Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro, wants to ban its products in the United Kingdom a decade from now. The announcement came after the number of cigarette smokers in Britain fell significantly, as well as the UK government’s goal to become a smoke-free nation. Philip Morris CEO Jacek Olczak said, that the company can “see the world without cigarettes, and “the sooner it happens, the better it is for everyone.” He added that cigarettes should be treated like petrol cars, the sale of which is due to be banned in the UK by 2030.

In 2008, Philip Morris invested $8 million for the development of less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. As part of their Beyond Nicotine strategy, the company also struck a $1.2 billion deal to own UK asthma inhaler maker Vectura. The agreement has been met with doubts from anti-smoking campaigners. In a statement addressing Philip Morris’ plans, Deborah Arnott, the CEO of a UK public health charity, said, “Philip Morris has declared that it wants to see the end of smoking, but how can their goal be taken seriously when they sell more than one in ten cigarettes smoked globally?” As of now, an increasing number of financial organizations have promised to implement tobacco-free policies. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO), cigarette smoking causes more than 8 million deaths per year.