both for imported products and national production. This is a tax of 0.2 escudos per cigarette. The Law entered into force on 1 January 2021.

La Presidencia de la República del Paraguay aprobó el 29 de diciembre de 2020 el Decreto 4624, que modifica el Decreto 7606/2017 que regula la Ley 5538 de control del tabaco. El nuevo decreto regula el consumo de productos de tabaco, incluidos los productos calentados de tabaco y los cigarrillos electrónicos, con o sin nicotina; el consumo de estos productos sólo puede producirse en "lugares o zonas al aire libre donde no haya aglomeración o reunión de personas ni constituyan zonas de paso para no fumadores".

The Presidency of the Republic of Paraguay adopted Decree 4624, on 29 December 2020, which modifies Decree 7606/2017 that regulates Law 5538 on tobacco control. The new decree regulates the consumption of tobacco products, including heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, with or without nicotine; consumption of these products can only occur in open-air places or areas where there is no crowd or assembly of people or where there are no passageways for non-smokers.

The municipality of the city of Milan, in northern Italy, has recently issued a regulation that might prove of interest to the tobacco control community.

On 6 October 2020, the Senate resolved to establish a Select Committee on Tobacco Harm Reduction (the Committee). The Committee was in charge of inquiring into and reporting on tobacco reduction strategies, with particular reference to the following:

(a) the treatment of nicotine vaping products (electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) in developed countries similar to Australia (such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the European Union and United States), including but not limited to legislative and regulatory frameworks;