On Wednesday, the Saeima submitted amendments to the Law on the Circulation of Tobacco Products, Herbal Smoking Products, Electronic Smoking Devices and Liquids, which, in accordance with European Union regulations, are planned to set restrictions on flavored heated tobacco products.
On Wednesday, the Saeima submitted amendments to the Law on the Circulation of Tobacco Products, Herbal Smoking Products, Electronic Smoking Devices and Liquids, which, in accordance with European Union regulations, are planned to set restrictions on flavored heated tobacco products.
Latvia will take over the delegated directive of the European Commission (EC), which provides for setting restrictions on the addition of additives to heated tobacco products that can change the smell or taste of the said product, creating a characteristic aroma, such as menthol aroma, the Ministry of Health (MoH) told the agency LETA.
The Ministry of Interior explains that these restrictions will be applied in all European Union (EU) member states. The directive provides that the restrictions must enter into force simultaneously in all EU member states on October 23, 2023.
The Saeima will be asked to consider the amendments as a matter of urgency, as EU member states must adopt the norms in their national legal acts by July 23, 2023.
The bill envisages in the Tobacco Act setting restrictions on the addition of additives to heated tobacco products that can change the smell or taste of the product, creating a characteristic aroma, such as menthol aroma or others. The intended restriction does not completely prohibit the addition of flavorings, but only limits the addition of additives to the extent that they do not create the characteristic aroma of the product.
Also, the amendments envisage establishing that the costs of the assessment of the characteristic aroma for heated tobacco products are covered by the manufacturers and importers of heated tobacco products themselves, similar to what is currently already established for manufacturers and importers of cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
The amendments also provide for the inclusion of a new definition of a heated tobacco product, as well as to clarify the definition of “tobacco products intended for smoking” included in the Tobacco Act, in order to ensure consistency between the definitions of a heated tobacco product and tobacco products intended for smoking.
A heatable tobacco product is defined as “a newly introduced tobacco product that uses a heating process to release emissions containing nicotine and other chemicals that are inhaled by the consumer and which, depending on its characteristics, is either a smokeless tobacco product or a smoking tobacco product”.
Tobacco heating devices, which smoke heatable tobacco products (“heat sticks”), are one of the latest products created by tobacco product manufacturers, which are misleadingly advertised as a less harmful alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes, according to the Ministry of Health. Tobacco heating devices work by heating tobacco at a high temperature, resulting in the release of an aerosol containing nicotine and other chemicals from the tobacco, which the smoker inhales. Although the first tobacco heating devices were already put into circulation in 2015, in 2018 they entered wider trade in many countries, including Latvia.
The Ministry of Interior states that although the ban on the characteristic aroma of cigarettes and rolling tobacco, or the ban on menthol cigarettes, entered into force on May 20, 2020 throughout the EU and Latvia, the mentioned restriction did not apply to newly introduced tobacco products, including heated tobacco products, which the tobacco industry currently continues to offer as an alternative way of smoking to cigarettes and rolling tobacco with a characteristic aroma.
Currently, the Saeima is considering other changes to the Tobacco Law, including the prohibition of flavorings in the liquids of electronic smoking devices and tobacco substitute products, including tobacco-free nicotine pads. The ban on flavorings is one of the measures to reduce the desire among students and young people to try and start using electronic smoking devices and tobacco substitute products (tobacco-free nicotine pads).
Said aromas and various flavors may give a false impression of the attractiveness of smoking or using such products, even though said products are addictive because they contain nicotine. Use of nicotine-containing products, especially during adolescence, affects health and is associated with long-term cognitive and behavioral impairments, including memory and attention deficits.
