Smoking in Finland: New Regulations for Tobacco Usage to Arrive Soon

Source from:  FINNBAY 12/26/2013

The EU member states and the European Parliament reached agreement on a new tobacco products directive which will alter several regulations related to EU's tobacco industry such as packaging, ingredients, and e-cigarettes. The directive effects Finland as well.

"I welcome the agreement reached at COREPER level today on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. It's a direct outcome of the last trilogue between the European Parliament and EU Member States on this important text for EU citizens," said Tonio Borg, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.

Smoking in Finland

Around 18.6% of Finnish people smoke heavily. The Finnish state collected €655 million in tax revenue from taxation of tobacco products in 2010. Tobacco products are ranked 10th most expensive among the EU Member States.

British American Tobacco in Finland say, "We support, and want to help deliver, balanced evidence-based tobacco regulation that can help to measurably reduce the public health impacts of the use of tobacco products, while respecting the choices and rights of adults who choose to use them."

Finnish Ministry said that the new Directive aimed to prevent young people from taking up smoking in particular. Smoking causes an estimated of 700,000 premature deaths in the EU per year. However, the new Directives do not focus on the health issues but regulation of the production and distribution of tobacco in the EU.

According to the directive, here are the changes:

1. Packaging and labelling: All cigarette and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco products will display combined health warnings (picture and text) covering 65% of the front and the back of packages. In addition, text warnings will be placed on the side of the packets.

2. Ingredients: 'Characterising flavours' (e.g. menthol; fruit; candy) in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco will be prohibited.  Products with characterising flavours that have a sales volume of 3% or more in the EU (e.g. menthol) will benefit from a lengthy transitional period of 4 years.

3. Tracking and tracing: An EU-wide tracking and tracing system with security features (e.g. holograms) for tobacco products to combat illicit trade will be put in place. Cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco products will be the first to be phased in to this system, with other tobacco products following after.

4. E-cigarettes: For e-cigarettes that do not fall under the definition of medicinal products of Directive 2001/83/EC, the Directive sets mandatory safety and quality requirements e.g. on nicotine content, ingredients and devices, as well as refill mechanisms. The new rules make health warnings and information leaflets obligatory and introduce notification requirements for manufacturers and importers of e-cigarettes, stricter rules on advertising and monitoring on market developments.

5. Cross-border distance (internet) sales: Member States will be entitled to prohibit cross-border distance (internet) sales of tobacco products if they choose and retailers will not be permitted to supply consumers located in those Member States.  In Member States which do not prohibit such sales, retailers must follow stricter notification rules and make use of an age verification system.

6. Herbal products for smoking: There will be stricter labelling and ingredients reporting requirements for herbal products for smoking.

Finnish Ministry said, "The hardest part of the negotiations was to reach an agreement on the regulation of e-cigarettes. Member States should adjust their own national drug legislation in regards to nicotine-containing e-cigarettes just like the way we do it in Finland." Enditem