A man smokes an electronic cigarette.
Prague – The European Commission recently launched a public consultation on further possible regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. According to the Chamber of Electronic Vaping (KEVAP), it may concern, for example, restrictions on the flavors of electronic cigarettes or mandatory labeling of products, and the introduction of an excise tax is also being discussed. According to a survey by the agency Ipsos, roughly a fifth of users would switch back to traditional cigarettes in the event of a price increase, and a third would limit consumption. The ban on the sale of heated tobacco with a characteristic flavor, which already applies to classic cigarettes or hand-wrapped tobacco, will come into effect in the Czech Republic this October.
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The latest National Survey of Tobacco Use by the National Institute of Health states that in 2021, 7.4 percent of the population used e-cigarettes and seven percent of the population used heated tobacco.
Tobacco company Imperial Brands published a survey of more than 1,000 respondents last August, which found that 29 percent of smokers combined two different nicotine products and 15 percent three or more. The survey reported that 34 percent of people use tobacco heating devices. Almost 19 percent of respondents use electronic cigarettes or vaporizers. Almost 77 percent of respondents described themselves as smokers of classic cigarettes. According to the survey, the use of tobacco heating devices and e-cigarettes is typical for people under the age of 30.
The national anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil spoke about the possible higher taxation of nicotine products last year. He stated that by higher taxation of heated tobacco products, the state could gain three to seven billion CZK. According to him, the tax could also be introduced on electronic cigarettes, which are not yet affected. According to KEVAP spokesman Antonín Berdych, a proposal for pan-European harmonization of excise duties on electronic cigarette refills will likely be submitted this year, which would lead to their higher prices.
In an Ipsos survey this year, 22 percent of e-cigarette users would return to regular cigarettes if the price were to rise, 24 percent would start using cheaper alternatives and 34 percent would cut down on consumption. According to the survey, 16 percent of users would return to classic cigarettes if flavors were banned. Berdych also pointed out that increasing the price or banning flavors may lead to people creating fillings from freely available products. “Inexpert handling or uncontrolled products also bring with them health risks,” he added.
This October, a ban on the sale of heated tobacco with a characteristic flavor, which already applies to classic cigarettes or hand-rolled tobacco, will come into force in the Czech Republic . This was announced earlier by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection.
There are several types of tobacco heating devices on the Czech market. Imperial Brands sells the Pulze device. British American Tobacco (BAT) has its product glo. The company said in its 2021 annual report that sales of neostick refills for glo devices rose by 424 percent. Philip Morris CR sells Iqos devices on the domestic market. It states that in the middle of the year last year in the Czech Republic, there were 530,000 adults using their devices, and roughly 350,000 of them stopped smoking traditional cigarettes.
