European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates

: Published: 01 June 2022

may breaking news

ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: The European Commission wants to hear from you - Secretive WHO meetings revealed - Advocates celebrate World Vape Day - WHO updates its post-truth fact sheet on e-cigarettes - GFN Fives return - Country updates. Read on for more.

Contents:

EU NEWS

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

GLOBAL CONSUMER ADVOCACY NEWS

European Commission call for evidence
On 20 May, the European Commission launched a call for evidence which aims to evaluate the current legislative framework for tobacco control, including the TPD.

Here are some tips for responding to the consultation:
(1) You can state your experience and ask for it to be taken into account as evidence of the success of tobacco harm reduction as a public health strategy.
(2) It is also worth saying how you would respond to a ban on flavours (if you know) and how you think others would.
(3) Finally, you can say what you think the opportunity would be if there was a more positive approach to tobacco harm reduction in the EU.

Please get your response in!

Our article explains more here:
European Commission call for evidence

NNA UK has also written about it, here:
The EU calls for evidence to guide future legislation – Have your say!

The European Commission’s webpage is here:
Evaluation of the legislative framework for tobacco control

Tobacco Excise Directive
On 18 May, ETHRA participated in an online tobacco taxation stakeholder event, which was organised by DG Taxud and limited to 50 places. The event provided us with an opportunity to once again submit our feedback in relation to the taxation of safer nicotine products. ETHRA’s position is that the tax regime should be risk proportionate, encourage switching to low-risk products, and allow member states to set a minimum of zero for non-combustible products.

Read our taxation talking points:
https://ethra.co/images/ETHRA_Tax_Talking_Points.pdf

The revised Tobacco Excise Directive will be made public before the end of the year:
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/commission-to-launch-proposal-for-revision-of-tobacco-excise-directive-by-oct-22/

DG Sante’s duplicity on nicotine pouches
The European Commission has been accused of exaggerating claims that a majority of EU Member States are in favour of banning nicotine pouches. The revelation, published by Snusforumet, prompted Swedish MEP Sara Skyttedal to ask for clarification via Parliamentary Questions to the Commission.

Sara Sky PQ s

https://snusforumet.se/en/swedish-mep-dg-sante-must-clarify-fabricated-nicotine-pouch-ban-data/

See the tweet here:
https://twitter.com/skyttedal/status/1524365616823648257

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

WHO is invited to the Global Tobacco Regulators Forum?
“Have you heard of the Global Tobacco Regulators Forum – no? Nor had we. Even more secret than COP, it’s another WHO meeting organised behind closed doors. GTRF makes Davos look positively transparent.” New post from COPWATCH.

Tobacco control: getting to the finish line
Two former World Health Organisation officials identified harm reduction as the missing link in the global body’s tobacco control policy, as the number of tobacco users has barely changed since the treaty was implemented 17 years ago

WHO updated e-cig page
The WHO has published an updated Q & A page on e-cigarettes. Much like previous versions, the page is littered with false and highly misleading information.

See Clive Bates article for a critique of the Q&A page:
https://clivebates.com/fake-news-alert-who-updates-its-post-truth-fact-sheet-on-e-cigarettes/

GLOBAL CONSUMER ADVOCACY NEWS

sCOPe global livestream event
On May 30 - 31, World Vape Day & World No Tobacco Day, ETHRA and advocacy associations from around the world took part in a marathon live streaming event to discuss everything THR and more.

Watch 30 May’s World Vape Day sCOPe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YdaPu9hVRA

Watch 31 May’s World No Tobacco Day sCOPe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Uf2GU5gAU

COUNTRY UPDATES

Czechia
A policy briefing hosted by Czech MEP Radka Maxová met to discuss the impact of COVID on mental health and addiction management. Harm reduction, especially with regards to tobacco, was identified as key to improving the health of EU citizens.

Finland
A revised Tobacco Act took effect on 1 May. The new rules affect vaping products, as manufacturers are now required to remove logos from e-cigarettes and refill containers.

Read more here:
https://yle.fi/news/3-12425055

France
The French National Cancer Institute (INCa) is organising an international scientific conference on e-cigarette, looking at two key research questions: what are the health impacts? and what are the trajectories for users?

Read more here:
https://e-cigconference-2022.com/

Germany
At the end of April ETHRA partner Der Bundesverband Rauchfreie Alternative e.V (BVRA) attended a consumer forum entitled "Chances and Risks of E-Cigarettes," hosted by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

Read BVRA’s excellent summary of the event here:
https://bvra.info/aktuell/bfr-forum-aus-verbrauchersicht-unbefriedigend/

Spain
Concerns have been raised over a draft law which would restrict the sale of nicotine vape products to tobacconist shops. Anesvap President, Ángeles Muntadas-Prim Lafita, said: “It is as if a person who is rehabilitated from alcoholism is forced to go buy a soft drink at a distillery”

Please sign this Anesvap petition to save vape shops in Spain:
https://www.change.org/p/el-vapeo-salva-vidas-firma-nuestra-petici%C3%B3n

Sweden
Swedish vapers have come together to send a strong message to politicians that vape flavours play a vital role in their journey to becoming, and remaining, smokefree.

UK
It is hoped that a review commissioned by the Department of Healthwill be supportive of vaping and tobacco harm reduction. The report was due to be presented in May but has now been postponed until June.

NICE guidelines support vaping
Louise Ross, NNA interim Chair, discusses key recommendations in a new NICE guideline on tobacco dependency, which offers some positive new approaches to smoking cessation.

MUST READ

Fighting the wrong war
The automatic criticism of everything associated with tobacco is not merely misguided; it has the potential to do real harm.

American Heart Association tries to bury the truth about e-cigarettes
A new study published in the journal Circulation reported that adults who exclusively use nicotine vaping products experience a 30% - 40% reduction in their risk of heart disease. This inconvenient truth proved too much for the American Heart Association spin machine.

Australia’s vaping policy is preventing smokers from quitting
An important new study has found that Australia’s harsh regulatory policy on vaping has slowed the decline in smoking compared to countries with less restrictive policies.

Electronic cigarettes versus nicotine patches for smoking cessation in pregnancy
Vaping products are considerably more effective than NRTs for pregnant smokers trying to quit, and pose no greater risk to the mother or baby than nicotine patches.

FINALLY

Something to watch:

The Global Forum on Nicotine will be held on 16 - 18 June, some sessions will be streamed live but to attend in person, registration is still open. This year the conference once again includes GFN Fives, which are short multimedia presentations, submitted by the GFN audience. They include some excellent consumer videos like ours!

Watch the video here:
https://gfn.events/videos/108/ethra-european-nicotine-users-survey-2020

The GFN Five entry from SCOHRE, an international scientific association of independent experts, also caught the eye. They argue that current tobacco control policies have done little to reduce smoking, and that the adoption of tobacco harm reduction is a better way to combat the burden on health from smoking.

Watch this and many other videos on the GFN Fives page:
https://gfn.events/videos/2022

European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates

ETHRA May news roundup