While the European Union has regulated advertising for electronic cigarettes, a real legal uncertainty has settled in the United Kingdom. Between putting forward measures for reducing risks and advertising, the limit seems difficult to see.
ASA CONFIRMS ANONYMOUS COMPLAINT AGAINST E-CIGARETTE STORE
The UK's advertising watchdog recently said that promotional campaigns urging people to quit smoking for better health may well be compromised by EU regulations.
A few days ago, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed an anonymous complaint about an ad in the magazine " The Journal For an electronic cigarette shop « Vape Station". After intense lobbying from the pharmaceutical industry, European Union regulations on tobacco and tobacco products prohibit vaping advertising in newspapers or magazines unless it is a publication dedicated to professionals.
In this case, the publisher and advertiser argued that no mark was identifiable. The ASA highlighted section 22.12 of the Advertising Practices Committee (CAP) code confirming that « Except for media that exclusively targets the commercial sector, advertisements that have the direct or indirect effect of promoting nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes and their unauthorized components as medications are not permitted in newspapers and magazines. "(See detail).
However, the use of the term "indirect" suggests certain flaws, for example it could encourage governments to promote vaping as a tool for reducing the risks of smoking and combustion.
To Christopher Snowdon, director at the Institute of Economic Affairs " The regulations are much worse than one could imagine because 
even a classic ad inviting smokers to switch to vaping would contravene the new EU tobacco product directive Adding " In the UK, if the government organizes a campaign to stop smoking while promoting vaping on television, it is breaking the law. This is utterly absurd"
For its part, the ASA is more cautious, according to them " It's still a legislative minefield, but there are still blanks to fill". Moreover, the Advertising Standards Authority could organize a consultation to resolve the problem.
There is some evidence that the government could liberalize regulations after Brexit. Indeed, the five-year tobacco control plan aims to "maximize the availability of safer alternatives to smoking»Including e-cigarettes. It would therefore be difficult to meet this political objective while retaining the draconian regulations of the European Union and continuing to consider vaping as a tobacco product.
