Spain: The National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT) has urged the government to implement the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025 and the consequent amendment of the Tobacco Law, press reports. The committee believes that e-cigarettes should be equated to tobacco products. The president of the committee said that their objective is to achieve a tobacco- and nicotine-free generation by 2040.
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From February of 2022, subscribers will be able to view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts Round-up section.
LATEST ALERTS
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Philippines New president yet to give a view on vaping regulation bill… - Romania Finance ministry proposes progressive tax rises…
- United States FDA suspends its own Juul ban…
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- France Notified e-cigarette list updated…
- Michigan - United States Bill would put heating element in glass or ceramic…
- Luxembourg ‘Unpaid notification fees mean disposables are illegal’…
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- Europe Big firms required to report on environmental impact…
- Portugal Cancer strategy includes e-cig regulation and prices…
- Portugal Nicotine e-liquid tax goes up…
- Egypt Warning against sales without tax stamps…
Spain: The Council of Ministers has not yet approved the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, reducing the chances of the plan being enforced during this legislature, press reports. The government failed to fulfil its promise to make a decision on this plan at the Council of Ministers on International Tobacco Day, which was yesterday, 31st May. The chances of enforcing the plan, which would require amending the tobacco law and other regulations, are reduced with every passing week, as the 2023 elections approach. If approved, the plan would impose further restrictions on e-cigarettes, and they would be subject to an excise tax duty. Also, plain packaging restrictions are envisaged.
Spain: The Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has warned that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not safe and are not effective as a harm reduction method, press reports. SEPAR has referred to the risks associated with those products in a paper, and in the conclusions it affirms that harm reduction strategies are not useful tobacco control methods. It also concluded that despite having less harmful ingredients than conventional tobacco, heated tobacco and e-cigarettes do not necessarily cause less harm.
Spain: More than 85% of Spaniards would be in favour of more restrictive regulation of tobacco products and 72% would ban smoking on restaurant and bar terraces, press reports. The survey was conducted by the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC). Susana Morena, coordinator of the Smoke-free week (a campaign organised by semFYC) said the restrictions on smoking should be extended to e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating devices. She said there was a false perception among young people that such products were less dangerous.
Spain: ECigIntelligence has been given access to the draft bill on the tobacco market that the Council of Ministers approved last week. In this draft, the government proposes that e-cigarettes will be sold only at tobacco shops in five years. The draft will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the following months. If the draft is eventually approved, retail shops that want to continue selling e-cigarettes in the next five years will have to notify the Commissioner for the Tobacco Market within six months after the bill enters into force.
Spain: The Council of Ministers has approved the draft law on the tobacco market and related products. This regulation aims to fight the illicit trade of tobacco products and guarantee the safety of consumers. It aims to progressively equate e-cigarettes with conventional cigarettes and it states that within five years e-cigarettes will only be sold at tobacconists. The draft has not yet been made public.
Spain: The Spanish parliament has passed the "waste and contaminated soils" bill. The bill imposes restrictions on plastic packaging that may affect the e-cigarette industry. For example, single-use plastics (in which pods and e-liquid containers could be included, although the bill does not mention them specifically) will have to be marked as such on their packaging. The bill also intends to reduce the sale of single-use plastics by 50% in weight by 2026 and 70% by 2030. The act will enter into force once it is published in the state Official Bulletin.
Spain: The Ministry of Health has told the press that a draft amendment to the tobacco control law will shortly be finalised. Although the exact content of the proposal is not yet known, it is expected to include a ban on the use of tobacco products, including heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, in places such as outdoor terraces, beaches, and in private cars. It is also reported that plain packaging is to be introduced, although it is unclear for which products. It remains uncertain what other restrictions might be applied to heat-not-burn (HnB) products and e-cigarettes and whether nicotine pouches are to be included. Lastly, the press reports that prices will be raised, however, it is again unclear which products will be affected.
Spain: The government’s delegate for the National Plan on Drugs, Joan Ramón Villalbí, has expressed some concern over e-cigarette use among teenagers, press reports. The National Plan on Drugs is an initiative from the Ministry of Health aimed at coordinating and promoting drug policies carried out by the different public administrations in Spain. Villalbí said that, according to a survey on the use of drugs among secondary school students, almost half of Spanish teenagers have tried vaping at least once. “It is possible that many of those teenagers who tried vaping did so because they borrowed an electronic cigarette from a friend,” he added, “but this still makes us think.”
Spain: The association Nofumadores.org (non-smokers.org) has asked the government to prohibit the sale of tobacco and electronic cigarettes to anyone born after 2007 so that once they turn 18 they cannot buy those products and become addicted, press reports. More than 20 associations support this measure. Nofumadores.org has also accused the Ministry of Health of not being harsh enough with the tobacco industry.
Spain: The Ministry of Health has launched an awareness campaign against smoking and vaping outdoors in places commonly frequented by other people, such as beaches, parks and restaurant and bar terraces. Although it is not prohibited to smoke in such areas, the campaign aims to reduce passive smoking and vaping. The government revealed last year its intention of prohibiting smoking and vaping on terraces.