France has become the second European Union nation to ban disposable vapes.
The law was passed by the French Senate following a final parliamentary vote on Thursday. It comes after a similar ban in Belgium, which took effect on January 1.
The amended version of the Bill in France bans the manufacture, marketing, distribution and supply of disposable vapes.
Altered definition of disposable vapes
The new legislation defines disposable vapes as “pre-filled with a liquid and which cannot be refilled, whether or not they have a rechargeable battery.” This is reportedly in response to views among Committee members that the Bill’s text needed to anticipate advancements in vape technology.
The bill was given the green light in September by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which must approve new laws by member states that could affect the EU’s single-market economy.
“It is a great victory in a two-pronged battle that we were fighting: an environmental battle against the polluting lithium batteries in these ‘puffs’, and a health battle for our schoolchildren,” the Bill’s author, MP Francesca Pasquini, told Agence France-Presse.
‘A step in the wrong direction’
However, vape advocates and anti-smoking campaigners have criticised the new legislation as a ‘step in the wrong direction.’
Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, said:
“Prohibition doesn’t work. It never has, and it never will. A ban on disposable vapes will not eliminate the demand but shift it from regulated markets to the black market, creating negative, unintended public health consequences.”
Move to ban nicotine pouches
Meanwhile, France is also moving to outlaw nicotine pouches. Earlier this month a proposed Bill to ban the products became closer to being made law after it was approved by the upper house of the French Senate.
Currently the Bill contains suggestions to regulate rather than ban nicotine pouches through imposing a limit on their strength and higher taxes. However, the Senate is moving to get these removed in favour of an outright ban.
The new amendment states: “The objective of this amendment is to ban nicotine pouches, in accordance with the announcements of the Minister of Health and Access to Healthcare, Geneviève Darrieusecq, on October 29, 2024.”
Hike in e-liquid taxAlso in October, it was revealed France is set to increase tax on e-liquids by a whopping 38 per cent. Leading French vape awareness organisation FiVape said there is an imminent plan by the French government to add a flat-rate tax of €0.15 per millilitre of e-liquid, whether it contains nicotine or not.
