ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control main documents released - BECA Interparliamentary Committee Meeting announced - Lithuania flavour ban notification - New ETHRA survey page & YouTube video - Country updates. Read on for more.
Contents:
BECA Interparliamentary Committee Meeting
On Monday 27 September the BECA Committee is holding an Interparliamentary Committee meeting where Members of national parliaments will discuss and debate the BECA draft report and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. The meeting will include a panel discussion and an exchange of views, Ms. Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, and Ms. Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, BECA rapporteur, will be in attendance.
Meeting information is available here:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/product/product-details/20210812EOT05823
Additional information is here:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/relnatparl/en/upcoming-icm-on-turning-the-tide-on-canc/products-details/20210720CPU36541
Meeting draft agenda, including a link to the livestream, is here:
europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/238700/BECA_ICM_27%20Sept%202021_draft_programme_rev.pdf
WHO FCTC COP9
Documents for COP9 need to be made public no later than 60 days before the session starts so keep an eye on this Main Documents page, as there are constant postings on there at the moment:
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control main documents:
https://fctc.who.int/who-fctc/governance/conference-of-the-parties/ninth-session-of-the-conference-of-the-parties/main-documents
Documents include the Provisional agenda, which states that WHO reports on 'novel and emerging products' will be presented for information at COP9 but discussions on the reports will be deferred until COP10 in 2023.
COP9 Provisional agenda annotated: https://untobaccocontrol.org/downloads/cop9/main-documents/FCTC_COP_9_1_annotated_EN.pdf
RightToVape
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) and the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) have launched a new website which aims to create the largest collection of testimonials from vapers who have successfully quit smoking. Please check out the website and add your success story to the almost 14,000 testimonials already there.
Access the website here:
https://righttovape.org/
Finland
Vapers Finland have released a statement on the government's draft law amending the Tobacco Tax Act.
Read more here:
https://vapers.fi/2021/08/lausunto-hallituksen-luonnoksesta-laiksi-tupakkaverosta-annetun-lain-muuttamisesta/
Germany
It has been confirmed that there is no room for interpretation in the Tobacco Modernisation Act. Anything that is intended for vaping is subject to taxation, this includes base liquids (PG & VG) and flavours.
Read more at the links:
https://www.egarage.de/tabstmog-kein-platz-fuer-interpretationen/
https://ch-lippmann.de/blog/dampffreiheit/2021/08/de-tabstmog-suendensteuer-auf-alles-fluessige/
Lithuania
A TRIS notification for a proposed flavour ban is currently open and will run until 11 October. The flavour ban would apply to both nicotine and non-nicotine containing e-liquids. We urge all consumers of safer nicotine products to send in a contribution outlining the important role flavours play in your smoking cessation journey.
Access the TRIS notification here:
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tris/en/search/?trisaction=search.detail&year=2021&num=434
Spain
The Union of Vaping Promoters and Entrepreneurs (UPEV), a Spanish trade association, is suing the Ministry of Health over their anti-vaping campaign that was launched in November 2019. According to the UPEV, the Ministry is misleading consumers in their campaign which: “identifies vaping and smoking tobacco in a manifestly misleading way, putting both activities on the same level and attributing the same harmful effects to them”.
Read more here:
https://ecigintelligence.com/e-cig-industry-association-sues-spanish-government-over-anti-vaping-campaign/
UK
Speculation that flavour restrictions were being considered as a means to discourage youth use of vaping products prompted the New Nicotine Alliance UK to write to the Special Adviser to the Secretary of State Department of Health and Social Care:
https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/news/vaping-news/2021-08-17_eliquid-flavour-ban-for-britain.html
Ukraine
A draft law containing a number of highly restrictive anti-THR measures took effect from 31 July. The law prohibits the use of vaping products in public places as well as the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of e-cigarettes. The law also bans the sale of flavored e-liquids other than tobacco flavors.
Read more here:
https://vaping360.com/vape-news/110545/ukraine-follows-who-advice-prohibits-vape-flavors-and-advertising/
ETHRA NEWS
This month saw an exciting new addition to the ETHRA website. We now have a dedicated EU Nicotine Users Survey tab that contains all the information gathered during our huge survey of over 35,000 nicotine consumers. The full ETHRA Survey report is available to download in English, French, and German. Data sets and comments from participants in individual countries are also available to download.
Don’t forget to share the link to the survey page!
Visit the ETHRA website to avail of this excellent resource:
Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes
15 past presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, the preeminent scientific professional society focused on nicotine and tobacco, are calling for a balanced approach to vaping. This landmark paper addresses the health risks of e-cigarette use, the likelihood that vaping increases smoking cessation, concerns about youth vaping, and the need to balance valid concerns about risks to youths with the potential benefits of increasing adult smoking cessation.
Read the abstract here:
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306416
Read the full paper here:
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306416
Martin Dockrell and John Newton from Public Health England have written an excellent editorial on the paper:
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306458
Dr. Ken Warner discusses the paper in this YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvRkTORuClc
Lots to watch:
ETHRA Survey 2020 in 5 minutes
To complement the EU Nicotine Users Survey report we are delighted to present our new YouTube video, the ETHRA Survey 2020 in 5 minutes. This short video presents 10 key facts from our survey.
Professor Brad Rodu - Interview by Bengt Wiberg
Bengt Wiberg, tobacco harm reduction advocate and snus pouch inventor, interviews Professor Brad Rodu. This in depth discussion covers everything you need to know about snus.
