Flavoured Tobacco to Disappear from Czech Shops in Less Than a Month

The European Commission will enforce a ban on the sale of flavored, heated tobacco in shops starting on October 23rd.

Sales have significantly increased in at least five EU countries.

The ban is part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan which aims to create a tobacco-free generation, where less than 5% of the population will use tobacco products by 2040, compared to around 25% today.

The regulation issued by the European Union last year “prohibits the placing on the market of tobacco products with a characterizing flavor and tobacco products containing flavorings in any of their components on the EU market.”

“I’m not happy about it. I am very much in favor of a harm reduction approach, i.e., risk reduction for tobacco as well. I’m a bit worried that people will revert to regular cigarettes because of this regulation,” said National Drugs Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil in an interview with Novinky.cz.

Additionally, some EU countries are considering investigating disposable flavored e-cigarettes and banning their sale. The Health Ministry has recently conducted inspections on these products.

“Health inspectors checked the labeling of unit packs for a total of 397 disposable electronic cigarettes. Out of these, 165 products failed to comply with the labeling requirements. Common errors included the absence of necessary information in the Czech language and the failure to list all ingredients,” added the ministry in their report.