{"id":5869,"date":"2021-12-10T16:23:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=5869"},"modified":"2022-06-16T09:51:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T07:51:46","slug":"flavour-ban-uncertainty-clouds-beca-tobacco-harm-reduction-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/flavour-ban-uncertainty-clouds-beca-tobacco-harm-reduction-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Flavour ban \u2018uncertainty\u2019 clouds BECA tobacco harm reduction win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A special committee of MEPs has adopted language acknowledging tobacco harm reduction as part of a sweeping set of recommendations to guide the EU\u2019s fight against cancer. But concerns about a widened flavour ban remain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that MEPs have started to recognize the difference between cancer-causing cigarettes and reduced-risk products,\u201d says Patrik Str\u00f6mer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The harm reduction language was included as part of a sweeping list of compromise amendments<\/a> voted on by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer of the European Parliament (BECA) on December 9th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendments, narrowed down from more than 1,500 submitted by MEPs earlier in the year, are included in a draft Beating Cancer report authored by Rapporteur V\u00e9ronique Trillet-Lenoir. (Renew, France)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report was adopted by a vote of 29 MEPs in favour, one against, and four abstentions. Following approval by BECA, the report moves on to a full vote in the European Parliament. It\u2019s expected to be adopted by the plenary in early 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, the report identifies smoking as one of the main causes of cancer and calls for the funding of smoking cessation programmes<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alternative to help smokers quit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It also states that \u201celectronic cigarettes could allow some smokers to progressively quit smoking\u201d, a clear reference to tobacco harm reduction and the potential of alternative nicotine products to reduce smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vote concluded the work of the committee, which was established 18 months ago to develop concrete recommendations for EU member states and institutions to strengthen the EU\u2019s \u201cresilience against cancer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cancer claimed 1.3 million lives in the EU in 2020<\/a>, with more than 100 million Europeans expected to be diagnosed with cancer in the next 25 years<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to combat the problem, the EU presented a comprehensive Beating Cancer Plan<\/a> earlier this year, calling for \u20ac4bn in spending to improve prevention, treatment, and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While advocates applauded the BECA report\u2019s wording on tobacco harm reduction, concerns remained about the prospect of ban on flavours being extended to include e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and other new nicotine products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flavour ban concerns persist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance warned that the expanded flavour ban meant that the positive step forward on harm reduction was \u201covershadowed by uncertainty\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExperts, as well as consumers, have been clear about the consequences of banning flavours,\u201d and ignoring harm reduction on public health,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTime and again it has been proven that flavours are what keeps adults away from switching back to cigarettes and we need our policymakers to listen and legislate for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU\u2019s current Tobacco Products Directive (TPD)<\/a> bans flavours in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco, but other tobacco and nicotine products have an exemption. This exemption can be removed, however, if the European Commission determines that there has been a \u201csubstantial change in circumstance\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201csubstantial change in circumstance\u201d is defined as an increase in sales volumes within a given category by at least 10 percent or at least a five percent increase in use prevalence by under-25s in at least five Member States<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The language in the BECA report calls on the Commission to evaluate which flavours are \u201dattractive to minors and non-smokers, and propose a ban on these, as well as on all characteristic flavours in heated tobacco products and novel tobacco products\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning from the Swedish experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The wording doesn\u2019t sit well with Str\u00f6mer, who remains concerned over how the Commission would determine which flavours were deemed \u201cattractive\u201d. He believes a general lack of knowledge around the dynamics of why people start and quit smoking risks precipitating unintended consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlavour preferences are complex. It doesn\u2019t make sense to simply decide one group of flavours is okay while another isn\u2019t,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoreover, MEPs still lack sufficient understanding of what drives smokers to quit or prevents someone from starting in the first place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Str\u00f6mer points out that Sweden is virtually smoke-free<\/a>, not because of a ban on flavours, but because safer alternatives like snus and nicotine pouches are readily available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweden has the lowest tobacco mortality in the EU<\/a>, but policymakers in Brussels and Strasbourg don\u2019t seem interested in learning from the Swedish experience<\/a> in their attempt to fight cancer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fate of an expanded flavour ban remains unclear. However, the European Commission has indicated that flavours will be in focus in the EU\u2019s broader efforts to revise the TPD, with a proposal from the Commission expected in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to the Snusforumet newsletter<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Subscribers receive instant access to the story behind the EU snus ban by author Christopher Snowdon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t