World Nicotine Congress

The World Nicotine Congress (WNC) is a global events platform which states that it brings together “experts from the worlds of politics, health, law enforcement, finance and other valued stakeholders to develop and improve … industry and benefit the consumer advocates”.¹² Its sponsors include transnational tobacco companies (TTC),³and has TTC employees on its advisory board and more listed as speakers. ⁴

Background

WNC was founded by Elise Rasmussen who was also the founder and executive director of the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) from 2008 to 2025.¹⁵⁶ Previously, Rasmussen was Vice President at the US-based organisation the Tobacco Merchants Association (TMA).⁵⁷

WNC Global Ltd was registered at UK Companies House in April 2025.⁸

The WNC hosted a three-day forum in Brussels from 23rd – 25th March 2026. The forum is described, on the WNC website, as an “open discussion on the science, policy and innovation shaping the future of nicotine”.⁹

Relationship to the Tobacco Industry

Sponsors

Image 1: WNC 2026 sponsors. (Source: WNC website)³

WNC is sponsored by three major transnational tobacco companies (TTCs): British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and Imperial Brands.³BAT sponsored the event as OMNI (see image 1), its “knowledge sharing resource”.¹⁰

Other sponsors include companies in the tobacco supply chain. Some have also sponsored the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF).

Advisory Board

Five out of the seven advisory board members are from the three TTC sponsoring companies. A full list of members can be found on the WNC website:⁴

• Chris Junker, Group Head of Life Science, BAT
• Philipp Hansen, EU Affairs Director, JTI
• Tom Hirons, External Affairs Director, JTI
• Deborah Binks-Moore, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Imperial Brands
• Joseph Thompson, Group Science and Regulatory Affairs Director, Imperial Brands

Speakers

The speaker list included representatives from BAT, JTI, Imperial Brands and Philip Morris International (PMI):¹¹¹²

PMI

• Brindusa Taranu, Head Product Safety Surveillance

BAT

• Chris Junker, Group Head of Life Sciences
• Christa Pelsers, EU Head of Fiscal Affairs and International Trade
• Danielle Tower, Group Head of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs
• Elaine Round, Senior Vice President at Reynolds American
• Flora Okereke, Group Head of Global Policy, Insights and Foresights
• Helena Digard, Head of Analytical Services BAT; President at CORESTA
• Karina McQuillan, Global Head of Toxicology
• Summer Hanna, Global Head of Scientific Regulation

JTI

• Francesco Gaglioppa, EU Affairs Director
• John Clayton, External Affairs Vice President
• Karin Jacobson, Science Advocacy and Engagement Director
• Tom Hirons, External Affairs Director
• Vincent Byrne, Global Anti-Illicit Trade Operations Director

Imperial Brands

• Joseph Thompson, Group Science and Regulatory Affairs Director
• Niccolo Balzini, Regional Corporate Affairs Director Europe
• Shaun Murray, Head of Scientific Regulatory Affairs
• Paola Pocci, Chief Consumer Officer

Listed speakers also included former industry employees, industry-funded consultants, and others with industry links:¹¹¹²

• Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
• David Bertram, Managing Director at EUK Consulting
• Delon Human, President at Health Diplomats
• Ehsan Latif, Director at Centre for Integrative Public Health Management. Previously Senior Vice President of Grants Management and Health and Science Strategy at Global Action to End Smoking (formerly known as Foundation for a Smoke-Free World)
• Giovanni Li Volti, Director at Centre of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR)
• Hayley Van Loon, CEO at Crime Stoppers International
• Konstantinos Farsalinos, Senior Researcher at the Universities of Patras and West Attica; Founder and acting Vice President of the International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction (SCOHRE). See also JUUL Labs
• Marco Vadagnini, Director at EUK Consulting
• Martin Cullip, International Fellow at Taxpayers Protection Alliance
• Peter Beckett, Co-Founder, Clearing the Air (see the Consumer Choice Centre)
• Michiel Reerink, International Corporate Affairs Director & Managing Director at Alliance One International (see Tobacco Supply Chain)
• Roger Bate, President at Centre for Global Health Accountability, Fellow at the International Centre for Law & Economics
• Simon Clark, Director at FOREST
• Sudhanshu Patwardhan, Director at the Centre for Health Research and Education (CHRE)

Activities and Themes

Themes in the 2026 event programme included the “regulatory and public health landscape shaping the industry”, emerging technology, illicit trade, consumer behaviour, and AI integration.⁹

WNC hosted several panel discussions including one on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which featured speakers from JTI, Alliance One International, and Clearing the Air (see Consumer Choice Center).¹³

Another panel discussion titled “The Industry Perspective: Real World Evidence” featured speakers from BAT, JTI, and Imperial Brands (see Speakers above)¹³¹⁴

The WNC website also features an “Industry Insights” page with blog posts covering topics on tobacco harm reduction, science, innovation, and politics.¹⁵

Relevant Link

World Nicotine Congress website

Tobacco Tactics Resources

Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum

CORESTA

Tobacco Products Directive (TPD)