E-cig retailing laws relaxed

A few months after being suspended, a Royal Decree in Belgium published on October 28, 2016, has transposed the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) – but with a change in the classification of vaping products, according to a story by David Palacios for ecigintelligence.com.

From January, 17, 2017, when the law comes into force, electronic cigarettes and e-liquids containing nicotine will be considered to be consumer products and their former classification as medical devices will end.

After transposition of the TPD, electronic cigarettes will no longer be sold only by pharmacists, but they will be subject to the severe retail restrictions of the TPD.

The Belgian Association of Vapers (Union Belge pour la Vape/Belgische Damp Bond) considers the new legal framework contrary to the interests of the population and it warns that with the transposition of the TPD rules vaping will come under tobacco laws.

“We believe that, in the long term, this law, if implemented as it is, will put a major strain on the expansion of the e-cig in the Belgian market”, Yves Woot de Trixhe, vice president of the association, was said to have told ECigIntelligence.

Some of Belgium’s vaping industry figures have already introduced legal action to the Council of State (Conseil d’État), the supreme administrative court of the country, which will need to deliver a verdict by December, 13, 2017.

Palacios’ story is at: http://ecigintelligence.com/vaping-products-under-new-classification-in-belgium/