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23rd September 2024
Environment & Sustainability
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Global business and regulatory news covering the alternative tobacco industry
Daily regulatory updates of the tobacco alternative sector. It includes weekly podcasts and monthly compilations
14th October 2024
- EU: Today, the Council has adopted a new regulation on the classification, labelling, and packaging of chemical substances (CLP), updating the existing 2008 EU legislation. The revised regulation clarifies labelling issues, such as readability and digital labelling, and increases compliance with CLP for online sales of chemicals. The amendment seeks, among other things, to improve the harmonised classification of chemicals and clarify rules on hazard labelling, etc. This may impose additional obligations on the producers of vaping or tobacco products in relation to chemicals that may be contained in them.
14th October 2024
- Global: International E-waste Day is celebrated today (14th October). The yearly awareness-raising day initiated by the WEEE Forum – an international association of organisations of electronics manufacturers and importers – aims to highlight the growing issue of e-waste and promote responsible e-waste management. Products with electrical or electronic components, including vaping or heated tobacco devices with batteries, should be part of the recycling stream. This year’s slogan, “Join the e-waste hunt – retrieve, recycle, and revive!” highlights the importance of addressing the unused electronics stored in homes, which often contain valuable materials that can be recycled and given a new purpose.
8th October 2024
- New Zealand: Health authorities have told TobaccoIntelligence that the requirements for selling reusable vaping products with removable batteries and child-safety mechanisms, which entered into force on 1st October 2024, also apply to heated tobacco devices, as they are classified as vaping devices.
20th September 2024
- Denmark: The Ministry of Health has notified a bill to the European Commission’s TRIS database to amend an order on requirements concerning packaging, extended producer responsibility for packaging, and other waste collected with packaging waste. The order implements the existing and expected legal bases of the Environmental Protection Act to lay down rules on extended producer responsibility for packaging. The standstill period ends on 17th December.
9th July 2024
- France: The Regional Health Agency (ARS) of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which includes Lyon, France’s third-largest city, has unveiled a new regional action plan that aims to reduce tobacco use. This initiative specifically targets young people and aligns with the National Tobacco Control Programme (PNLT). The plan supports the goal of achieving the first tobacco-free generation by 2032. It sets out three axes for action: preventing entry into smoking, supporting smokers – especially vulnerable ones – to quit smoking, and preserving the environment from tobacco-related pollution.
9th July 2024
- EU: The regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products has recently been published. With the new regulation, we expect the emergence of a digital product passport (a tool that can significantly enhance the end-to-end traceability of a product, complementing the information provided in labels) for devices and other ecodesign requirements and requirements for the measure of energy consumption or performance of devices. The regulation will take effect on 18th July and apply 24 months after it enters into force.
3rd July 2024
- EU: The European Commission (EC) will present its proposal for the revision of the Council recommendation on smoke-free environments on 17th September, during the European Parliament plenary, according to the EC's tentative agenda. The revised recommendation is set to include public usage restrictions for novel tobacco and nicotine products. When asked about the delay in presenting the revised recommendation during a Health Council meeting, health and food commissioner Stella Kyriakides reportedly said that work was ongoing and that it had been “a particularly challenging task”. This is, however, not the first time that the revision has appeared in the EC's tentative agenda, as it first featured for the 31st January 2024 meeting, but was not presented in the end.
17th June 2024
- China: On 24th May, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation held a seminar in Beijing to discuss the impact of tobacco and environmental taxes on tobacco control, press reports. The seminar brought together experts from the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Health Development Research Center (NHDRC) of the National Health Commission to discuss how to optimise these taxes to reduce tobacco consumption and strengthen control efforts. Discussions included insights from the “Tobacco Consumption Tax Reform and Comprehensive Industry Chain Research Report” released on 30th October 2023, which highlighted that China’s tobacco tax is below World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and does not fully account for the environmental impact of the tobacco industry.
27th May 2024
- EU: Today, the Council adopted a proposal for a regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products. With the proposal, we expect the emergence of a digital product passport (a tool that can significantly enhance the end-to-end traceability of a product, complementing the information provided in labels) for devices and other ecodesign requirements, and requirements for measuring energy consumption or performance of devices. Once signed, the regulation will be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication. It will apply 24 months after the entry into force.
24th May 2024
- EU: Today, the Council adopted a proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. The proposal aims to ensure certain large EU and non-EU companies conduct due diligence on the potential impact of operations and supply chains on the environment as well as address environmental and social risks, enabling employees and stakeholders to raise any concerns. After being signed by the president of the European Parliament and the president of the Council, the directive will be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication. EU member states will have two years to implement the directive.
13th May 2024
- Denmark: The Ministry of the Environment is analysing whether legislation can be introduced to extend producer responsibility for nicotine pouch manufacturers, press reports. This means that companies would be responsible for cleaning up their products that end up as litter in nature and public spaces. According to the minister, “there is no difference between cigarette butts and nicotine pouches that end up in natural settings. This is waste that should not be lying around in nature.”
6th May 2024
- Global: At the recent meeting of the Fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international treaty on ending plastic pollution, held in Ottawa, countries made progress in identifying the types of plastics that should be prohibited globally, media reports. Among the items that topped the list were cigarette filters. At the meeting, Peru, Panama, and Switzerland urged for a ban on cigarette filters, a call which was also supported by the World Health Organization. It was stated that recycling cigarette filters is not a viable solution, and it is essential to focus on human rights and demand a healthy environment. The list of plastics to be banned will be finalised at INC-5, starting 25th November 2024, in Busan, South Korea.
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