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European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates

Tobacco harm reduction NEWS.

ETHRA February news roundup

Published: 01 March 2023
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 breaking news feb

 ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: Public consultation - ACT NOW - Who sets tobacco control policies in the European Union? - THR Summit Spain 2023 - Nonsense in Norway - Bulgaria backs THR - Finland tightens restrictions - Flavours under fire in France - Disposable's dilemma. Read on for more

Read more: ETHRA February news roundup

BIG EU consultation - act now!

Published: 28 February 2023
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The European Commission recently launched part 2 of its Evaluation of the Legislative Framework for Tobacco Control. This is a public consultation in the form of a questionnaire. The objective is to collect stakeholders’ perceptions on the current legislative framework for Tobacco Control, including the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD). The consultation ends on 16 May.

Read more: BIG EU consultation - act now!

Nonsense in Norway

Published: 20 February 2023
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The Norwegian government has launched a consultation, through the EU TRIS notification system, on amendments to the tobacco control act which would introduce plain packaging and a flavour ban for all e-liquids. It would also introduce a minimum quantity for snus cans. The consultation ends on 1 May.

This is a simple consultation to respond to, and it is important that you do. 

Read more: Nonsense in Norway

Who sets tobacco control policies in the European Union: accountable civil servants or third parties?

Published: 13 February 2023
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  • €3 million EU tobacco control contract awarded to 3 contractors

  • Bloomberg’s Vital Strategies is involved

  • Alarm bells over accountability and potential conflicts of interest

On 24 January, EU officials announced that the tender for the Single Framework Contract for Support Actions in the Field of Tobacco Control had been awarded to three contractors: Open Evidence (a Spanish research and consulting firm), the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP), and the University of Crete. Open Evidence reports that they will be leading the international consortium. The consortium also includes ICF Consulting in the UK, Milieu Law & Policy Consulting, Vital Strategy (sic) and SGS. The contract will last for four years and has a value of €3 million. 25% of the value is likely to be subcontracted to third parties.

The tender procedure was initiated in mid-2022 by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and is based on the EU4Health Programme which envisages, among other things, “evaluating legislation in the field of tobacco control for possible revisions.”

The introductory note to the tender specifications of HaDEA provides a legislative background of the EU tobacco control policies that aim to ensure a ‘tobacco-free generation’ by 2040. To achieve this, a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive is planned and includes “working in full transparency towards plain packaging and a full ban on flavours, using existing EU agencies to improve the assessment of ingredients, extending taxation to novel tobacco products, and tackling tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship on the internet and social media” (From page 6 of the Tender Specifications document, the download link is here).

According to the authors of the document there is a concern that the EU’s regulatory framework “does not currently address systematically all novel tobacco and emerging products, nor provide flexibility to address rapid product developments”.

The contractors are asked to perform the following:

  • Review of existing scientific literature and studies and/or assessment of health and clinical outcomes related to one or more tobacco or nicotine related topics,
  • Statistical, market and econometric analysis related to health or one or more tobacco or nicotine related topics,
  • Tobacco Control Policy modelling,
  • Behavioural studies and outcomes' analysis on a specific topic/issue,
  • Support on Combined Health Warnings,
  • Support on Labelling and Packaging of tobacco and related products,
  • Emissions/ingredients limits and relevant content/emission markers,
  • Technical input supporting development of information systems,
  • Contribute to legal assessment of the EU, national and international tobacco control measures.

    (From page10 of the Tender Specifications document, download link is here)

When applying for the tender, interested parties were obliged to suggest solutions to the case study titled “Development of messaging and pictorial health warnings for heated tobacco products with a deliverable of a set of combined health warnings for heated tobacco products.”

This looks a huge task ahead of the contractors. More importantly, this reveals that the European Commission’s policy-setting obligations are now being outsourced to third parties. And, questions of accountability arise: When EU member states are presented with proposals to change current legislation, how will they know which proposals come from the accountable official, and what was the role of external actors in setting EU legislation? Another issue is one of potential conflicts of interest (COI) for the groups awarded the tenders. Of course, they are obliged to declare that they do not have COI’s when it comes to the tobacco industry. But, what about potential conflicts from their work for other industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, which we might not know about?

And, notable to us is the absence of any intention to examine the potential benefits to people who smoke of using Safer Nicotine Products.

 

  1. ETHRA January news roundup
  2. ETHRA December news roundup
  3. Dutch Danger
  4. ETHRA November news roundup
  5. ETHRA October news roundup
  6. ETHRA September news roundup
  7. The end of vaping in the Netherlands?
  8. ETHRA July news roundup
  9. EU seeks to ban flavours in heated tobacco products
  10. ETHRA June news roundup
  11. ETHRA May news roundup
  12. European Commission call for evidence
  13. ETHRA April news roundup
  14. ETHRA March news roundup
  15. ETHRA February news roundup
  16. EU recognises tobacco harm reduction with the adoption of the BECA report
  17. ETHRA attends European Commission meeting on new tobacco and nicotine products in tobacco control policies
  18. ETHRA January news roundup
  19. ETHRA December news roundup
  20. Tobacco Excise Directive Revision: What is it and how could it affect users of safer nicotine products

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