The entire European Union will enforce a ban on flavored heated tobacco products following the release of an authorized directive in the official bulletin today.
The publication of Authorization Directive (EU) 2022/2100 was released after the review period ended on October 29, during which neither the European Council nor the European Parliament raised any objections to the ban.
The ban covers all flavors except tobacco and has been finalized after a lengthy process - it has been 11 months since the issue was first raised by the tobacco policy expert group.
The directive also eliminates member states' rights to grant exemptions for heated tobacco products from requirements to carry health warnings as smoking products.
This directive will officially come into effect on November 23rd. After that, EU member states will need to incorporate it into their national legal frameworks by July 23rd, 2023.
The flavour ban itself is set to come into effect on 23rd October 2023 - although, like the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), some member states may struggle to timely transpose the authorising legislation.
Is the European Union acting within its legal jurisdiction?
However, the ban on flavors is not without controversy. Concerns were initially raised at a February meeting of the tobacco policy experts group about whether the European Commission exceeded its authority by introducing a new legal category - heated tobacco products.
Some member states express concern about whether the Commission has the power to introduce a definition of new categories of tobacco products in the authorization legislation.
Recently, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy issued a joint statement stating that the introduction of definitions for heated tobacco products "exceeds the authorization scope of Directive 2014/40/EU and involves fundamental elements reserved for European legislators. Therefore, it should be subject to the regular legislative review process.
This means that the rise of new tobacco products has prompted the EU to reevaluate its tobacco control policies, particularly in light of ongoing revisions to the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and Tobacco Excise Directive (TED). Advocates for harm reduction may not welcome the ban on flavors in heated tobacco products.
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