Spain

For more than a decade, we at Philip Morris decided that our biggest sustainability challenge was to address the harm our products cause. Since then, the company has been committed to the development and commercialization of innovative smoke-free products that are a better alternative to cigarettes for all those adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. Our goal is to progressively replace cigarettes with smokeless products.

To achieve this, we have hired more than 1,586 scientists and experts in our two Research and Development centers in Switzerland and Singapore dedicated to the research and development of a portfolio of a range of smoke-free alternative products.

IQOS is our first bet for the development of products without combustion. Thanks to its technology, IQOS instead of burning the tobacco, heats it to a much lower temperature. In Spain, IQOS has been available nationwide since the end of 2016 and we have recently launched IQOS ILUMA, the new generation of tobacco heating devices through the innovative SMARTCORE INDUCTION SYSTEM™.

Tobacco and health

For us, our responsibility begins with the product. We manufacture and market a product that causes serious illnesses. We openly communicate the risks that smoking poses to health and advocate for comprehensive and proportionate regulation based on sound scientific evidence and on the principle of harm reduction.

We aim to provide innovative and high-quality products to adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke and reduce the harm caused by tobacco products through a sustainable approach and with the highest standards of integrity. To achieve this ultimate goal, we are heavily committed to developing products that have the potential to reduce harm, investing USD >12.5 billion in research and development.

Commitment to support the growing of tobacco

PMS has been committed to tobacco grown in Extremadura for the last 30 years, where over 95 percent of the tobacco crop in Spain is grown. Since 1992 we are committed with the tobacco sustainability in Extremadura by purchasing tobacco from the region.

But Philip Morris's efforts go further, not only implementing our Agricultural Labor Practices program that seeks to improve the quality and productivity of tobacco, but also supporting the conversion of the first biomass dryers, or currently supporting the reduction of the impact of CO2, energy savings and improved traceability of the tobacco leaf throughout the entire process.

The company is also committed with Extremadura’s human talent with the recent opening in the region of the PMS Customer Service Center for all Spanish IQOS users (with a team of more than 100 professionals, 90% of whom are from the region) and the PMS Telephone Attention Center, which supports tobacconists from all over Spain.

Fight against smuggling

PMI has been strongly committed to the fight against illicit trade since 2004, with the creation of a team of experts in the world’s major markets. Our team in Spain has a comprehensive plan based on innovative actions, ranging from the control of our supply chain and our products flows to sessions targeting Legal Enforcement. Our efforts are focused above all on the most affected regions of Spain. Specifically in Andalusia, the consumption of non-domestic cigarettes reached 24.9% of the total consumed at the end of 2021.

Our contribution to society

Philip Morris Spain is extremely active in the communities in which it operates and collaborate with numerous foundations and non-profit organizations each year and our contributions are published annually in the transparency section of the PMI website. Our goal is to help those regions with the highest unemployment rates in Spain, which include the Canary Islands, and Extremadura.