The EU approves France's bill to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, and the law will take effect within a few months

The EU approves France's bill to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, and the law will take effect within a few months

The European Union approved France's bill to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, which has passed the National Assembly and will be implemented in the coming months, but the ban does not affect the sale of rechargeable e-cigarettes.

According to Leprogres on October 10, the European Union has approved France's bill to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes. The law was passed by the National Assembly in December 2023 and then by the Senate, leaving only the EU's approval. Now that the EU's approval is complete, it indicates that France will implement the ban in the coming months.

A survey conducted by the Anti-Tobacco Alliance (ACT) in 2023 showed that among adolescents aged 13 to 16, 73% of respondents had heard of disposable e-cigarettes, while 15% had used such products. Among users, 47% of users initially started to contact nicotine through disposable e-cigarettes, while 23% of users then turned to other tobacco and nicotine products.

The cross-party bill proposed by Francesca Pasquini was passed by the French Parliament in March this year. The then-health minister, Catherine Vautrin, denounced the problem of disposable e-cigarettes, calling them a "scourge of public health, society and the environment", noting that the marketing of these products is designed to attract young people through bright colors, fruity flavors and low prices.

The European Commission considered the ban to be "reasonable, necessary and proportionate" based on public health considerations and aimed at addressing the health issues involved.

However, the EU approval only applies to disposable e-cigarettes and not other rechargeable e-cigarettes, the sale of which is still allowed.

The European Commission wrote:

"In accordance with the objective of Directive 2014/40/EU to ensure a high level of protection of human health, the prohibition on the manufacture, possession and sale, distribution or free provision of disposable e-cigarettes containing nicotine in France complies with the requirements of Article 24(3) of that Directive and concerns disposable e-cigarettes placed on the market in France or already on sale in France."

The French parliament can now formally confirm its vote, moving the law forward.