With the provisions of European directive 2014/40 / EU and the public health code which concerns advertising and will be applicable from tomorrow, this will profoundly change our organization with regard to the survival of this site. While waiting to learn more about the real application of this directive, Vapoteurs.net will therefore only be searchable by people who will be "Members".
Article 20 paragraph 5
Member States shall ensure that:
(a) commercial communications in the information society services, in the press and in other printed publications, the purpose or direct or indirect effect of which is to promote electronic cigarettes and refill containers, are prohibited, except for publications intended exclusively for professionals in the trade of electronic cigarettes or refill containers and printed publications published in third countries and not primarily intended for the Union market;
(b) commercial radio communications, the direct or indirect purpose or effect of which is to promote electronic cigarettes and refill bottles, are prohibited;
(c) any form of public or private contribution to radio programs having the direct or indirect purpose or effect of promoting electronic cigarettes and refill bottles is prohibited;
(d) any form of public or private contribution to an event, activity or benefit of an individual the direct or indirect purpose or effect of which is to promote electronic cigarettes and refill containers in respect of or involving more than one Member State in several Member States or with other cross-border effects is prohibited;
(e) commercial audio-visual communications under Directive 2010 / 13 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council are prohibited for electronic cigarettes and refill containers.
Article 13
Product presentation :
1. The labeling of the packaging units, any outer packaging and the tobacco product itself may not include any element or device that:
(a) promotes or promotes the consumption of a tobacco product by misrepresenting the characteristics, health effects, risks or emissions of the product; the labels do not include any information on the nicotine, tar or carbon monoxide content of the tobacco product;
(b) suggests that a given tobacco product is less harmful than others or is intended to reduce the effect of certain harmful components of the smoke or has vitalizing, energizing, healing, rejuvenating, natural, biological or beneficial to health or lifestyle;
(c) evokes a taste, smell, aroma or any other additive, or the absence thereof;
d) looks like a food or cosmetic product;
e) suggests that a given tobacco product is more easily biodegradable or has other environmental benefits.
2. Packaging units and any outside packaging do not suggest economic benefits through good print, discount offers, free distribution, "two for the price of one" promotion, or other similar offers. .
3. Items and devices that are prohibited under 1 and 2 may include, but are not limited to, messages, symbols, names, trademarks, figurative signs, or others.
2) The provisions of the health law
Common provisions (Public Health Code)
Article L3511-2-1
It is forbidden to sell or offer, free of charge, in tobacconists and all shops or public places, to minors under eighteen years old:
1 ° Tobacco products or ingredients defined in the second paragraph of Article L.3511-1;
2 ° Electronic vaping devices or refill bottles associated with them.
The person who issues one of these products requires the client to prove his or her majority.
Article L3511-3
Propaganda or advertising, direct or indirect, in favor of tobacco, tobacco products, ingredients defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1, electronic vaping devices and refill bottles associated with them , as well as any free distribution or sale of a tobacco product at a price lower than that mentioned in Article 572 of the General Tax Code are prohibited. (1)
These provisions do not apply to the signs of tobacconists, provided that these signs comply with characteristics defined by interministerial order.
They do not apply either:
1 ° To publications and online communication services published by the professional organizations of producers, manufacturers and distributors of tobacco products and electronic vaping devices or refill bottles associated with them, reserved for their members or professional publications the list is drawn up by ministerial decree signed by the ministers in charge of health and communication; professional online communication services that are accessible only to professionals in the production, manufacturing and distribution of tobacco products and electronic vaping devices or refill containers associated with them; (1)
2 ° To printed and published publications and to online communication services made available to the public by persons established in a country outside the European Union or the European Economic Area, where such publications and communication services online are not primarily intended for the Community market;
3 ° The signs relating to the electronic devices of vaping and the bottles of refill associated with them, arranged inside the establishments marketing them and not visible from the outside.
Any sponsorship or sponsorship operation is prohibited when it is carried out by manufacturers, importers or distributors of tobacco products or when its purpose or effect is direct or indirect propaganda or advertising in favor of tobacco, tobacco products, ingredients defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1, electronic vaping devices or refill bottles associated with them.
NOTE: (1) In accordance with 23 2016 41 No. 26 No. 2016, these provisions come into effect as of 20 May 2016.
Article L3511-4
Propaganda or advertising in favor of an organization, service, activity, product or article other than tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1 when, by its graphic design, its presentation, the use of a mark, an advertising emblem or other distinctive sign, it recalls tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1.
However, these provisions are not applicable to propaganda or advertising in favor of a product other than tobacco, a tobacco product or an ingredient defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1 which has been set on the market before the 1er January 1990 by a company legally and financially distinct from any company that manufactures, imports or markets tobacco a tobacco product or an ingredient defined in the second paragraph of Article L. 3511-1. The creation of a legal or financial link between these companies cancels out this derogation.
Criminal provisions (Public Health Code)
Article L3512-1
Associations whose statutory purpose includes the fight against smoking, regularly declared for at least five years at the date of the facts, may exercise the rights granted to civil parties for infringements of the provisions of this title
The consumer associations referred to in Article L.421-1 of the Consumer Code and the family associations mentioned in Articles L.211-1 and L. 211-2 of the Code of Social Action may exercise the same rights. and families for violations of the provisions of Article L. 3512-2 and for those taken pursuant to Article L. 3511-7.
Article L3512-2
Infringements of the provisions of Articles L. 3511-2, L. 3511-3 and L. 3511-6 are punishable by 100 000 euros fine. In the event of prohibited propaganda, sponsorship, advertising or patronage, the maximum fine may be increased to 50% of the amount spent on the illegal operation.
In the event of a repeat offense, the court may prohibit for a period of one to five years the sale of the products that were the subject of the illegal operation.
The court orders, if necessary, the suppression, the removal or the confiscation of the advertising prohibited at the expense of the offenders.
The court may, having regard to the circumstances of the case, decide that the legal persons are wholly or partly jointly and severally liable for the payment of the fines and the legal costs charged to their directors or their servants.
The cessation of advertising may be ordered either on the requisition of the public prosecutor or ex officio by the investigating judge or the court hearing the proceedings. The measure thus taken is enforceable notwithstanding all remedies. Release may be given by the court which ordered it or which is seized of the file. The measure ceases to have effect in the event of a decision of dismissal or acquittal.
Decisions on applications for release may be appealed to the investigating chamber or the court of appeal depending on whether they have been pronounced by an investigating judge or by the court hearing the applications. prosecution.
The investigating chamber or the court of appeal rules within ten days of receipt of the documents.
Article L3512-3
Legal entities may be held criminally liable, under the conditions set out in Article 121-2 of the Penal Code, for the offenses provided for in Articles L. 3512-2 and L. 3512-2-1.
In the event of prohibited propaganda, sponsorship, advertising or patronage, the second sentence of the first paragraph of Article L. 3512-2 is applicable.
In addition, the second, third, fifth and sixth paragraphs of Article L. 3512-2 shall apply, in the event of criminal proceedings brought against a legal person or of a conviction pronounced against it.
Article L3512-4
The agents mentioned in Article L. 1312-1 of this Code, Articles L. 8112-1, L. 8112-3 and L. 8112-5 of the Labor Code and III of Article L. 231- 2 of the Rural Code and Sea Fisheries shall ensure compliance with Articles L. 3511-2-1, L. 3511-7 and L. 3511-7-1 of this Code and the regulations adopted for its application and carry out research and the finding of infringements of these provisions.
To this end, they each have, for their own purposes, the prerogatives recognized by Articles L. 1312-1 of this Code, L. 8113-1 to L. 8113-5 and L. 8113-7 of the Code of Labor, and L. 231-2-1 of the Rural Code and Sea Fisheries and the texts adopted for their application.
The municipal police officers, the rangers, the surveillance agents of Paris as well as the agents of the city of Paris in charge of a police service mentioned, respectively, to articles L. 511-1, L. 521-1, L. 523-1 and L. 531-1 of the Internal Security Code may report in writing the infringements of Articles L. 3511-2-1, L. 3511-7 and L. 3511-7-1 of the present code and regulations made for their application, when they are committed on the municipal territory, in the territory of the city of Paris or in the territory for which they are sworn and where they do not require 'investigation.
Such agents may, in order to find an infringement of Article L. 3511-2-1, require the client to prove his majority by producing any official document bearing a photograph.
