Here is a press release from the association " Helvetic Vape After the TAF ruled that the vapers do not have an interest worthy of protection that the nicotine vaping products can be bought in Switzerland.
" By a stop 22 March 2016, the Federal Administrative Court (TAF) considers that vapers do not have an interest worthy of protection that nicotine-containing vaping products can be purchased in Switzerland. The TAF considers the appeal of vapers against the 2015-3088 decisionof the Federal Office for Food Health and Veterinary Affairs (FSVO).
As a reminder, the FSVO's general decision ratifies the ban on the import and sale of nicotine-containing vaping products on Swiss territory. Prohibition which was based, until then, only on a simple administrative letter of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) without any real legal value. The FSVO considers that there is a overriding public interest in preventing the sale of nicotine-containing vaping products, arguing without proof that these products may constitute a danger to health (a priori the health of those who might buy and consume them).
The TAF justifies its stop by a lack of direct interest from vapers. The limitation of the right of vapers to have easy access to vaping products containing nicotine in Switzerland "is only an indirect (theoretical) consequence of the measures adopted by the FSVO". According to the TAF this "indirect consequence" is insufficient, according to case law, to recognize vapers the right to appeal because the decision of the FSVO does not prohibit the consumption of nicotine vaping products. Only sellers of vaping products would have a vested interest.
The association Helvetic Vape regrets the conclusions of the court. Every deed of sale necessarily requires two parties, a seller and a buyer. By prohibiting the sale of nicotine-containing vaping products, the FSVO seeks only to prevent the purchase and limit the consumption of these products since it justifies its decision by an unproven public health problem. The FSVO is not concerned with the health of the vaping product vendors in its decision but with that of potential buyers.
The economic harm to vapers caused by the additional costs of the personal import obligation for nicotine liquids was not taken into account. As well as the submission of vapers resident in Switzerland to changes in foreign legislation. The TAF did not pronounce on the substance of the case to refuse the right to resort to vapers but only on the form. The arguments concerning risk reduction and public health put forward by the vapers to counter the erroneous assertions of the FSVO decision will therefore be excluded from the discussions. Only commercial arguments will prevail in parallel appeals against the FSVO decision.
The main practical consequences of the ban on the sale of nicotine-containing vaping products in Switzerland are: the protection of the market for combustible tobacco products, a ridiculously low number of vapers compared to the countries where these products are sold, the development of a black market for nicotine products; and a smoking prevalence rate that remains at 25% of the population since 8 years, resulting in 9'500 premature deaths each year. This prohibition on the sale and purchase of a nicotine risk reduction and harm reduction tool is nonsense impossible to justify as long as the tobacco products are sold over the counter. Especially since tobacco products, which always contain nicotine, are subject to the same article 37 ODAlOUs (817.02) which serves as the basis for the ban on vaping products containing nicotine.
For clear information on current scientific knowledge about vaping products, the most comprehensive source of information is the Public Health England report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-an-evidence-update. Report that the FOPH still refuses to take into account on the page of its website devoted to vaping products, thus denying the right of the Swiss population to complete and impartial information from the federal administration. "
Source : Helvetic Vape
