{"id":24823,"date":"2025-06-10T09:36:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T09:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=24823"},"modified":"2025-06-10T09:42:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T09:42:36","slug":"bulgarias-blanket-ban-on-vapes-awaits-brussels-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/bulgarias-blanket-ban-on-vapes-awaits-brussels-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulgaria\u2019s blanket ban on vapes awaits Brussels approval"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bulgaria is on the brink of banning all vapes with the crackdown awaiting the go-ahead from Brussels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move has sparked concern among harm reduction advocates, who warn it could reverse hard-won progress in reducing smoking rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed legislation – which would outlaw the sale, use, and advertising of all vapes – passed its first reading in Parliament back in February with overwhelming support: 197 MPs voted in favour. The Bill also targets energy drinks marketed to minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Petar Kanev, chair of the parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation, called the legislation \u201cone of the most anticipated in recent times,\u201d noting it followed \u201cnearly two months of continuous work within several working groups.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Kanev added that consensus had been reached with both government ministries and employer representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulatory requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

However, before the law can take effect, Bulgaria must notify the European Commission, in line with European Union (EU) regulatory requirements. The parliamentary committee has agreed that although the Bill will move forward to a second reading, it won\u2019t be enforced until Brussels gives the all-clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, Bulgarian lawmakers indicated the Bill may be amended to focus only on disposable vapes. Lead sponsor Professor Kostadin Angelov – a GERB MP and Chair of the Health Committee – said regulatory hurdles meant a partial ban would be far quicker to implement. However, given approval is being sought by Brussels, it seems a full ban is now back on the cards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only broad or restrictive national regulations that go beyond EU-wide rules need to be notified to the European Commission under the Technical Regulation Information (TRIS) system. A ban on all vapes would affect trade across the EU single market and trigger this requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The requirement is there to ensure that national rules don\u2019t create trade barriers within the EU\u2019s single market. It also gives the Commission and other member states time (typically three to six months) to review and possibly object if the law conflicts with EU rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

if the proposed ban covered disposable vapes only (especially on environmental or youth protection grounds), it probably would not require notification – or could be fast-tracked, as Belgium and others have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition to the proposed ban<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Smoke Free Sweden, a leading global health campaign group, has slammed the proposed legislation, warning it could derail Europe\u2019s broader efforts to curb tobacco-related deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThese proposed restrictions in Bulgaria represent a significant step backward in tobacco harm reduction efforts across Europe,\u201d said Dr. Delon Human, a harm reduction expert.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The group argues that banning vaping products, many of which are used by smokers trying to quit, would strip adults of safer alternatives and potentially push them back to smoking, which kills over eight million people globally every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bulgaria is on the brink of banning all vapes with the crackdown awaiting the go-ahead from Brussels.  The move has sparked concern among harm reduction advocates, who warn it could reverse hard-won progress in reducing smoking rates. The proposed legislation – which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":24842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,258],"tags":[336,329,334,333],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-24823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-legislation","tag-belgium","tag-european-union","tag-global","tag-sweden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24831,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24823\/revisions\/24831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24823"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=24823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}