The overwhelming majority of European Union citizens have expressed their support for tobacco harm reduction products in response to the EU Commission's call to action.
The European Union's political report states that the commission on tobacco control legislation has received unprecedented feedback, with consumers of tobacco alternatives, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, voicing their opinions in great number.
More than 24,000 European Union citizens have responded to a call by the European Commission to conduct a continuous assessment of future EU tobacco legislation through a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.
Some may be surprised by the significant interest in this issue, which may cause the European Commission to hesitate, as some believe it has not previously supported "reducing tobacco harm".
The four-week public consultation from May 20 to June 17 has seen one of the largest responses ever recorded, with approximately 354 submissions received via phone. In recent years, only the European "digital euro" has received a similarly large response, though it lasted ten weeks and received fewer than 20,000 submissions.
Out of the 24,000 submissions, over 90% were from individual EU citizens, indicating the extent to which this issue is a priority for the wider European public. Many of the submissions came from citizens of Germany, Italy, and Romania.
It indicates that the biggest issue for all member countries is the regulation of reduced-risk products such as e-cigarettes. Regarding this, some believe that the commission is not in sync with public opinion.
The committee has approved new restrictions on reduced-risk products, such as e-cigarettes, including flavor bans and sales restrictions, but some in the industry are hoping public reaction can force a reconsideration of these plans.
In June, the committee announced its plan to ban the sale of heated tobacco products in the EU. It stated that the proposal is in response to a significant increase in the sales of such products throughout the EU.
A report by the committee has revealed that the sales revenue of heated tobacco products has grown by 10% in five or more member countries. Overall, heated tobacco products account for 2.5% more sales revenue than traditional tobacco products.
The vast majority of materials submitted support the use of products that reduce the harm of tobacco, including electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches, as "key tools" to help smokers quit. Almost all respondents opposed plans to restrict access to such products for adults over the age of 18.
I'm sorry, but you did not provide me with any text to translate. Please provide me with the original text.
This document has been generated through artificial intelligence translation and is provided solely for the purposes of industry discourse and learning. Please note that the intellectual property rights of the content belong to the original media source or author. Owing to certain limitations in the translation process, there may be discrepancies between the translated text and the original content. We recommend referring to the original source for complete accuracy. In case of any inaccuracies, we invite you to reach out to us with corrections. If you believe any content has infringed upon your rights, please contact us immediately for its removal.
