LATEST ALERTSUK: 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.
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6th February 2023 - Europe, United Kingdom |
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.
6th February 2023 - Australasia, New Zealand |
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.
3rd February 2023 - Europe |
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.
2nd February 2023 - Paraguay, South America |
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.
1st February 2023 - Europe |
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.
1st February 2023 - Asia, Kazakhstan |
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.
31st January 2023 - Australasia, New Zealand |
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.
31st January 2023 - North America, United States |
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.
31st January 2023 - Australasia, Australia |
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.
30th January 2023 - Asia, Bangladesh |
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.
US - Oregon: Multnomah County is being sued over its ban on flavoured tobacco and vaping products, media reports. Tobacco and vaping retailers filed a lawsuit which claims that the county's ban is pre-empted by state law. Tobacco retailers previously sued Washington County over a similar flavour ban, and won. Furthermore, lawmakers in Oregon recently introduced a bill that would end the sale of flavoured tobacco products across the state.
27th January 2023 - Europe, United Kingdom |
UK: There are no plans to investigate manufacturers for selling products that exceed the 2 ml limit because this is the responsibility of local enforcement agencies, said junior health secretary Neil O'Brien. "The Department continues to work with the Trading Standards Authorities to provide advice in enforcing the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, including matters relating to the two millilitres e-liquid limit," O'Brien added.
Malaysia: The Ministry of Finance told ECigIntelligence today that the excise duty applicable to nicotine-containing e-liquids – which was suspended in December 2021 by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department – is still suspended as of today, and will remain so until the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 is approved by Parliament. The bill, which needs to be reintroduced to Parliament by the new minister of health, proposes a ban on the sale and usage of vapour products to those born on or after 1st January 2007.
Russia: A bill has been signed today by the president that increases the excise rates for e-liquids and omits the excise tax for vaping devices, media reports. The provisions will enter into force on 1st March 2023. The increase will be from RUB18 (€0.24) to RUB20 (€0.28) per ml in 2023, with further increases in 2024 and 2025.
Germany: The federal drug commissioner, Burkhard Blienert, has called for stricter rules on the advertising of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, press reports. Blienert said that the products should be banned from social media, the internet, TV and radio. For e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in particular, he supported a ban on colourful advertising at kiosks, supermarkets and fuel stations.
Denmark: Since June 2022, there have been 106 reports of illegal sales of disposable e-cigarettes, and 522 social media profiles have been closed, according to the Danish Safety Agency. These related to the sale of flavoured disposables, which, aside from tobacco and menthol, are prohibited in Denmark.
Russia: On 18th January the State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin instructed relevant committees to study the possibility of banning e-cigarettes in Russia. A survey indicates that such a policy would be supported by 68% of respondents, while only 14% would be against it.
26th January 2023 - Europe, United Kingdom |
UK: In December 2022, the port officers in Kent seized 315,920 illegal e-cigarettes in eight consignments, following referrals from the UK Border Agency. The estimated market value of products is more than £3m. Over the summer of 2022, the team intercepted 7,500 products, which suggests a sharp rise in illicit e-cigarettes entering the country.
Indonesia: Vice president Ma'ruf Amin said today that the effects of e-cigarettes would be reviewed and, if proven to be harmful to public health, they would be banned by the government, press reports.
Indonesia: The minister of health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said yesterday that regulations for e-cigarettes are still being discussed across ministries, press reports. The minister highlighted that vaping products cannot be considered a substitute for traditional tobacco products, and that they are considered to target children due to their attractive flavours.
26th January 2023 - North America, United States |
US - General: British American Tobacco (BAT) will appeal the marketing denial orders (MDOs) for its Vuse Vibe Tank Menthol 3.0% and Vuse Ciro Cartridge Menthol 1.5%, the applications for which were denied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 24th January. Several Vuse Vibe, Vuse Ciro and Vuse Solo products in original flavours were previously authorised by the FDA, but the menthol-flavoured products remained pending. “We believe that menthol vapour products are critical to helping adult smokers migrate away from combustible cigarettes," a BAT spokesperson stated. "FDA’s decision, if allowed to go into effect, will harm, not benefit, public health."
25th January 2023 - North America, United States |
US - General: New warning letters have been sent out by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to e-liquid manufacturers for manufacturing/selling/distributing e-liquid products without a marketing authorisation order; a couple of the letters also included a warning that tobacco products sold to individuals under 21 are misbranded.
25th January 2023 - Europe, United Kingdom |
UK: Yesterday, 24th January, Durham Police announced the first results of Operation Autumn, undertaken together with Trading Standards officers to combat illegal sales. Non-compliant e-cigarettes worth more than £37,000 have been seized from different stores. The premises were all visited following complaints from members of the public. All traders were given advice on the law, particularly in relation to underage sales and reminded of their obligations, the announcement states. The enforcement action will last a few months.
Russia: Today, the Federation Council (upper chamber of the parliament) approved a bill increasing the excise rates for e-liquids and omitting the excise tax for vaping devices, media reports. If signed by the president, the provisions would enter into force on 1st March 2023. The increase would be from RUB18 (€0.24) to RUB20 (€0.27) per ml in 2023, with a further increase in 2024 and 2025.
