Regulation and market update
Department of Health encourages consumers to report e-liquids that resemble foods
The UK health department is urging people to report companies to their local Trading Standards team if they manufacture , sell , or distribute e-liquids which may appeal to children through resemblance to common food items .
The Department of Health and Social Care ( DHSC ) says it takes the matter of youth-targeted vape products “ very seriously ”. However , it is only monitoring the issue and has made no current moves to bring about enforcement action similar to that undertaken recently by the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ).
A spokesman told ECigIntelligence : “ It is against the law to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s in this country and we take advertising or promotion of these products extremely seriously . If there is any evidence of this local trading standards have enforcement powers to take action .”
However , the DHSC also said the proportion of young people aged between 11 and 16 who take up vaping having never smoked is very low – at most 0.5 % and possibly as low as 0.1 %.
Statistics indicate that there are almost no 17- and 18-yearolds who have never smoked but vape at least once a week .
Njoy ready to go to market with medically licensed e-cigarette ... if MHRA approves it
British e-cig maker Njoy Innovations is ready to produce a medically licensed e-cigarette , according to evidence supplied to a group of UK MPs .
Njoy told the parliamentary science and technology committee that it has an application under review by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency ( MHRA ), the body in charge of cessation product licensing .
The company says it intends to manufacture the product in the UK , where it has already invested in the development of initial manufacturing capacity and infrastructure .
“ We are earnestly working through the regulatory process with a view to bringing the product to market ,” Njoy said . “ We believe this is viable as long as MHRA exercises its authority in the full context of a policy framework that considers the significant potential benefits of such a product and its relatively small risks for its users compared to continued smoking .”
The company expects to hear back soon from the MHRA on questions resulting from the initial review . Assuming its application is successful , Njoy will immediately move to national distribution of its device .
E-liquid product notifications remain high despite the rise of short-fill formats
So-called “ short-fill ” products have not caused a reduction in the number of nicotine-containing e-liquids being notified in the UK , according to an expert from the agency in charge .
In fact , the number of notifications for e-liquids in 2017-2018 is higher than the agency predicted , according to Craig Copland , e-cigarette unit manager at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency ( MHRA ), which is responsible for EU Tobacco Products Directive ( TPD ) notifications in the UK .
This would imply that companies are continuing to notify new e-liquid products at a high rate rather than creating new lines solely in short-fill , or shake and vape , form – where a nicotine-free flavoured e-liquid is sold in a bottle slightly larger than required alongside a separate nicotine shot that meets TPD requirements .
The MHRA has continued to allocate resources as required to meet the growing demand . From 2016 the agency has increased staffing in order to process the notifications .
“ We are working to ensure resources have been allocated according to need of the notifications received ,” Copland explained .
The agency is not planning at present to raise notification fees .
Government minister warns that IQOS posters may breach rules on tobacco advertising
The UK government is keeping an eye on the advertising of heated tobacco products such as IQOS , while defending reduced budgets for its own smoking cessation advertising in recent ministerial testimony to a committee on e-cigarettes .
Junior health minister Steve Brine said the government had spent about £ 1.5m in 2016-17 and an estimated £ 2m in 2017-18 on social marketing campaigns . This included Stoptober , which last year recommended e-cigarette use for the first time . “ I think that made excellent use of the resources available ,” Brine said .
Brine reiterated comments made a few days earlier accusing Philip Morris International ( PMI ) of violating tobacco advertising regulations by distributing posters advertising its heated-tobacco product IQOS .
Rob Morrison , senior regulatory policy executive at the Advertising Standards Authority ( ASA ) explained the UK government ’ s current position on heated- tobacco advertising .
“ Heat-not-burn [ HnB ] is a tobacco product , and tobacco products are prohibited from being advertised ,” he said . “ We have not yet seen an example of a brand or product being advertised in any of the media we regulate .”
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