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What is the TPD? Tobacco Products Directive and what does this mean to you! Our Customers.
On May 20th 2016 the TPD or?Tobacco Products Directive came in to force in the United Kingdom and across Europe, The TPD is the governments way of bringing in and enforcing new laws regarding tobacco and products derived from tobacco?such as?nicotine, the EU authorities have also included e-cigs, vaping devices and e-liquids in this directive this comes under Article 20 of the Tobacco Products Directive.
Most of the rules and regulations that the European Union?came up with leading up to May 2016 is mainly due to big tobacco companies losing money and governments losing taxes, because we as individuals have chosen to vape instead of smoke, these tobacco companies have also been trying to get vaping banned over the last few years and have been lobbying government to do this, however the vaping industry and movement has become so large that banning something at this time is just not possible, so instead the world’s authorities have taken notice of us and decided to bring laws in for various reasons to make vaping better and safer for us, thus giving authorities a hold over the vaping industry.
On some points regarding the new regulations to you as a consumer, there are a few grey areas that we believe still need clarifying and tweaking, but on some, we as vapers believe that to make the industry better most of the regulations are welcomed, so we’ll try and give you a quick run down of what the regulations will mean to you as a customer and how it will affect your vaping in the future.
Latest Info.
This is the latest info as of February 24th 2017, some regulations are still being tweaked under the Tobacco Products Directive but this info should give you a general idea of how it stands on TPD Compliance and what we know so far for UK Customers purchasing products in our Vapour Shop or our web store at www.vapour-shack.com from 20th May 2017.
Changes to your E-Liquid.
The Maximum e-liquid bottle size you will be able to purchase under the TPD regulations is 10ml in size (if they contain nicotine). (Current regulations state that there is no minimum bottle size if the e-liquid is 0mg nicotine this is due to 0mg not being classed as a tobacco product).
10ml bottles cannot contain more that 20mg of nicotine per ml. (any vapers using 24mg or 36mg will not be able to purchase these strengths under the TPD regulations).
These 10ml bottles by law will have to have a sealed child proof bottle top.
Each 10ml bottle will have a very narrow nozzle to dispense the e-liquid from the bottle in to the tank you are using.
The bottle label has to clearly give you the customer a complete list of the ingredients contained within the bottle.
All e-liquids will have to?be submitted?for testing to an independent lab to make sure they conform to the new regulations before they can be sold to you the customer.
E-liquids will have to be a clear colour within the bottle, no colourings or additives?can be added to the liquids.
All outer packaging must conform to the directive and include relevant warnings about the use of that nicotine product.
Changes to your Tanks.
Tanks will only be able to hold a maximum of 2ml of e-liquid.
The tank will have to be completely leak proof, so if the tank was to fall over or be held upside down, no liquid can be allowed to escape the body of the tank.
Changes to your Battery Device.
In the past we have had devices that were variable wattage, variable voltage or temperature controlled, we could alter?the way we used these devices to give us the warm or cool vape we required, they would also allow us to produce clouds of vaper or alter the flavour we got from a particular flavour of e-liquid,?from May 20th 2017 all devices will have to give a consistent vape and not offer you the ability to alter the vape.
What this means is that under TPD regulations every time you press the fire button you will get a set amount of vapour for a set amount of time of pressing the button! at present this is a very grey area for the TPD as no product before or after the TPD rules come in to law can do this, but we will update this information if any changes to the TPD regulations are announced.
The final thoughts.
The Tobacco Products Directive is a good and a bad thing for vapers, we as vapers are all for safe e-liquids, we want to know what ingredients are included, we want to know if it’s safe to inhale the vapour, we want child safety caps in place on the bottles to protect younger family members from accidentally getting hold of a bottle, we want clear safe liquid and sturdy packaging and we want a cap on nicotine amounts and quality on the liquids we are purchasing, there has been in the past liquids on the market that were not of a good and standard quality but now there will be, so all in all the e-liquid part of the directive is a great thing for vapers even though the bottles are smaller than they were in the past.
We can even see the point of having smaller tank sizes that can only hold 2ml of e-liquid and that do not leak, However!?what says the same tank in a 5ml size could not be fitted with the same leak proof design?
We can see a lot of good to come from the TPD but we can also see a lot of grey areas that probably will never be enforceable as a regulation, but it?will be?interesting to see how vaping goes in the future as part of the Tobacco Products Directive.
I would like to leave you with one?final thought on vaping and the Tobacco Products Directive.
Vaping is so much healthier for you than smoking a cigarette and yet vaping is coming under all these pressures to conform to a set of rules and regulations to make it safe to do and to enjoy, but here is the kicker in all of the regulations that the vaping industry is having to do to justify itself as a safe industry.
Cigarettes and Tobacco have never had to subject themselves for testing under the same strict Tobacco Products Directive?
Our Commitment to our customers.
Vapour Shack are 100% dedicated to The Tobacco Product Directive and will only be carrying stock from May 20th 2017 that conforms to the Directive, we can offer you the?new vaper compliant products to help you start in your vaping life and help you get off the cigarettes for good, our experienced staff are here to help and advise at every step of?your vaping journey and of coarse we will still be here for our trusty and loyal?customers who already enjoy vaping with us.
