Tubbyengineer
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- Joined
- Aug 20, 2013
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OK so ahead of the Full implementation in May, and following the release of the Governments response to the consultation document I thought I'd take a crack at understanding exactly what the TPD article 20 means for vapers.
All the conclusions are based on MY reading of the TPD and are therefore quite possibly incorrect. I'd welcome other peoples views and as much discussion as possible.
It's also worth bearing in mind that although the TPD's rules are set out already - How it's implemented and enforced will depend both on the goverments stance, it's willingness to fund enforcment, the actual quality of any enforcment and any case law that results from said enforcement.
So first - Mods.
From reading the Part 6 Regulation 30, Notification of new products and 6:36 Product requirements, It appears that any Mod must be notified 6 months before it's release, for modifications of an existing Mod or other device it simply states thet it must be "Before the modified product is supplied" (6:32-2a)
There don't appear to be any real restrictions on mods other than the Notification Requirement.
Atomisers.
This again falls under (6:30) as well as (6:36), Clearomisers and RTA's and don't appear to have any serious restrictions - Only prefilled Tanks / Cartridges (Like the Vype E-pen ones) are restricted to 2ml size. They do have the requirement to supply a consistent dose of nicotine under normal use - but that's pretty much the idea behind any atomiser anyway (A consistent vape)
There is also the requirement that "The product be protected against breakage and leakage". Now this is a difficult one, will it mean the end of glass tanks like the Subtank in favour of tanks with small viewing windows?, it may also mean that drippers are deemed unsuitable - although it would be argued that a properly used dripper won't leak as the juice will be contained in the wick
E-liquid
This is a big one, and one that everyone knows - No bottles over 10ml and nothing stronger than 20mg - there are other requirements too - mostly to do with purity and additives but they are for manufactureres not vapers. As far as I can tell there is NOT going to be a restriction on Nic base - It is NOT "Nicotine containing liquid" but an ingredient thereof. All the diluents etc will be covered under the same product purity regulations as juice itself but this shouldn't make a difference as we already use Pharme grade VG & PG.
Events
This is a bit of a murky area and one I'm not terribly sure of, but as far as I can tell Events like Vapefest will be allowed as long as they don't have cross border effects or take place in several EU States, Distance sales are allowed so whether this would allow EU vendors to attend events like vapefest I can't tell and I think it would need a legal expert to advise
Advertising
Basically a No No, posters etc inside shops would be allowed but TV, Radio, Internet ads are banned.
Reviews
Reviews Should be fine I quote from the UK Govenments plans laid out in this document - https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...bacco-products-directive-proposals-for-uk-law
"Similarly, a line has to be drawn between information and advertising. The Directive draws the line by using the word ‘promote’, which we intend to copy. This would mean that where information is provided that gives detail about a product, or how to operate that product, but is not ‘promotional’ in nature, the restrictions would not apply."
This means that as long as a review doesn't "Promote" but simply informs the it would be free of restriction.
All the conclusions are based on MY reading of the TPD and are therefore quite possibly incorrect. I'd welcome other peoples views and as much discussion as possible.
It's also worth bearing in mind that although the TPD's rules are set out already - How it's implemented and enforced will depend both on the goverments stance, it's willingness to fund enforcment, the actual quality of any enforcment and any case law that results from said enforcement.
So first - Mods.
From reading the Part 6 Regulation 30, Notification of new products and 6:36 Product requirements, It appears that any Mod must be notified 6 months before it's release, for modifications of an existing Mod or other device it simply states thet it must be "Before the modified product is supplied" (6:32-2a)
There don't appear to be any real restrictions on mods other than the Notification Requirement.
Atomisers.
This again falls under (6:30) as well as (6:36), Clearomisers and RTA's and don't appear to have any serious restrictions - Only prefilled Tanks / Cartridges (Like the Vype E-pen ones) are restricted to 2ml size. They do have the requirement to supply a consistent dose of nicotine under normal use - but that's pretty much the idea behind any atomiser anyway (A consistent vape)
There is also the requirement that "The product be protected against breakage and leakage". Now this is a difficult one, will it mean the end of glass tanks like the Subtank in favour of tanks with small viewing windows?, it may also mean that drippers are deemed unsuitable - although it would be argued that a properly used dripper won't leak as the juice will be contained in the wick
E-liquid
This is a big one, and one that everyone knows - No bottles over 10ml and nothing stronger than 20mg - there are other requirements too - mostly to do with purity and additives but they are for manufactureres not vapers. As far as I can tell there is NOT going to be a restriction on Nic base - It is NOT "Nicotine containing liquid" but an ingredient thereof. All the diluents etc will be covered under the same product purity regulations as juice itself but this shouldn't make a difference as we already use Pharme grade VG & PG.
Events
This is a bit of a murky area and one I'm not terribly sure of, but as far as I can tell Events like Vapefest will be allowed as long as they don't have cross border effects or take place in several EU States, Distance sales are allowed so whether this would allow EU vendors to attend events like vapefest I can't tell and I think it would need a legal expert to advise
Advertising
Basically a No No, posters etc inside shops would be allowed but TV, Radio, Internet ads are banned.
Reviews
Reviews Should be fine I quote from the UK Govenments plans laid out in this document - https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...bacco-products-directive-proposals-for-uk-law
"Similarly, a line has to be drawn between information and advertising. The Directive draws the line by using the word ‘promote’, which we intend to copy. This would mean that where information is provided that gives detail about a product, or how to operate that product, but is not ‘promotional’ in nature, the restrictions would not apply."
This means that as long as a review doesn't "Promote" but simply informs the it would be free of restriction.