“FOR THE MOMENT, THE TECHNICAL RULES
FOR SELLING NICOTINE CONTAINING
E-LIQUIDS IN THE UK WILL NOT CHANGE
FOLLOWING BREXIT, BUT THERE IS A
STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT IT WILL CHANGE
SOMETIME AFTER WE LEAVE THE EU.”
we know are far better for their health and which we want to
encourage. There are restrictions on both the size of bottle in which
vaping liquids can be sold and the tank size of vaping devices, both
of which appear to be completely arbitrary, with no basis to them.
Both users of e-cigarettes and the manufacturing sector are
hoping that this may be an opportunity for the Minister to rectify
the regulations, which, frankly, are nonsensical. I look forward
to the Minister’s response on those points.”
Mark who heads up the All Party Policy Group for vaping and has been
instrumental in looking at the vaping industry and how regulations can
impact on then will be pressing for regulatory changes post Brexit
when the UK will no longer be required to follow EU directives on
these issues. Of course, any product that is exported to Europe
will have to obey the rules there.
Cross border sales may be an area where we could face difficulty
though, currently companies based in the UK can sell directly to
consumers in other EU countries without registering their products.
Some countries have opted out of this; Finland have opted out
and Slovenia, Turkey, Iceland and Croatia have not confirmed if
they will allow it. The rules require EEA or third countries to pre-
register to allow cross boarder sales. This may not be allowed
either following Brexit or if we make changes to our product rules.
For the moment, the technical rules for selling nicotine containing
e-liquids in the UK will not change following Brexit, but there is a
strong possibility that it will change sometime after we leave the
EU.
WHAT MIGHT CHANGE FROM A
PROCESSES PERSPECTIVE?
There are three main areas of concern that are immediately obvious,
firstly it’s the local representative. Under EU rules, whilst you can import
e-liquids from outside the EU and can be registered by companies
outside of the EU, it is a requirement to have a representative inside the
EU that takes responsibility as the manufacturer. For UK companies
selling into Europe they will need to add a local company as the
manufacturer and provide contact details on the notifications.
The other key component and probably the most important component
is the notification process. As indicated above, we will no longer
be able to use the EU portal to notify products for the UK market.
Several things are going to happen and the MHRA are working
in the background to develop a solution. But to the best of our
knowledge this is what it is likely to look like. Please note this is
open to change:
· The MHRA will develop their own portal for handling
notifications.
· All companies will have to re-apply for submitter accounts
on this new system
· Products will be sent up to the MHRA’s portal
We have seen a schematic of the new proposed system and
we have to say it does looks like a well thought out process and
should not present much difficulty for companies used to using
the EU portal moving over to using the new one. It also offers a
system for small companies to do their own notifications. However,
we are unable to share any details of what it will look like as it’s
currently under embargo. As soon as the details are available, we
will publish a detailed guide.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THESE
CHANGES ON COMPANIES?
Well, there are two key questions that we need to answer. Will
companies need to re-notify existing products? We are guessing
no, as the logistics of this would cause the MHRA considerable
concern in terms of data management. Will companies be able
to update existing products through the new system? We are
guessing yes. The alternative gives the industry huge cause for
concern. Assuming the above, the most obvious impact is that
companies with products in both the UK and the EU will have
to use two submission processes simultaneously, and that will
raise some logistical obstacles. For those of us that have our
own XML generator software, basic tweaks to the software will
make this manageable and should not raise costs too much, but
it’s not unforeseeable that companies will face additional burden
and hence additional costs.
The next big issue is what happens when the EU and UK rules on
electronic cigarettes start to diverge, which as discussed above
is not only possible is likely. Then companies will have a much
increased burden.
This is unavoidable. This is the fallout from Brexit, however the
proposed changes we feel will be of benefit to the UK industry for
its domestic products.
Also companies in Europe who wish to sell products in the UK will
also face the same divergence.
For more information on any of the topics covered in this feature, contact ADACT
Medical on +44 1302 98 60 88 or email [email protected]. For more
information about ADACT Medical, go to www.adactmedical.com
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