On May 20th of this year (2016), the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) comes into effect in Europe. We suspect the U.S. will follow with a similar set of regulations although the FDA is still yet to make a decision, so these changes are not likely to be enforced until 2017/18.
So what is going to change on May 20th? Well here’s a rundown:
• All flavours will have to be rigorously tested and meet certain standards through the EU notification process.
• No e-liquid bottles larger than 10ml.
• Nicotine strength will be limited to 20mg.
• Child-proof e-liquid bottles will be required.
• All e-cigarette hardware will require testing for emissions and consistency.
• No vape tanks larger than 2ml.
• Tanks/clearomisers must be completely leak-proof.
• E-cigarette advertising will be banned across all media channels although websites can continue to operate.
What’s Vaper Empire’s opinion on the new regulation?
Regulation of the vaping industry was inevitable so we are happy to see that a set of standards have been introduced. It is also encouraging to see that the EU has allowed medium-sized businesses to continue to trade. The costs involved to meet the regulations are expensive but achievable.
However, there are elements of the TPD that may slow innovation and prevent people from moving from tobacco to e-cigarettes. The advertising ban will almost certainly do this as people will be less exposed to vaping and their chances of learning about the benefits of switching to e-cigs will be drastically reduced. Also, the hardware restrictions could potentially drive e-cigarettes backwards to cartridge-based systems impeding innovation.
At this point, it is too early to say how strictly the regulation will be imposed and only time will tell how destructive it might be. The reality is that over the past few years thousands of new e-cigarette vendors have managed to create a livelihood courtesy of Big Tobacco's profits. Regulation could be the beginning of their fight back. Let's see!
