The government is moving to halt the sale of flavoured heated tobacco products, following today’s decision by the Ministerial Council to adopt the relevant European legislation.
Simultaneously, there will be changes to the packaging of heated tobacco products, which will continue to be available in the market. Special warning labels and images will now be added to these packages, aligning them with conventional cigarette packaging requirements.
According to the decision, the aim is “to harmonise national legislation with European directives, as today’s Ministerial Council approved an amendment to regulations regarding the withdrawal of certain exemptions for heated tobacco products.”
Specifically, the decision states: “Extension of the ban on the sale of tobacco products with characteristic aroma/flavour or containing aromatic substances in any of their ingredients and on heated tobacco products. (The initial directive prohibited the sale of conventional cigarettes and rolling tobacco that contained aromatic substances in their ingredients.)”
“It was also decided to include verbal warnings/notifications about the harmful effects of smoking on the packaging of heated tobacco products. These warnings will be accompanied by deterrent images.”
Following the Ministerial Council meeting, Health Minister Popi Kanari noted, “In the legislation for smoking control, established in 2017, these products were exempted, and the sale of conventional cigarettes and rolling tobacco that contained aromatic substances in their ingredients was prohibited. With these regulatory amendments, the sale of heated tobacco products containing aromatic substances in any of their ingredients is prohibited beyond conventional cigarettes and rolling tobacco.”
Kanari clarified that “the amendment does not apply to vaping products that contain liquid but only to the category involving heated tobacco products in which cigarettes with aromatic substances are placed.”
On November 23, 2022, a prohibition on placing flavoured heated tobacco products on the market entered into force in the European Union (EU) as part of the bloc’s Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
Members were given eight months to incorporate the directive into their domestic legislation.
The European Cancer Plan’s objective is to reduce the percentage of the population using tobacco products to 5% by 2040.
