France wants one size fits all? E-cigarettes enter the prescription, enter the five-year plan, and are not eligible for one-time use
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France wants one size fits all? E-cigarettes enter the prescription, enter the "five-year plan", and are not eligible for one-time use
According to French media news on May 28 local time, French Health Minister François Braun reiterated his support for the ban on disposables.
French Health Minister François Braun reiterated his support for a ban on disposables, given the popularity of these products among young people, and representatives involved in the campaign hoped to support them at the start of the academic year (autumn 2023) vote for this ban.
It is worth noting that Francois Braun specifically mentioned that pharmacists are considering allowing pharmacists to open prescriptions for e-cigarettes as a nicotine substitute, because e-cigarettes can help people gradually reduce nicotine consumption and stop using it. But at the same time, it emphasized that the scope allowed by the prescription will not include one-time use. According to François Braun, these "colorful packaging" products are not beneficial for smoking cessation and may lead young people "into tobacco".
When asked about reimbursement for e-cigarettes when they are prescribed, François Braun made it clear that the issue was "on the table as part of the government's next anti-smoking plan" to be introduced between 2023 and 2023. Implemented during 2028. He has further expressed his desire to tax all tobacco products, such as heated or chewing tobacco, in the same way as cigarettes.
In fact, this is not the first time that French Minister of Health Francois Braun has expressed his position on one-time use.
Earlier this month, he even stated in an interview with France Inter radio that France may ban disposables across the board by the end of 2023. The reason is also the above-mentioned inducement of young people to smoke tobacco products. It clearly mentioned that although the Macron government does not have a majority in parliament, it will still try to cooperate with parliamentarians to achieve the ban.
This statement is also to some extent a response to French public opinion. On April 30, local time, Le Monde, one of the most widely circulated newspapers in France, published a joint letter from more than 20 relevant people including doctors, tobacco scientists and environmentalists, calling for the ban on disposable e-cigarettes in France.
And, when introducing the plan for this ban, it also mentioned that it is expected to become part of the anti-smoking plan for the next five years being formulated by the French Ministry of Health-in other words, France's anti-smoking plan for the next five years may include : 1. Prohibition of one-time use; 2. Incorporate e-cigarettes into the prescription of nicotine replacement products.
At that time, Gewu's judgment was that France's one-time ban was still in a state of "nothing left". After all, while prohibiting disposables, it means that the legal consumption needs of adult smokers need to be addressed. But at present, it seems that the inclusion of prescriptions may be one of the directions to solve this problem.
But on the other hand, even so, it still does not solve the problem of tobacco shops' dependence on disposables. For some tobacco channels, one-time sales even account for half of their overall e-cigarette sales. At present, there are 23,500 tobacco shops in France, which can achieve annual sales of 3.6 billion euros, of which 140 million euros are accounted for at one time.
Therefore, from the point of view of the "tobacco channel" represented by the French Tobacco Manufacturers Federation, the solution to the "PUFF storm" should neither be high consumption taxes, nor should it be directly blocked across the board, but should be handed over to the tobacco channel for exclusive sales.
However, as previously analyzed by Gewu, no matter from which point of view, the tightening of e-cigarette regulation in France has become a certainty. On February 13 this year, the French National Committee on Smoking Control (CNCT), an official think tank supported by the government and funded by the Ministry of Health, has become a certainty. A report was released, based on a three-year survey in 2020-2022, with as many as 615 unannounced visits, directly calling out the initiative to ban all non-tobacco flavors.
According to the public information combed by Gewu, CNCT often provides advice to the French government on traditional tobacco and nicotine products through research reports. Its conclusion that "as many as 95% of illegal e-cigarette advertisements exist" will greatly affect France. Regulatory attitudes towards e-cigarettes.
Relevant information shows that France is the third largest overseas e-cigarette market after the United States and the United Kingdom. Statistics show that the number of French e-cigarette users has risen to more than 3.5 million in 2022; the consulting agency Xerfi released data in May 2022 and pointed out that the French market is expected to maintain an annual growth rate of 5% to 10%, reaching 1.3 billion this year Euro scale.
