Brussels still wants to regulate the electronic cigarette
By
Pauline Fréour - the 3/12/2013
Advocates "Vapoteuse" mobilize to avoid new restrictions on its marketing in Europe.
Proponents of electronic cigarette rumble and shake. At the heart of their mobilization: the draft European directive on tobacco, Article 18 is dedicated to the e-cigarette. The vote by the European Parliament on October 8 l
eur barely gave satisfaction , in particular by maintaining the "Vapoteuse" in the category of consumer goods, not the drug, which would have relegated solely pharmacies. But in the long and complex European legislative process, the next step in progress, which is to develop a compromise between the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament in Strasbourg could reshuffle the cards in the direction Conversely, warned followers of the e-cigarette Tuesday.
In recent days, the players
this booming sector expressed their concern, based on a working draft of the legislation they have consulted. This document provides in particular to classify the electronic cigarette as a byproduct of tobacco or drug, removing him the status of consumer product which pro-vapoteuses highly. It also imposes sealed and disposable cartridges, making obsolete the current models that are rechargeable by vials. The maximum amount of nicotine contained in each device would be reduced to 5 mg / ml, considered insufficient to meet the needs of a heavy smoker concentration. Finally, it limits the flavors of e-liquid allowed, currently vary widely, they will taste "tobacco" to "piña colada" through "coffee", to those far less exotic, weaning foods nicotine. All very remote measurements of the text adopted by MEPs.
Discussions between the three institutions have resulted in a step meeting in Brussels on Tuesday morning, which served as a pretext for a call to action on the part of the defenders of the current e-cigarette, including
the social network Twitter . Many pro-vapoteuses called to sign a petition that had over 18,000 supporters in the late afternoon.
Some doctors in smoking cessation were also mobilized, recalling the strengths of existing products, which, in their eyes, have proven themselves as smoking cessation tools. "Behind this position of the Council of Ministers, there is a pitch safety that does not hold up so says Dr. Antoine Flahault, public health specialist at the University Paris-Descartes. In cigarettes, which is carcinogenic, the tar and carbon gases released from burning tobacco. In the electronic cigarette, there are only nicotine, which is addictogenic but not carcinogenic. "
"This version of the draft legislation is very worrying, because it would lead to leave the market models developed by the tobacco industry, which does not meet the needs of all consumers," he says. Same analysis on the part of
Dr. Philippe Presles , author of a method to quit smoking with the electronic cigarette published this month. "The market of electronic cigarette is a billion dollars, as much as that of nicotine replacement therapy, and 300 times less than that of tobacco.This gives an idea of the forces at play, "he says.
The discussions, however, are not closed and the Presidency of the European Union, occupied until the end of the year Lithuania has set until December 16 to reach a compromise. But at the deadlock looming, an option increasingly discussed in Brussels would be to remove the article 18 of the text to be submitted to final parliamentary vote to save some steps against traditional tobacco by consensus.