Letter from Anna Soubry from the DoH

[hgvroy]

Dr John Pugh MP
House of Commons
Westminster
London SW1AOAA


Dear John,
Thank you for your letter of 25 of January to Jeremy Hunt on behalf of your constituent Mr Roy Nixon about electronic cigarettes and the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).I am replying as the Minister responsible for tobacco policy

Currently, any nicotine-containing product (NCP) that claims or implies that it can treat nicotine addiction is considered to be a medical product. However, there are a number of NCPs on the UK market that claim to contain nicotine such as electronic cigarettes, that do not make such claims and which can therefore be sold without safeguards built into the regulation of medicinal products

In March 2011, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published the outcome of a public consultation on whether to bring all NCPs within the medicines licencing regime. The response to the consultation suggested there was strong support for MHRA regulation, but there was a need for further information. The MHRA is coordinating further scientific and market research before it makes it's final decision on regulation later this year

We want to ensure that an effective regulatory framework exists to protect consumers from any electronic cigarette products that fail to meet acceptable standards for quality, safety and efficacy. Reducing the public health impact of smoking remains a priority for the Department of Health. We do not want to reduce the availability of products that help to reduce smoking but we do want to ensure that smokers have access to products that are acceptably safe and that support smokers in reducing the number of cigarettes they smoke or to quit.

The Government will be reviewing the proposals in the draft TPD carefully, with the ongoing work of the MHRA in mind. The TPD proposals will be discussed by the Member States and by the European Parliament and will be subject to change during this process. This means the legislation is unlikely to be adopted before 2014 or to come into effect before 2015-2016.

I hope this is helpful

Anna Soubry

Edited to add that this was as a result of a meeting with my MP John Pugh

[djs]

Feb 19, 2013 16:33:06 GMT hgvroy said:

We do not want to reduce the availability of products that help to reduce smoking but we do want to ensure that smokers have access to products that are acceptably safe and that support smokers in reducing the number of cigarettes they smoke or to quit.

Well, don't then...

It's not rocket science.

[Deleted]

Hgvroy - Thanks for that post, most informative.

What I suggest we all do is campaign Ms. Soubry for our thoughts and experiences with e-cigarettes. I found that she has a website here, where she lists various ways of contacting her including email. She also appears to have a page on Facebook.

After all - she says "I am replying as the Minister responsible for tobacco policy", so she must be worth contacting.

I suggest we make our feelings known on a personal experience basis - explaining how vaping has turned our lives around, and away from smoking, which pharmaceutical NRT has failed to do. Suggesting she follows AAEC forum postings would not be a bad thing.

Deluging her with helpful experiences definitely seems the way to go.

[hgvroy]

Feb 19, 2013 19:03:10 GMT @vitalsparks said:

Hgvroy - Thanks for that post, most informative.

What I suggest we all do is campaign Ms. Soubry for our thoughts and experiences with e-cigarettes. I found that she has a website here, where she lists various ways of contacting her including email. She also appears to have a page on Facebook.

After all - she says "I am replying as the Minister responsible for tobacco policy", so she must be worth contacting.

I suggest we make our feelings known on a personal experience basis - explaining how vaping has turned our lives around, and away from smoking, which pharmaceutical NRT has failed to do. Suggesting she follows AAEC forum postings would not be a bad thing.

Deluging her with helpful experiences definitely seems the way to go.

I agree 100%

[Deleted]

I shall include reference to this study in my response.

[Figgis]

From a strictly 'legal' standpoint, this should only affect a device that is a self-contained nicotine delivery system.

It seems to a very cleverly worded response that doesn't address e-cigs as many on this forum would understand them.

Nowhere does it suggest to me that a battery, with a carto/clearo could be prohibited. E-liquid is not even addressed.

I suspect, this move is to address the 'cig-a-like' market. If the response above comes anywhere like making law, then it is so full of loop-holes it is worthless. It is riddled with get-out clauses. It doesn't even define what an 'e-cigarette' actually is. You can't make a law based on this rubbish, even a graduate fresh out of law school could tear this to pieces.

[Deleted]

Don't tell us - tell her!

There could be a law passed though, which bans the unregulated addition of nicotine in e-juice, as they have in places like Australia. Now, wouldn't that be a disaster for many of us?

[Karma]

Noooo, don't tell her that there may be a major loophole for us

[Figgis]

Feb 19, 2013 22:08:02 GMT @vitalsparks said:

Don't tell us - tell her!

There could be a law passed though, which bans the unregulated addition of nicotine in e-juice, as they have in places like Australia. Now, wouldn't that be a disaster for many of us?

That would be, but it's not what is being proposed. And Australia has a very old-fashioned legal system that is based on a single jurisdiction. There's no need to attack the messenger here, we're both on the same side on this.

Sorry if I come across as contrary, but fight the fight that's ahead, not the one that may happen.

This is an EU edict, which is proposing regulation on something they refer to as an "E-Cigarette". The definition of that term is crucial to what this ruling means. If I'm not allowed to buy an Ego battery as a means of lighting my atomiser as a ciggie lighter that would be prohibitive. Equally I would legally be allowed to import Nicotine juice as a means of killing aphids on my roses.


It's EU regulation that will never work. The legal loopholes are so big you could drive a bus through them.

Mind you, E-Cig sites may well have to become "Rose-growing" sites. There are undoubtedly problems.