Romania wants to ban the sale of flavored cigarettes and change the warning messages on cigarette packs

The Romanian Ministry of Health has published a draft bill that includes a list of restrictions related to the sale of tobacco products. For example, the Ministry will regulate the ingredients that can be used in tobacco products. It will thus ban the sale of flavored cigarettes and tobacco, including the electronic cigarettes’ liquid, and of those containing special additives such as vitamins, caffeine, taurine, or the additives that give the impression that the product has a beneficial effect on health, or that the risk is smaller, reports local Economica.net. The draft bill also changes the warning messages on cigarette packages. The labeling should include a “smoking kills” general warning on 50% of the lateral side of the pack, and a “tobacco smoke contains more than 70 substances that cause cancer" information message on 50% of the lateral side. Moreover, there should also be combined health warnings, made up of text, picture and a phone number where the consumer can call to get information on how to quit smoking, on the top of the pack’s both sides, on 65% of the surface. A black outer frame will have a size of 1 mm and will be included in the warning area. When it comes to the non-combustible tobacco products, the labeling should include the “this tobacco product is harmful to health and is addictive" warning on both sides. The warning message will have to cover 30% of the product’s surface. Moreover, the Ministry of Health will also ban the sale of chewing tobacco. The draft bill also stipulates that the new products must be retested before being placed on the market. It also introduces limits on the electronic cigarettes’ content: for example, the liquids containing nicotine will only be put on the market in dedicated refill bottles with a maximum volume of 10 ml, in disposable electronic cigarettes, or in disposable cartridges, the maximum volume of the cartridges and reservoirs will not exceed 2 ml and the liquid that contains nicotine can't have more than 20 mg of nicotine per ml. The labeling should also include all the ingredients, a warning message, but it shouldn’t contain references to the special properties of the product. The manufacturers and importers of cigarettes will report to the Ministry of Health the ingredients used in the manufacturing process, the tobacco products’ emissions, and sales volume data of tobacco products in Romania, per type and brand. The law should enter into force on May 20, 2016, but products that don’t meet the legislation could still be placed on the market until May 20, 2017, reports Economica.net. Romania's Parliament recently voted a law that bans smoking in all public places.