A Document from the Day 2 COP6
A one-size-fits-all regulatory framework for e-cigarettes will not workface at COP6 is that of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS ), more commonly known as e-cigarettes.
As the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on
tobacco Control (FCTC )concludes in its report to COP6, ENDS
represent an evolving frontier, filled with promise and threat for tobacco control. Whether e-cigarettes succeed in enhancing or impeding tobacco control, and public health more broadly, will be determined largely by the regulatory frameworks that Parties put in place to govern product design, manufacturing, marketing, sale, use and
disposal.This does not mean, however, that a single regulatory framework for e-cigarettes is achievable or even desirable. Given significant differences in Parties legal systems, smoking prevalence, the state of tobacco control, the market penetration of e-cigarettes within their borders, and the resources and technical
expertise they can devote to regulating the product, a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework for e-cigarettes will not work. Parties are currently regulating e-cigarettes as medicines (therapeutic products), as tobacco
products, as general consumer products and as prohibited products.This does not mean, however, that COP6
should be silent on e-cigarettes. We believethat it may be possible for this COP to achieve agreement on a set of underlying principles that would serve as the foundation for the regulation of ENDS by the Parties.
Although the Framework Convention Alliance (FC A), with some 500 member organisationsworldwide, struggled greatly with the e-cigarette issue over the past few months,we were successful in reaching consensus
on seven broad principles:
1. The global burden of disease and death
from tobacco is primarily caused by
smoking.
2. While quitting tobacco use is paramount,
quitting nicotine use altogether is the best
option.
3. For those unable to quit, switching to
alternative sources of nicotine that are less
harmful than tobacco can reduce, often very
substantially, the harm that smoking causes
to the individual.
4. The benefits of such an approach would
be maximised if uptake were limited to
existing smokers who are unable to quit.
5. The risks of such an approach would be
minimised by limiting uptake by neversmokers,
especially youth, and by taking
measures to protect non-users and
discourage long-term dual use.
6. There could be negative unintended
consequences from over-regulation, just as
there could be from under-regulation.
7. The involvement of tobacco companies in
the production and marketing of e-cigarettes
is a matter of particular concern as there is
an irreconcilable conflict of interest between
public health and those profiting from the
sale of tobacco.
FC A likewise believes that it would be premature for Parties to debate specific
