{"id":6248,"date":"2022-03-31T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T14:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=6248"},"modified":"2022-04-01T13:46:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T11:46:01","slug":"a-sad-day-for-uk-smokers-snus-ignored-in-tobacco-legislation-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/a-sad-day-for-uk-smokers-snus-ignored-in-tobacco-legislation-review\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A sad day for UK smokers’: snus ignored in tobacco legislation review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The UK government\u2019s recent post-implementation review of tobacco legislation lacks any mention of snus, delivering a blow to hopes the smokeless tobacco product could help Britain reach its ambitious smoke-free 2030 goals. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a missed opportunity to reduce the UK smoking rate and its associated harms,\u201d Mark Oates, founder of the <\/strong>Snus & Nicotine Pouch Users Association<\/strong><\/a>, tells Snusforumet. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 25, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid presented the post-implementation review of UK tobacco regulations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known formally as the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016<\/a> (TRPR), the legislation attempts to improve e-cigarettes regulations and update warning labels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the aim of the legislation is to discourage people from starting to use tobacco products and to make it easier for them to quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion: TRPR meets objectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The review, required under UK law, is based on more than 5,000 responses gathered during a consultation<\/a> conducted in early 2021. It concludes that the TRPR regulations \u201cmet their original objectives\u201d and the goals \u201ccould not be better achieved through alternative regulatory measures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDHSC recommends that the regulations should remain in force based on the evidence reviewed,\u201d the report states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, the Government will consider further regulatory reforms to TRPR as part of its plans towards meeting its Smokefree 2030 ambition, and to protect future generations from the harms of tobacco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite more or less maintaining the \u201cstatus quo\u201d, the report was welcomed by UK Vaping Industry Association<\/a> (UKVIA) Director General John Dunne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe review clearly states the positive impact that vaping can have in helping people to quit smoking,\u201d he told Tobacco Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK \u2018fails to seize the initiative\u2019 post-Brexit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, Patrik Str\u00f6mer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers criticised the review for failing to send a clear signal about the UK government’s desire to improve tobacco and nicotine regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a sad day for UK smokers who will likely be deprived of a product with proven results for reducing smoking rates and improving public health,\u201d he tells Snusforumet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disheartening that UK policymakers have once again failed to seize the initiative after Brexit. When it comes to tobacco, it appears they prefer the EU-inspired status quo rather than better regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tobacco harm reduction advocate Clive Bates<\/a> also laments that the response to opportunities for snus post-Brext is “completely unimaginative”. He would have preferred to see a recommendation to lift the UK ban on snus and scrap the limit on nicotine strengths in e-liquids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If they are to have any chance of meeting their 2030 smoke-free goal, the government will have to do a lot better than this and go ‘all in’ on supporting smokers to switch to any or all of the smoke-free alternatives,” he tells Snusforumet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oates also expressed frustration that the government, despite previously acknowledging that snus has less health-related harms than smoking<\/a>, still doesn’t want to offer smokers the opportunity to switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey could have taken a far more positive approach to harm reduction,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dream of snus in the UK \u2018shall never die\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He believes the fact that snus contains tobacco has resulted in an \u201cimpasse\u201d regarding its openness to lifting the current UK ban on snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government is putting its fingers in its ears. It needs to be reminded that it is the combustion that causes the health problems, not tobacco\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oates is nevertheless hopeful that the forthcoming report overseen by newly appointed anti-smoking tsar Javed Khan<\/a> will take a more positive approach to snus and harm reduction<\/a>. He points out that vaping has been hugely successful in helping people quit smoking but that e-cigarettes don\u2019t appeal to all smokers as an alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dream to offer the British public the freedom to use products like snus and nicotine pouches that are far safer than smoking shall never die,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, many smokers will die between this point and the moment the Government realises the error of its ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK government\u2019s recent post-implementation review of tobacco legislation lacks any mention of snus, delivering a blow to hopes the smokeless tobacco product could help…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[265,475,303,248,250,474,264,262],"class_list":["post-6248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulations","tag-brexit","tag-javed-khan","tag-mark-oates-2","tag-patrik-stromer-en","tag-smoking-2","tag-trpr","tag-uk","tag-vaping"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6255,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6248\/revisions\/6255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}