The basics of the E.U TPD (Tobacco Products Directive)

TPD Article 20 imposes regulations on e-cigarettes and e-liquid including restrictions on bottle sizes, nicotine strength, tank sizes and devices that will be available. It introduces a number of testing and reporting measures that will significantly increase production costs and therefore sale prices. The current indicative timeframe has “implementing act” requirements starting in the last quarter of 2015, with an expectation that several if not all ofthe more severe restrictions will be in place by May 2016.

How the TPD impacts Vaping and the Industry as a whole…

The business that is the first point of import of ANY product into the EU, or that manufactures any product, has to identify itself as the “producer”, and take FULL LEGAL responsibility for the quality and safety of the product. This will eventually kill off the “High End” market and will completley wipe out any kind of imports from the US and China since the vendor in the UK or EU will have to vouch for the saftey of the devices they have imported and will be open to legal court cases if a device is seen as unsafe.

No e-liquid in bottles of more than 10ml, or in nicotine strengths any greater than 20mg/ml (2%). There will be significant testing required for all flavoured e-liquids, meaning that we will probably be unable to supply as big a range as we do currently. (£10,000 roughly per certificate, per flavour, per nic strength…etc)

Under EU TPD… no tanks over 2ml capacity.  “Closed” system only, with leak proof refilling which is standardized across the entire market.  Drippers, rebuildables and about 95% of the clearo and glasso tanks will immediatley become illegal and vendor would have to ditch about 90% of their stock as a write off.

The Tobacco Products Directive is already here, and it is already a law that is waiting for implementation in 2016, but it is not inevitable. 

Totally Wicked has mounted a legal challenge against this legislation.

Drug companies do not make profits by curing they profit by treating

And that is precisely why Big Pharma is fighting e-cigs tooth and nail. 

a. ecigs work as a 99% safer alternative to smoking. Thus declining sales of 97% useless NRT’s such as gums, patches or the potentially deadly stop-smoking drugs 

– but NRTs are petty cash – read on: 

b. (and much more important financially): people who do not smoke are less likely to get smoking-related diseases. And there is NO profit for Big Pharma from healthy people.

Big Tobacco and Big Pharma have a marriage made in hell. 

Big T makes people sick. Big P makes lots of profit “treating” those people (treating, not curing, note the difference). And Big Government rubs its hands – grabs tobacco tax and income tax while people are working – and is delighted when smokers die early instead of collecting the pensions that they paid for during their working years.

Those three have no interest in seeing people – smokers, human beings – disembark from this “wonderful” and very profitable tobacco gravy train. No interest whatsoever.

How can you get involved?

First of all, the UK is going into a General Election in May of 2015, and even after the election you can still use the following website to find out your MSP and your MP and their email and contact information.  Send them a letter or an email or even visit them during their public meetings with their constituents to press home the importance of removing or drastically changing the effects the TPD law will have on the ecig industry and community in the EU…

https://www.mysociety.org/who-is-your-mp/

Totally Wicked, a very large UK manufacturer and vendor of E-Cigs is in the porcess of mounting a legal challenge against the EU with regards to the TPD…

http://article20legalchallenge.com/