Earlier this month, Dutch Well being Minister, Vincent Karremans, criticized the European Fee for delaying new laws on nicotine merchandise, describing the choice as dangerous to public well being. In a letter addressed to EU Well being Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, Karremans urged the Fee to take rapid motion by introducing strict laws on e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and different rising nicotine merchandise. This consists of complete limits on flavours, most nicotine ranges, and the introduction of plain packaging for all nicotine-containing merchandise.
Karremans expressed concern over the quickly increasing marketplace for tobacco options akin to nicotine pouches, that are at the moment not lined below the prevailing Tobacco Merchandise Directive (TPD). Whereas the TPD regulates each conventional and novel merchandise like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, it doesn’t account for newer gadgets which have emerged since its adoption. The Dutch authorities believes that this regulatory hole permits these merchandise to flee constant oversight, rising their enchantment to younger folks.
Just like the World Well being Group (WHO), the EU maintains that novel nicotine merchandise pose regarding well being dangers, alleging that the long-term results stay unclear, regardless of dependable research indicating that the merchandise are considerably much less dangerous than conventional cigarettes.
Dutch Well being Minister pressures EU Fee to advance tobacco regulation
Karremans known as for the Fee to align laws throughout the EU by making use of plain packaging guidelines to all tobacco and nicotine merchandise. Whereas eight member states—together with the Netherlands, Belgium, Eire, and Finland—have prolonged plain packaging legal guidelines to novel merchandise, others, akin to Greece and Italy, oppose such measures. Implementing EU-wide laws would standardize packaging, limiting the advertising enchantment of those merchandise.
In response to Karremans’ letter, the EC has put ahead a set of restrictions on vaping and nicotine pouches, and whereas pushed by the Netherlands, the proposal has been supported by a minority of member states.
The Well being Minister’s letter additionally raised issues in regards to the cross-border sale of nicotine merchandise, which permits shoppers to bypass nationwide restrictions. For instance, whereas Belgium has banned heated tobacco merchandise, shoppers can nonetheless buy them on-line or import them from neighbouring nations. This undermines nationwide insurance policies geared toward limiting entry to those merchandise. An identical drawback exists in France, the place excessive tobacco taxes have led shoppers to purchase cheaper options from nations like Luxembourg and Germany.
Moreover, Karremans emphasised the necessity for stricter social media laws. The Dutch authorities is asking on the Fee to work with digital platforms to take away promotional content material for tobacco and nicotine merchandise—notably content material geared toward younger folks. The letter means that these platforms ought to stop the add of promoting materials for such merchandise earlier than or instantly after it goes stay.
And whereas tobacco hurt discount specialists could also be in assist of a number of the proposed measures, akin to restrictions on youth-targeted social media adverts, different recommended amendments have raised issues about their potential implications on smoking cessation efforts.
Sadly, the EC which is within the strategy of revising its tobacco management framework, with key directives such because the Tobacco Merchandise Directive (TPD), Tobacco Promoting Directive (TAD), and Tobacco Excise Directive (TED), has did not differentiate between wise and non-sensible proposals. In response to Karremans’ letter it has put ahead a set of restrictions on vaping and nicotine pouches, and whereas pushed by the Netherlands, the proposal has been supported by a minority of member states.
In the meantime, the Polish EU Presidency has signaled a need to revive discussions on tobacco taxation, regardless of the Fee’s resolution to go away such reforms out of its 2025 agenda. These developments point out a rising divide amongst EU member states, with some advocating for more durable controls whereas others, akin to Sweden, resist broadening laws on different nicotine merchandise.
World Vapers’ Alliance criticizes Dutch Authorities’s Innacurate statements on vaping
In flip, the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has launched an open letter to the EC and EU Member States, expressing robust opposition to the proposals. The group highlighted that these might considerably hinder tobacco hurt discount (THR) efforts by limiting entry to safer options for people who smoke.
The WVA has additionally criticized State Secretary Vincent Karremans for making inaccurate and dangerous claims about vaping, arguing that such statements undermine public well being efforts. Karremans’ assertion that nicotine is probably the most addictive substance after heroin and crack misrepresents scientific proof and provides to the rising misinformation about vaping within the Netherlands.
