Webinar “The evolving regulatory landscape in the EU: Opportunities and Challenges”

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025, 15:00-16:30 CET

Organised by SCOHRE, the International Association on Smoking Control & Harm Reduction

Regulative aspects of tobacco harm reduction

There are wide variations in how different jurisdictions have chosen to define and regulate the arsenal of non-combustible nicotine products, and within each country the legislation may have changed over time. Product status can vary between tobacco product, tobacco derivative, consumer commodity and medical drug. Legal status varies from sales and import bans, prescription only sales, various types of flavour restrictions, limits on nicotine content to weak or no market restrictions. A surprising observation is that the justifications for the different provisions have in common that they all claim to be evidence-based. How can that be?

Moreover, it may be perceived as a paradox that countries with high smoking prevalence have the greatest tendency to introduce the strictest restrictions on nicotine alternatives. Bulgaria might be an illustrative example with its recent implementation of a ban on e-cigarettes. But even in countries that have succeeded in reducing smoking to a low level – thanks to a robust infrastructure for tobacco control in combination with the availability of nicotine alternatives – market access for non-combustible products is being tightened. Spawned by initial successes, the original goal of a smoke-free society in these countries –UK and Norway might be examples- has incrementally expanded beyond its original scope (mission creep) to a future goal of nicotine-free society without any recreational use of nicotine. Is this possible?

In this webinar, international experts on tobacco policy will reflect on this situation. The aim is to address the topic – both from the top-down perspective of the regulator and the bottom-up perspective of the consumer.

For more information and free registration, visit the platform (in order to participate in the webinar, you need to register).