by Agnese J

The Tobacco Products Directive and its Significance

Amidst a massive increase in the percentage of the use of tobacco p...
The Tobacco Products Directive and its Significance

Amidst a massive increase in the percentage of the use of tobacco products, the attempts and efforts of relevant authorities to curtail the spread and resultant consumption of these products become increasingly difficult.

The goal now, however, is not to curtail it but to regulate it; hence the tobacco products directive. 

The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is a set of regulations and provisions that oversee the production, safety, release, sales, and consumption of any product that is tobacco-related including e-liquids and e- cigarettes.

These include conventional cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, e-cigarettes and e-liquids, among others. The Directive came into enaction on May 19, 2014, and, on May 20, 2016, it became applicable to all the Member States of the European Union (EU).

What the Tobacco Products Directive Entails

Apart from the fact, the EU had the interests of tobacco and e-liquid consumers at heart while enacting the Directive, the health, and safety of non-consumers and the environment are also captured, as smoke and waste from tobacco products and e-liquids can have adverse effects on the environment and hence, non-consumers too.

The Directive affects control measures by requiring the tobacco industry to tender reports that provide all-inclusive information about production and packaging processes, health implications and caveats, ingredients used, flavourings incorporated, and sales of the products. 

All the requirements outlined by the Directive have to be met before any tobacco product is released into the market.

Regarding the health caveats and packaging requirements, for instance, manufacturers of tobacco products are mandated to clearly state the health implications of using their products through their packaging and the packaging must adhere to specific requirements about shape, size, and the amount of space that the statement of the health implications should take.

Why the Tobacco Products Directive is Needed

Reports have revealed a rise in the percentage trade and consumption of illicit e-liquids and cigarettes.  The Tobacco Products Directive addresses these through the necessary limits placed on the operations of the e-liquid manufacturing and tobacco industry and how it conditions them to follow through. 

In regulating the sales and consumption of these tobacco products, it becomes easier to fish out and ban illicit activities. 

The regulatory and protective functions of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive established, it has been found that many smokers support the steps taken by the EU towards this regulation and control.

A large percentage even advocate the execution of stricter actions aimed at the regulation of tobacco-related products, so that they might quit smoking. 



The Reaction of the Tobacco Industry

Given the requirements laid out by the Directive, manufacturers, initially, apportioned a lot of capital to testing their products and ensuring conformity to the regulations. This, however, became quite expensive, as the high demand for laboratory resources and services led to inflation. The e-liquid industry, especially, felt the effects of the inflation, as they had to carry out extra layers of testing to attain the required standards. 

Each e-liquid that contains nicotine must be emission tested and submitted to TPD. Once is submitted and appears on the public list of government websites - only then it can be sold to the public. 

A search for alternative ways to go about it while adhering to the given regulations led to the conventions that are now known and have been accepted in the various arms of the industry―for instance, the combination of shortfills and nicotine shots.

All our e-liquids are TPD compliant, here at Zap! Juice facility in Manchester we make sure we produce safe and high quality products. 

 

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