Totally Wicked Welcomes the JURI committee's Opinion of the EU Tobacco Products Directive
The JURI committee questions the legality of including e-cigs in the EU Tobacco Products Directive.
BLACKBURN, England, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Totally Wicked has welcomed the Draft Opinion from the JURI committee, the legal committee tasked with reviewing draft EU Tobacco Products Directive, (TPD). The draft Directive at present proposes to subject electronic cigarettes to the medicines licensing regime, essentially amounting to a ban on the product as currently sold.
Though this opinion is just that, an opinion, and is still to be formally approved by the JURI committee, it has come from the legal committee and points out where the TPD falls foul of EU law, and why measures, which amount to an effective ban on nicotine containing products could be detrimental to wider public health objectives. Assuming it is approved and made final, this opinion is one that the Environmental and Public Health (ENVI) committee, tasked with reviewing the Directive, will have to take into consideration.
The JURI opinion states– "Article 18 of the proposal prohibits nicotine-containing products (NCP) such as e cigarettes containing a certain nicotine level if they are not authorised pursuant to Directive 2001/83/EC (the Medicinal Products Directive). It is, however, quite unclear if these products (which are much less harmful than tobacco products) even fall under the scope of the Medicinal Products Directive.1 For products that do not fall under the Directive, this would effectively constitute a ban. Banning products which are less harmful than tobacco products and which can be a means of smoking cessation is certainly not in line with the public health aims of the proposal.2"
The EU TPD still has three more committees to pass through for 'opinion' before the first reading of the Draft Directive takes place in the European Parliament, when MEP's will consider the ENVI committee's final reports and opinions. If Article 18 were to be removed from the Directive, then that would basically preserve the status quo, from an EU regulatory perspective, leaving electronic cigarettes to be regulated under existing consumer protection laws, and would be a welcomed move by the 1 million current electronic cigarette users in the UK.
SOURCE Totally Wicked E Liquid
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article