Vapeo de cigarrillos electrónicos in Suecia

Legal Status of Snus

- Burning Issues: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2020

Passed in 2001, the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was the first major European legislation specifically related to tobacco products. It is the only example of a regional approach to regulation. All EU member states must implement TPD into national Legislation.

Nearly a decade before, the first attack on what turned out to be a significant SNP was the EU-wide ban on the sale of snus in 1992, as a response to the attempt by the US Smokeless Tobacco Company to introduce oral Skoal Bandits into the UK. When Sweden joined the EU in 1995, snus was already in widespread use there and so was exempted from the ban.

In the years subsequent to TPD enactment, EU Commission reports identified new tobacco-related products which might be controlled to ensure conformity with EU harmonisation policies, noting increasing discrepancies between member states. As the sale of vaping devices was growing throughout the EU, member states were seeking advice and clarification from the Commission. In 2012, the Health and Consumer Directorate produced a proposal for the revision of the 2001 TPD whereby products with a nicotine content over a certain level – including most vaping products on the market – would have to be authorised as medicines. When the proposal came before the EU Parliament in 2013, numerous amendments to the Article were proposed, including one that all vaping products could only be sold as medicines under pharmaceutical regulations. Major objections from vapers via their EU political representatives helped derail this idea. In 2016, a revised TPD known as TPD2 came into force.

TPD2 regulates tobacco product manufacture, sale, distribution and advertising in the European Union covering vaping and HTP – with limitations on nicotine content and liquid bottle size – while reaffirming the ban on snus. Currently TPD2 is under review, with the report and possible proposals due out in May 2021.

See also p.119 of the report: Burning Issues: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2020

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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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Top Four Reasons for Starting to Use E-Cigarettes

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

This figure illustrates the most important reasons that motivate smokers to switch to e-cigarettes, across the 28 member states of the European Union in 2017.

The top reason across the EU for using e-cigarettes is to stop using tobacco. The clear majority of people using e-cigarettes did so to stop, or to reduce tobacco use (61%). Following this the next reason was because they thought e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes (31%), or less expensive (25%). Only 6% said they started because they felt using e-cigarettes was cool or attractive.

See also p. 44 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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