The government has been urged to adopt a regulatory framework being used by the European Union (EU) to govern the local e-cigarette industry.
“The best example of a comprehensive and fully implemented regulatory framework on e-cigarettes is the Tobacco Products Directive [TPD] of the European Union,” said Dr. Konstantinos E. Farsalinos, an adjunct professor at the King Abdulaziz University; and researcher at Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, University of Patras, and National School of Public Health, all in Greece.
The TPD was promulgated in 2014, and adopted into the national legislation of all EU member-states in 2016. It regulates e-cigarettes under a separate section that does not classify them as tobacco products.
“This is appropriate because e-cigarettes do not contain any tobacco. All e-cigarette products in the EU are marketed as consumer products with limited restrictions. The Philippines has an opportunity to use the TPD as a guide in creating an e-cigarette regulatory framework that will maximize public health benefits and minimize potential risks,” stressed Farsalinos. He urged local legislators to consider several principles in creating an appropriate e-cigarette regulatory framework.
A risk-proportionate and realistic regulatory framework will help maximize the use of e-cigarettes as an effective harm reduction and smoking cessation strategy for the promotion of public health, Farsalinos said in his testimony before the Joint Trade and Health Committees of the House of Representatives last month. The committee is tackling several bills that seek to regulate the manufacture, importation, packaging, use, sale, distribution, and advertisement of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
According to Farsalinos, regulation for e-cigarettes should be risk-proportionate. “This is the only proper approach to the regulation of any product. Evidence on risk determines the levels of restrictions that need to be implemented. There is compelling and undisputed evidence on the very low risk of e-cigarettes, especially when compared with the devastating effects of smoking.”
E-cigarette regulation should be realistic and ensure product quality, said Farsalinos. “It would make little sense to create a regulation that would be expensive or difficult to comply. This would result in the elimination of electronic cigarettes, and the creation of an uncontrolled black market. Both consequences will end-up protecting tobacco cigarette sales, while no quality standards can be expected from black market products.”
He underscored the importance of regulations to ensure that e-cigarettes do not target never-smokers and youth. “Selling of e-cigarettes to people below 18 years old should be banned, with heavy fines imposed on violators. There should be specific regulatory restrictions—not a ban—on e-cigarette advertising and marketing, and proper education that e-cigarettes should be used as smoking substitutes only.”
According to Farsalinos, regulation should create a competitive advantage for e-cigarettes over tobacco cigarettes. “Unfortunately, tobacco cigarettes are very cheap to make and generate a lot of profits for the industry. On the other hand, e-cigarettes are technology products, thus, they are, by definition, more expensive to produce than tobacco products.” He called on legislators to create regulation that would motivate smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and completely quit smoking. “E-cigarettes should be taxed lower than tobacco cigarettes.”
Farsalinos stressed that regulation should classify e-cigarettes as consumer products with specific rules and restrictions. “The success of e-cigarettes as smoking substitutes is based on their use as consumer products.” He recommended regulation that allows innovation and development of better and even safer e-cigarette products. “Being technology products, e-cigarettes have evolved at a rapid pace in recent years. Currently, available products are safer and more effective as smoking substitutes than the products available a few years ago because of the use of better materials.”
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