Bulgaria has backtracked on its proposal to place a blanket ban on vapes.
A Bill proposing a total vape ban had passed its first reading in parliament with unanimous votes in favour.
However, Professor Kostadin Angelov, leader of the ruling GERB-SDF MP and Chairman of the Health Committee, has now announced a change to the wording to include a ban only on disposable vapes.
He said the reason behind the move is statistics showing that 80 per cent of adolescents use single-use vapes as they are generally cheaper and considered ‘more attractive’ than reusables.
Total ban ‘could take years’
In addition, he said the initial proposal for a complete ban could take years to come into force, as it would require a notification from the European Commission (EC).
Notifications are designed to allow the EC to assess potential impacts of national policies on the wider EU market and intervene if necessary, but can make legislative approval slow.
Angelov said: “We are discussing a ban on disposable electronic cigarettes – in the way this measure was notified by the EC in Belgium. We will propose it between the first and second readings.
“Our main goal is for the text to be notified as quickly as possible. We will insist on urgent notification by the Ministry of Economy so that it can be introduced as a ban and norm in our country as soon as possible..
But he added that a total ban is not off the cards. “After that, we can continue discussions and clean up the texts for other bans,” he said.
Before submitting the text for the Bill’s second reading, the 240 elected deputies will decide whether to separate the stricter control and sanctions into a separate Bill so it can enter into force immediately.
In February, members of parliament from all political parties had voted unanimously – by 197 votes to none – to ban the import, trade, marketing and sale of vapes and similar devices. The proposed law was set to apply to disposable and reusable vapes sold either from retail outlets or online, and to include nicotine free products.
The ban, which was largely unexpected by the vaping industry, appeared to be a knee jerk reaction to the death of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from a seventh floor balcony on New Year’s Eve.
While there was no evidence vaping caused the accident, the boy and six other children were reported to have been using vapes containing the illegal psycho-active drug hexahydrocannabinol.
Ban tabled ‘too quickly’
Vaping advocates and anti-smoking campaigners argued the ban had been acted on too quickly without proper consultation and wouldn’t solve the issue of illegal vapes.
Instead, they said, removing regulated vapes would fuel the blackmarket trade of unsafe products and remove an essential tool for helping adult smokers quit the far more dangerous habit.
The Bulgarian government had initially proposed only banning the advertising of vapes.
Angelov has also submitted a Bill for a complete ban on the sale, supply and distribution in retail outlets or online of energy drinks and any type of narcotic substance to children aged under 18.
