Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
13.5.2022
As regards a role of other nicotine products, the Commission is determined to follow up on the most robust scientific evidence in establishing a regulatory approach fully reflecting the objectives of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan[1].
The Commission will draw, among others, on the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) scientific opinion on electronic cigarettes, which found, on the one hand, supporting evidence for the harmful consequences of e-cigarettes consumption, and, on the other hand, weak evidence for the support of electronic cigarettes’ effectiveness in helping smokers to quit[2].
The SCHEER opinion also underlined the important role e-cigarettes play in smoking initiation, which supports the careful and precautionary approach taken so far and will continue to support the Commission’s risk management and legislative decisions on e-cigarettes.
Overall, smokeless and emerging tobacco and related products contain nicotine, a toxic and highly addictive substance — responsible for well-known health consequences — and they prolong the nicotine addiction[3].
This is why these products are regulated and in the case of oral tobacco, banned in the EU[4]. On oral tobacco[5], the Commission does not envisage any change to its status.
- [1] https://ec.europa.eu/health/system/files/2022-02/eu_cancer-plan_en_0.pdf
- [2] SCHEER 2021. Opinion on electronic cigarettes: https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/scientific_committees/scheer/docs/scheer_o_017.pdf
- [3] Additionally, these products end up being used on top of traditional tobacco products. According to Special Eurobarometer 506 on Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and electronic cigarettes from 2020, six in ten (59%) of those who use e-cigarettes are ‘dual users’’, i.e. on top of e-cigarettes consumption they also smoke cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe. This proportion reaches 79% among current users of heated tobacco products. https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2240
- [4] Except in Sweden.
- [5] In 2008, the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) provided scientific advice to the Commission on smokeless tobacco products. This advice was taken into account when the Tobacco Products Directive was revised, leading the legislator to conclude that these products should remain regulated and that the general prohibition of oral tobacco products should be maintained. https://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/docs/scenihr_o_013.pdf