EU vote on electronic cigarettes 'makes no sense'
Smokeless electronic cigarettes risk being taken off the market by a "short-sighted" vote in the European Parliament that will classify them as a medicinal product, critics said.
Users of e-cigarettes (known as vapers) have protested, arguing that through e-cigarettes they were able to kick the tobacco habit.
By Martin Banks in Brussels
4:18PM BST 14 Jul 2013
The vote was intended to make tobacco smoking less attractive to young people through mandatory warnings, minimum pack sizes, and rules on flavourings.
However, the revision of the EU 'Tobacco Products Directive' would classify most e-cigarettes as a medicinal product, despite the fact that in the UK alone 25 percent of all attempts to kick the habit are made using e-cigarettes, making them the most popular aid.
The European Commission had proposed that e-cigarettes containing 4 milligrammes or more of nicotine must be classed as medicinal products but an EU parliamentary committee went further, voting to classify all e-cigarettes as pharmaceuticals, regardless of the nicotine content.
Users of e-cigarettes (known as vapers) have protested, arguing that through e-cigarettes they were able to kick the tobacco habit.
They say classifying them as medical devices will mean they must undergo a costly and protracted authorisation processes before marketing. Their availability would be restricted to certain pharmacies.
Producers of e-cigarettes said the vote could push many out of business and reduce choice for e-cigarette users.
Fraser Cropper, chief executive of e-cigarette company Totally Wicked, said: "It will result in many smaller and more innovative producers of e-cigarettes going out of business. Medicines regulation creates a default prohibition and requirement for approval, leaving deadly tobacco cigarettes as the only easily marketed source of nicotine."
Martin Callanan, Conservative MEP, proposed an amendment that would see e-cigarettes authorised in a similar way to other nicotine products.
He said, ""The world has gone mad when tobacco is less regulated than products designed to end tobacco use. Thousands of people have given up smoking thanks to e-cigarettes. For the EU to over regulate them is completely counter-productive and hypocritical.
"This vote is not the end of this process and we will be working with vapers to make other MEPs see sense and support e-cigarette producers and users."
Policy toward the new technology widely varies across the EU. Some countries such as Denmark have banned them, while in others such as Britain they are freely available for sale with no restrictions.
