Tobacco Products Directive Regulations
What is the Tobacco Products Directive
The Tobacco Products Directive (‘TPD’) is a set of legislation which will affect the sale of electronic cigarettes when the TPD is implemented on 20 May 2016. You can view the full regulations on the following link http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32014L0040&from=EN
Many e cigarette users and non-users view this as detrimental legislation and, in the words of Clive Bates, it is a “dire piece of legislation”. Clive Bates writes frequent articles on the TPD and has discussed its failings on the following link What’s wrong with the tobacco products directive for vapour products. In his recent article Clive Bates discusses where we are now with the TPD, critically evaluating the requirements of the TPD. These are also summarised below but Clive Bates’ full article can be read on the following link http://www.clivebates.com/?p=3324#more-3324
The Directive was passed as law in May 2014 and therefore will become national law by May 2016. Transitional provisions enable e-cigarettes and e-liquids on the market before 20 November have until 20 May 2016 to comply.
- Products already in existence at 20 May 2016 or released by 19 November 2016. All of these products must become TPD compliant by 20 May 2017.
- Products brought to the market after 20 November 2016. These products must comply with the TPD.
- By 20 May 2017, everything on the market should be fully TPD-compliant.
Significant Flaws in the TPD Regulations
The process around creating the TPD regulations was kept secretive and did not allow for suitable consultation. The European Ombudsman is enquiring into the lack of transparency involved in the creation of the TPD regulation process.
Each state requires notification of new products from the manufacturer and importer, with the EU proposing a computer portal to assist notification.
Clive Bates goes on to discuss the potential flaws of the above regulations, including ‘death by paperwork’, referring to the significant time and cost of the notification requirements contained in the TPD.
There are also strict requirements to include specific warning labels, some of which are not entirely accurate.
Full Article
Clive Bates’ full article can be read on the following link http://www.clivebates.com/?p=3324#more-3324