LATEST ALERTSHungary: The Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs has told ECigIntelligence that a total of 10,855,642 ml of e-liquid was sold in Hungary in 2022. This information is retrieved from the system to which every national tobacco shop must submit information on daily stock levels and turnover of all vaping products.
As of February 2022, subscribers can view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts round-up section.
US - general: Following the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s scathing report to FDA commissioner Robert Califf on the agency’s tobacco program, the American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVA) said “FDA officials met with four organizations that are hostile to e-cigarettes as a tobacco harm reduction tool to discuss Reagan-Udall’s findings in the hours and days following its publication,” media reports. Those organisations were reportedly the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the American Thoracic Society.
UK: Derby City Council has raised concerns over disposable e-cigarettes, naming a recycling centre where they can be taken, but saying “an even better choice is to invest in a reusable vape kit”. The council also committed to removing counterfeit and non-compliant products off the market and issued a warning about Trading Standards testing which found arsenic, lead and formaldehyde in counterfeit e-liquids.
Germany: The state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein has called on the state government to support the Bavarian government’s plea for a campaign to ban disposable cigarettes at federal and EU level. “Disposable e-cigarettes produce a lot of e-waste and are literally a fire hazard,” said the motion’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) sponsor, Sandra Redmann.
Philippines: In a speech to the Senate yesterday, senator Pia Cayetano of the conservative Nacionalista Party expressed alarm about “vape flavours and designs, which are...very attractive to our youth”. Senate president Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate would pass a resolution calling on the Department of Trade and Industry to enforce the law.
US - Virginia: House Bill 2296 and Senate Bill 1350, which would have imposed tax at $0.066 per ml on nicotine e-liquids in closed systems, and 20% of the wholesale price in open systems, have been substituted, with all reference to tax removed.
Russia: Alexei Kurinny, deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, has said he does not support a complete ban on e-cigarettes, arguing that it would send vapers back to smoking, media reports. Health minister Mikhail Murashko said last week that the ministry backed the initiative of State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin to ban e-сigs.
Thailand: Education minister Treenuch Thienthong has called on all educational establishments to get tougher on vaping. “It is time for us to be strict, strict, and prevent the spread of e-cigarettes among children and young people,” she said.
Serbia: Speaking at a conference on cancer, health minister Danica Grujičić called for public support for a ban on smoking in enclosed public places. “The Ministry of Finance, which claims that the state makes money from cigarettes, must be pressured. The priority must be people’s health,” she said. Though she belongs to the same governing party as the finance minister, Sinisa Mali, Grujičić is the first health minister in several governments to speak about the need for a public smoking ban. She told the press today that a proposal had already been drawn up to ban smoking in hospitality premises, but that it has yet to be adopted by the government before it goes before the National Assembly. It is not yet clear whether or not the proposal – which has yet to be made public – will tackle vaping.
Egypt: The Tobacco Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries is to hold a workshop with e-liquid importers in Cairo tomorrow to discuss strategies to combat illicit products, press reports.
US - New York: Governor Kathy Hochul has been criticised by state Democrats over the proposed statewide ban on tobacco and e-cigarette flavours, media reports. Critics say the proposed ban would be impractical to enforce and costly to state taxpayers. One said: “Small businesses in New York are at risk of being squeezed out by the proposed illegal tobacco regulations, which would only stimulate a larger underground market and encourage people to buy unregulated products.”
US - Texas: House Bill 1872 has been introduced, which would ban the sale or donation of e-cigarettes with any distinguishable taste or aroma other than that of tobacco or menthol.
Suriname: The Ministry of Health has emphasised that e-cigarettes should not be used by adolescents, young adults or pregnant women, media reports. The Dutch-speaking republic of Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America, with a population of just over 600,000.
Hungary: The Ministry of Finance has told ECigIntelligence that approximately HUF0.5bn (€1.27m) was collected in tax on e-liquids in 2022, compared to HUF0.2bn (€500,000) in 2021 and HUF0.4bn (€1m) in 2020. E-liquids, regardless of their nicotine content, are currently taxed at HUF33 (€0.084) per ml.
UK: The Daily Mail reports that following its own independent testing of Elf Bar's 600 line of e-cigarettes, which found the product to be non-compliant with the 20 mg/ml nicotine limit, Tesco has decided to remove the line from its shops, while Morrisons has launched a probe into the product.
UK: Junior health secretary Neil O'Brien said that the Department of Health and Social Care is currently considering how best to commission further research into the health impacts of e-liquids, including those containing propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. On another occasion, O'Brien avoided answering a question about the reason for the delay in publishing an updated Tobacco Control Plan.
New Zealand: Following the resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the new Labour prime minister, Chris Hipkins, has appointed Ayesha Verrall as the new minister of health. She was a key supporter of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act, which banned the sale of smokable tobacco products to anyone born after 1st January 2009. She recently commented on measures to tackle youth vaping, saying that "alongside our efforts to reduce tobacco smoking, we want to ensure that vaping products are safe, regulated and only used as intended for smoking cessation purposes".
Germany: Saxony-Anhalt health minister Petra Grimm-Benne, a member of the Social Democratic Party – which is part of the government coalition – has expressed her support for a ban on disposable e-cigarettes, which have a "poor environmental record", press reports. This follows support for the ban on disposables by Baden-Württemberg's health minister and chairman of the Conference of Health Ministers, Manne Lucha.
Sweden: The Public Health Agency of Sweden has updated a publicly available list of notified e-cigarettes and refill containers. There are 13,022 vapour products on the list.
Estonia: The Tax and Customs Board has told ECigIntelligence that the tax revenues for nicotine-containing e-liquids amounted to €1,086,421 in 2020 and €306,020 in 2021, while those for nicotine-free e-liquids amounted to €279,748 in 2020 and to €45,175 in 2021. The excise duty on e-cigarettes was suspended between 1st April 2021 and 31st December 2022.
Belgium: The Federal Public Service for Health, Food Chain Safety, and Environment has provided ECigIntelligence with the presentation and the FAQ document about the new Royal Decree on e-cigarettes that was presented during the information session held on 1st February 2023.
US - Connecticut: Attorney general William Tong has submitted testimony in support of House Bill 6488, which would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. In this testimony, he supports the enactment of a statewide flavour ban and emphasises that while the written legislation currently excludes menthol-flavoured products from the ban, they should be included to deter youth addiction.
US - Hawaii: House Bill 860 has been introduced, which would raise the minimum legal age to purchase and possess tobacco products and electronic smoking devices from 21 to 25.
EU: Swedish MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, Johan Nissinen, submitted a parliamentary question last week asking the European Commission whether it can provide an indicative date of when the proposal for a revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) is due to be adopted, following the postponement of its publication – expected on 7th December 2022. The MEP also asked the Commission whether it can confirm that the proposal will not be published during the Swedish Council Presidency, as hinted by the president of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council and Sweden's minister of finance during an exchange of views with the parliamentary Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. The Swedish Council Presidency ends on 30th June 2023.
Egypt: The Ministry of Health has tweeted against the use of e-cigarettes, arguing that contrary to what is commonly believed, they are not a safe alternative to standard cigarettes, and that they negatively affect digestive and respiratory systems and cause cardiovascular diseases. On a similar note, the president's health adviser, Mohamed Awad Tag-Eldin, has also stated that e-cigarettes are not safe and can cause pulmonary embolisms and affect the respiratory system, press reports.
Germany: Members of the coalition Green Party (Die Grünen) are discussing a deposit system ("Pfand") for disposable e-cigarettes to encourage users to recycle the products properly, press reports. Once the product is returned, the user would get the deposit back. "A deposit of around ten euros on such single-use products could significantly improve recycling and disposal and reduce the incentive to sell them in retail stores,” said Green Party chairwoman, Linda Heitmann.
Paraguay: Opposition member of the Chamber of Deputies José Rodríguez said that he will present a bill in Parliament seeking to increase the tax on vaping products from 20% to 24% of the wholesale price, press reports.
Finland: A working group appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is proposing measures to end the use of tobacco and nicotine products in Finland by 2030. The group submitted its report to the state secretary on 31st January. The working group proposes that the six-monthly increases for tobacco taxes be continued in the coming government terms and also suggests that the age limit for selling tobacco and nicotine products be raised from 18 to 20, together with the extension of smoke-free environments. The group hopes that the next government will start promoting the report's measures at the beginning of its term.
US - Georgia: House Bill 192 has been introduced. This bill would increase the tax rate on vapour products. All vapour products would be taxed at 15% of the wholesale price, eliminating the difference between closed and open systems.
Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has updated the list of websites that do not comply with the long-distance sales and advertising restrictions for vapour products. The ADM will block the websites that are still non-compliant on 12th February 2023.
EU: Ahead of World Cancer Day, EU commissioner for health and food safety Stella Kyriakides has spoken about the European Beating Cancer Plan (BECA)'s achievements so far and prospects for 2023. Although neither the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive nor of the Tobacco Excise Directive are directly mentioned, the commissioner has stated that the European Commission will be working on over 30 actions over the coming year. These include "measures to achieve smoke-free environments to increase the protection of citizens against tobacco and help deliver on our target of a tobacco-free Generation by 2024". Kyriakides stated that the BECA plan is her main priority as commissioner for health and food safety.
US - New York: Senate Bill S3356 has been introduced. This bill would require e-cigarettes and e-liquid products to be sold in separate specific locations where only consumers who are at least 21 years old are allowed to enter.
Norway: The government notified a bill to the European Commission TRIS database that aims to introduce plain packaging for e-cigarettes and ban non-tobacco flavours in e-liquids. The Norwegian European Economic Area (EEA) Committee decided on 4th February 2022 to incorporate the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the EEA Agreement. However, the EEA Committee's decision, and thus the legalisation of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, will not enter into force until the Storting (parliament) has given its consent. The Health Directorate in its online page on e-cigarettes says the ban on nicotine-containing vapour products is likely to be lifted in 2023.
Russia: The State Duma (lower chamber of the parliament) is planning to hold parliamentary discussions in late February or early March with the involvement of officials, experts and the public to consider the ban of e-cigarettes in Russia, media reports. On 8th February a working group will look into preparing the discussions. Last week the deputy head of the Ministry of Health, Evgeny Kamkin, said that the ministry supports the initiative to ban e-сigarettes.
Kazakhstan: The Health Code specifies that manufacturers and importers of e-cigs and e-liquids must submit reports on the results of laboratory tests on the maximum permissible nicotine content by 1st February of the year following the reporting period.
New Zealand: As highlighted in the ECigIntelligence compliance calendar, today (31st January) is the last day for manufacturers and importers of e-cigarettes, including specialist vape retailers, to submit their market data for 2022.
US - general: A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that RJ Reynolds Vapor must pay ongoing royalties to Altria for a pod-style vape, after a $95m verdict last year found it was guilty of a patent infringement. The opinion reduces Altria’s demand from 10.5% to 5.25%, which Reynolds will have to pay quarterly until the last of Altria’s patents expires in April 2035. “Altria has not shown that the pod patents’ contribution to the Alto’s performance since May 2019 justifies increasing the jury’s royalty rate of 5.25%,” the judge wrote.
Latvia: The State Revenue Service has told ECigIntelligence that the excise duty on e-liquids, with or without nicotine, brought in €636,000 in 2020, €2,925,000 in 2021, and €7,435,000 in 2022.
Germany: In response to a parliamentary question put by The Left party (Die Linke) on the taxation of e-liquids, the government said that as the regulations have only been in force for a short time, it did not see any need for change. It added: “A need for change could possibly arise in the future due to regulations to be implemented from the upcoming revision of the EU Tobacco Tax Directive.”
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 303,179 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
Belgium: The Federal Public Service for Health, Food Chain Safety, and Environment will hold an information session at 10am tomorrow on the Royal Decree on e-cigarettes that was enacted at the beginning of January. Thought the session will take place in French and Dutch, an English translation will be made available. Links to the session are available from apf.food@health.fgov.be.
Australia: Public Health Associations in New South Wales (NSW) are urging the next government of the state to protect young people from vaping, press reports. The NSW branch of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) yesterday highlighted what it considered the five public health issues that need attention, among which was the use of vaping products by young people. Branch president Kate McBride said the consumption of vaping products by young people had doubled in the last two years. While nicotine-containing e-cigarettes can only be acquired through prescription, there is no sales restriction on nicotine-free ones. State elections are due in March.
Bangladesh: In response to the proposed amendment to ban vaping and heated tobacco products, the Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (Bendsta) has called on authorities to withdraw the proposed ban and to consult with all industry members before making any policy decisions, media reports. The organisation fears the ban will jeopardise the prime minister's vision of making the country tobacco-free by 2040.
Portugal: The Customs authority has told ECigIntelligence that the tax revenue collected for nicotine-containing e-liquids was €1,619,375.35 in 2020, €2,009,700.80 in 2021 and €2,656,658.01 in 2022. E-cigarettes without nicotine are not taxed. The authority also provided a list of notified tobacco products, which includes nicotine-containing e-liquids.
Germany: The minister of health of the state of Baden-Württemberg, from the coalition party Die Grünen, and chairman of the Conference of Health Ministers (GMK) Manne Lucha wants to ban disposable e-cigarettes, press reports. There are already efforts by the environment ministers to examine a ban on disposables. "As Minister of Health, I expressly support this. The federal and state governments should now urgently address this issue," the politician said.
UK - Scotland: In reaction to the Scottish government's consultation on the environmental impact of single-use vapes, the charity Asthma + Lung UK has, together with the Daily Record, published a poll showing that more than seven in ten Scots are worried about the ecological impact of disposable vapes. In reaction to it, Green party MP, Gillian Mackay, said: “This poll is a tribute to the fantastic campaigning work of the Daily Record and so many others, who have pushed this issue right up the public health agenda." The consultation could lead to restrictions or even a ban on disposables in this part of the UK.
Slovenia: Ahead of No-Cigarette Day, which takes place on 31st January, the minister of health and the National Institute of Public Health have said that e-cigarettes are not smoking cessation aids and therefore they do not recommend their use as such.
Egypt: Ashraf Hatem, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Health Committee, has argued that although novel nicotine products pose significant health risks, they are less harmful than regular cigarettes, and that curbing nicotine addiction can begin gradually by relying on e-cigarettes or heated tobacco to replace regular cigarettes, press reports.
