The EU Parliament has passed a new draft law that may make tobacco products less appealing to young people, with packs carrying a health warning covering 65pc of the surface. When they claim to possess curative or preventative qualities e-cigarettes are just as medicinal products to be controlled.
Under the new regulation, fresh fruit and menthol cigarettes and small packs of smokes should be prohibited. Smokes are attributed with causing 70,000 deaths annually in the European Union.
E-cigarettes are a fairly recent innovation, will not be subject to the same rules as medicinal products.
Those for which no such claims are made should include no more than 30mg/ml of nicotine, should carry health warnings and should not be sold to anybody under 18 years of age.
Importers and manufacturers would also need to supply the competent authorities using a list of all ingredients that they include. Ultimately, e-cigarettes will be subject to precisely the same advertisements restrictions as tobacco products.
"We understand that it is kids, not adults, who start smoking," said rapporteur Linda McAvan.
"And despite the downward trend in many member states of adult smokers, the World Health Organization figures show worrying upward trends in a number of our member states of young smokers.
"We should discontinue tobacco companies targeting young people with a range of gimmicky products and we should make certain that cigarette packs carry successful warnings. In Canada, large lifelike warnings were launched in 2001 and youth smoking halved," she added.
McAvan was granted a mandate to negotiate a first-reading understanding with EU ministers. This mandate was approved by votes to 43, with 14 abstentions.
EU member states can have 18 months where to interpret the directive into their national laws, to run from the exact date when it enters into force, when the legislation is approved by the council and Parliament.
