E-cigarettes in Europe: data on market trends and the regulatory landscape

22nd September 2023: UK: This month, South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council’s Trading Standards inspected three retail premises in the Rotherham district and seized more than £9,000 worth of illegal vapour and tobacco products.
22nd September 2023: Spain: The Ministry of Health has launched a campaign warning against smoking and vaping. The campaign is titled "Why do you smoke?" and it claims that "smoking is bad whatever you smoke". The campaign statement warns about the rise in the use of vaping products, especially disposable ones, among young people due to their modern format and flavours, and the campaign's video shows people vaping.
21st September 2023: Belgium: The government will introduce an excise tax and tax stamps for both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-liquids starting on 1st January 2024. This will also apply to products mixed by the final users such as base liquids (PG, VG), booster liquids, and flavours (concentrated or not) when they are offered in the context of the sale of e-cigarettes. The excise tax rate will be set per ml of product and the amount will be determined during the government discussions for the preparation of the Budget Bill. All e-liquids marketed from 1st January 2024 will have to bear tax stamps, while existing stocks can be sold until 31st March 2024. The date from which it will be possible to order the tax stamps will be communicated in the coming months.
21st September 2023: UK: Junior environment secretary, Rebecca Pow, said the government is very concerned about the environmental impact of disposable vapes and will shortly publish a response to its call for evidence on vaping that closed in June. She reminded that retailers selling over £100,000 of electrical equipment per year are obliged to provide in-store takeback of electrical items, including e-cigarettes. Smaller businesses can choose to contribute funds to the distributor takeback scheme instead to ensure vapes are recycled correctly. "All vapes that are deposited at household waste and recycling centres will be collected and treated and the costs of doing this will be met by vape producers," Pow added.
21st September 2023: Czech Republic: The Czech Republic has notified the EU via the Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS) of the draft decree amending Decree 82/2019 on tobacco labels, seeking to introduce excise tax labels for e-cigarette cartridges from 1st January 2024. The bill to introduce excise tax for e-liquids has recently had a second reading in the House of Representatives. If further approved by the Senate and signed by the president, e-liquids are going to be taxed at a rate of CZK2.50 (€0.10) as of 1st January 2024. According to the Ministry of Health overview, the e-liquid tax will be introduced gradually over the next four years, as follows: CZK2.50 (€0.10) per ml, CZK5 (€0.21) per ml, CZK7.50 (€0.31) per ml and CZK10 (€0.41) per ml.
21st September 2023: Lithuania: The parliamentary Health Affairs Committee has decided not to make a decision on a bill which proposes to allow tobacco manufacturers to support the fight against smuggling and illegal trade, media reports. The committee reportedly decided to wait for the bill to be evaluated by the Secretariat of the (WHO FCTC).
20th September 2023: Lithuania: The clarification to a proposal that seeks to allow the sale of vaping products only in pharmacies has been submitted to the Seimas (parliament). If adopted, sales of e-cigarettes and their refills would be permitted only in pharmacies (in compliance with pharmaceutical law) and only in cases where they are classified as medicinal products or compensable medical aid.
19th September 2023: UK: The enforcement of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 continues across the UK. Most recently, Trading Standards and North Wales Police seized around 3,000 non-compliant e-cigarettes worth about £30,000 from a Wrexham city centre shop. The Central Bedfordshire Council announced that a retailer has been fined £2,410 for selling illegal e-cigarettes. Earlier in September, trading standards officers from Barking and Dagenham visited 18 premises, of which 5 were found to have illegal cigarettes or vapes. In total, 10,580 illegal cigarettes and 144 vapes (with a street value of over £6,000) were seized.
19th September 2023: France: The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) has published an updated list of notified e-cigarettes. The total number of vapour products included is 119,341.
19th September 2023: Sweden: The Public Health Agency has updated a publicly available list of notified e-cigarettes and refill containers. The total number of vapour products listed is 14,011.
19th September 2023: Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has updated the lists of notified nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarette products. The total number of notified vaping products amounts to 24,123.

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