ACS has welcomed a new report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee on e-cigarettes, which urges the Government to maintain a separate approach to taxation for e-cigarettes and tobacco products due to the significantly lower risk that e-cigarettes pose to health.

The report claims that while e-cigarettes are estimated as being 95% less harmful than conventional cigarettes, they are often overlooked by the NHS as a tool to help people stop smoking.

Recommendations from the Science and Technology Committee report include:

• The level of taxation on smoking-related products should directly correspond to the health risks that they present, to encourage less harmful consumption. Applying that logic, e-cigarettes should remain the least-taxed and conventional cigarettes the most, with heat-not-burn products falling between the two.
• The Government should conduct a review of regulations on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products which are currently applied under EU legislation, to identify scope for change post-Brexit, including an evidence-based review of the case for discontinuing the ban on ‘snus’ oral tobacco.
• There should be a wider shift to a more risk proportionate regulatory environment where regulations, advertising rules and tax/ duties reflect the evidence on the relative harms of the various e-cigarette and tobacco products available.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “E-cigarettes are an important and growing product category in the convenience sector, and are used by customers as an effective way of transitioning away from traditional tobacco products. We welcome the Committee’s recommendations on a sensible long term approach to e-cigarette regulations, and encourage the Government to avoid increasing taxation on these products which would make them less appealing as an alternative to smoking.”

ACS responded to a written call for evidence during the Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry in November, which is available here: https://cdn.acs.org.uk/public/lobbying/acs_submission_-_science_and_technology_e-cigarette_inquiry.pdf

The full report and recommendations are available here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news-parliament-2017/e-cigarettes-report-publication-17-19/