Tobacco smoking in Bulgaria

The European Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) 2016 Changes to the EU TPD

- No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction

The TPD is a Directive of the EU which means that all EU countries must ‘transpose’ or incorporate the TPD requirements into their national laws. The only flexibility permitted is the ability to enact additional regulations. The current Directive entered into force on 19th May 2014 and became applicable in the EU Member States on 20th May 2016.

In 2014 a revised Tobacco Products Directive known as TPD 2 was issued by the EU to update the 2001 Tobacco Products Directive. TPD2 regulates all tobacco products in the European Union and its scope is wide. It covers product regulation in terms of reporting obligations of ingredients and emissions for all tobacco products. It includes product packaging and labelling including the size and appearance of products, traceability features to be fixed onto packaging as well as health warnings. It covers cross-border advertising of tobacco products; it reinforces the ban on oral tobacco products (snus), but importantly it provides for the placing on the market of e-cigarettes and refill containers, as well as making provision for notification of novel tobacco products. It also provides for herbal cigarettes.

See also p. 96 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)

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Prevalence of Daily Smoking in EU

- No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction

Sweden now has the lowest level of smoking among men than for any other country in Europe. According to the European Commission’s Eurobarometer 2017 report, only five percent of Swedish men now smoke. This is only one fifth of the EU average of 24 percent. The Eurobarometer report indicates that all other EU countries have a smoking prevalence three to seven times greater than Sweden. So, something is clearly different about Sweden – and the clear difference is that snus is allowed in Sweden yet banned in the other 27 EU countries.

See also p. 49 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)

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Death Rate per 100,000 Attributable to Tobacco, All Causes of Death, Men 30 Years and Older

Lars Ramström - Institute for Tobacco Studies

This figure illustrates what percentage of all deaths are tobacco-related across Europe – which gives an indication of the chances of dying of a tobacco related disease. Using more recent data from the Global Burden of Disease study, it is calculated that in Sweden 11 percent of male and 12 percent of female deaths are tobacco-related. In all EU countries the percentage is higher: for example, in Greece 26 percent of male deaths are tobacco related; 23 percent in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands; 21 percent in Italy and Denmark; and 20 percent in the UK and Luxembourg.

Dr Lars Ramström calculated the potential future premature deaths that could be avoided in the EU if the ban on the marketing of snus is revoked: “If snus is made available by lifting of the current ban in the EU, and truthful public education encourages substitution of snus for cigarettes as in Sweden, then around 320,000 premature deaths per year can conceivably be prevented among men 30 years and older in the current EU countries”.

See also p. 50 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)

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