My company’s Contribution to the TRIS Notification
2023/0471/LT on Lithuania’s Draft Law No. XIVP-2791(2)
My company would like to contribute its strong disagreement to Lithuania’s Draft Law No XIVP-2791(2)
amending Article 9(2) of Law No I-1143 on the control of tobacco, tobacco products and related products.
According to the statement of grounds submitted by the Lithuanian authorities, the law proposes a “ban on
placing on the market e-cigarettes and e-cigarette fillers with liquid adapted for filling electronic cigarettes if this
liquid contains sugar and/or sweeteners”. Furthermore, the draft law intends to “fill the gaps in the current
regulation when electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarette refill containers”, which bans e-cigarettes’ liquid
flavours other than tobacco.
My company is alarmed by this draft law, which virtually bans all e-liquids by forbidding the use of essential and
indispensable substances for their production.
My company believes that the ban of sweetening substances runs several risks:
● The effective ban of e-liquids in the Lithuanian market will lead to a boom in black market activities with
dangerous, non–compliant products;
● It will lead to a rise in smoking rates;
● It will put at risk jobs in the Lithuanian vaping industry and would lead to a reduction in government
revenues by reducing tax collection.
Overall, GATVAP respectfully calls on the Lithuanian authorities to refrain from the sugar and sweetener ban as
it is and to re-examine it in the light of the information we provide in this
1. The sugar and sweeteners ban will severely impact the vaping industry and
cause a black market boom
Currently, the vast majority of e-liquids are manufactured with substances containing sugar or sweeteners. One
of the main components of e-liquids is vegetable glycerine, which is vaporised during heating. Vegetable glycerin
is 100% derived from plant materials such as soya, palm or coconut oil. Due to this plant-based origin, vegetable
glycerine always contains sugars in its chemical composition. Vegetable glycerol itself, which is a necessary
component of the e-liquid, does not emit any characteristic smell or taste but would be prohibited if the Draft
law were to be adopted.
A ban of sugar and sweeteners will not only outlaw virtually all the e-liquids currently placed on the Lithuanian
market, but also restrict the range of e-liquids that can legally be created so severely that it would basically
amount to full ban of e-liquids. Such a ban in Lithuania is an extreme measure that would gravely impact the
vape shops SMEs in the country, threatening their very existence.
Beyond their economic consequences for both SMEs and governmental fiscal revenues, banning e-liquids will
create a rise in black markets selling non-compliant and potentially dangerous products. In Estonia, the
Parliament actually introduced a bill to roll back a ban on e-liquid flavours, stating that due to the use of black
market products, “the health risk of consumers has increased significantly, which was until then mitigated by the
mandatory laboratory control of electronic cigarette liquid established in the EU Tobacco Product Directive”.
The consequences of this ban are not consistent with the public health goals that the Lithuanian government
intends to reach.
2. Sugar and sweeteners ban will lead to rising smoking rates and will threaten
public health
Many independent and publicly funded studies have highlighted the harm reduction potential of e-cigarettes: a
report commissioned by Public Health England found that using e-cigarettes is 95% less harmful than smoking
combustible cigarettes, and a study financed by the prestigious Institut Pasteur, confirmed that vaping is
significantly less carcinogenic than smoking and constitutes an acceptable replacement for traditional tobacco.
Other sources pointing to the harm reduction potential in vaping can be found in studies by the Royal College of
Physicians or published in the British Medical Journal. Overall, e-cigarette reduced the risk of cancer for
smokers.
Vaping products also play a critical role in helping adult smokers to quit traditional tobacco. Peer reviewed
studies by the American Journal of Public Health and research led by the University of Oxford highlight the
smoking cessation potential of e-cigarettes. The European Parliament considered, in its report on strengthening
Europe in the fight against cancer adopted in February 2022, that “electronic cigarettes could allow some
smokers to progressively quit smoking”.
For these reasons, we can expect that implementing the ban of sugar and sweeteners, which amounts to a near-
total ban of e-liquids, will deprive smokers of a safer alternative and lead to a rise in tobacco smoking rates.
This draft law will therefore do more harm to Lithuanian public health than good.
3. The authorities does not provide evidence on the effects of sugar and
sweeteners on youth uptake of vaping
Draft Law’s notification statement: “The law was drafted in order to [...] reduce the attractiveness of electronic
cigarettes and e-cigarette refill containers for young people.”
The draft law’s statement provides no evidence on the alleged effect of sugar and sweeteners on the
attractiveness of vaping. The notification statement appears to make an unjustified link between the
sugar/sweeteners and e-cigarettes’ taste, despite vegetable glycerine not emitting any characteristic aroma as
explained above.
Moreover, the notification statement provides incorrect and mostly irrelevant information with regards to the
draft law’s provisions. The statement mentions, for instance, that:
- “The draft law therefore proposes to extend the concept of ‘added smell or taste’ to e-cigarettes”.
- “The draft law proposes to specify in sub-statutory legal acts the specific authorised chemicals that give
the flavour of tobacco to electronic cigarettes and their refill containers and to indicate the CAS numbers
of these substances.”
- “[I]t is proposed to exempt electronic cigarettes and their nicotine-free refill containers from the health
warning requirement.”
All of the above sentences have absolutely no relation with the Draft Law No XIVP-2791(2), which exclusively
concerns the ban on sugar and sweeteners in e-liquids.
In addition, the statement “It is proposed to prohibit the placing on the market of electronic cigarettes and their
refill containers with an added flavour other than that of tobacco” is incorrect, as such a ban is already
applicable in Lithuania since 1 July 2022.
The draft law is devoid of any clear justification for the sugar and sweetener ban, which is therefore not an
appropriate measure to reduce youth access to e-cigarettes.
4. The already restrictive e-cigarette legislation in Lithuania makes the draft
law disproportionate
Lithuania has one of the strictest legislation in the EU with regards to e-cigarettes. Since 1 July 2022, e-liquids
flavours other than tobacco are prohibited in the country. A licence is necessary to sell vaping products,
ensuring that only compliant products can be sold in stores. Online sales, whether domestic or cross-border, are
banned. In addition, another draft law (XIVP-2590(3); TRIS notification 2023/0467/LT) provides for regulations
to ensure that only e-cigarette liquids complying with a specific list of substances are considered to be tobacco
flavoured.
Given the restrictive e-cigarette legislation in Lithuania, the prohibition of sugar and sweeteners in e-liquid
constitutes a disproportionate measure that will have disastrous consequences for Lithuanian vaping SMEs that
are already complying with heavy regulations.
As a comparison, in Denmark, a country with similarly harsh e-cigarette legislation, the e-liquid flavour ban
implemented in 2020 lead to an increase in the smoking rates. The Danish Health Authority highlighted that the
percentage of 15-29 year-olds who smoked tobacco cigarettes went from 23% in 2020 to 25% in 2022.
This example indicates that the sugar and sweeteners ban in Lithuania may not only be ineffective in reaching
the public health goals of the Lithuanian authorities, but is also likely to be counterproductive.
Conclusion
This draft law shows a lack of understanding of the technical and chemical characteristics of e-cigarettes, as well
as a disregard for the catastrophic consequences for Lithuania’s public health and for the country’s vaping SMEs.
Banning sugar and sweetener chemicals, which are necessary for the manufacturing of e-liquids, will lead to a
quasi-ban of e-cigarettes. It will lead to a boom in black market sales of dangerous products and to a surge of
tobacco smoking by depriving smokers of a less harmful alternative. Finally, this measure, not justified by any
scientific evidence, is bound to be ineffective in addressing its purported goal of limiting young people’s access
to vaping.
Against this background, my company respectfully calls on the Lithuanian authorities to withdraw the sugar and
sweeteners ban envisioned in this draft law. We encourage the Lithuanian government to adopt measures
adapted to the pursued aim and based on thorough scientific evidence.
