European Union

A challenge to the validity of the e-cigarette regulations in the European Union’s (EU) Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) 2014 was dismissed on all grounds by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Pillbox 38 (UK) Ltd. (trading under the name "Totally Wicked"), an e-cigarette manufacturer, brought a judicial review against the UK government challenging its intention to implement the TPD into domestic law on the basis that it claimed the TPD was not valid. The TPD Article 20 sets out requirements for e-cigarettes for all EU Member States. The UK court hearing the case asked the CJEU for a reasoned opinion on the validity of Article 20.

The CJEU found the TPD to be valid and upheld all of the e-cigarette requirements, including health warnings; a ban on most e-cigarette advertising; a limit on nicotine levels and amounts and e-liquid container sizes; a requirement to notify the government before introducing a new product; and the requirement to include a leaflet with the product containing information such as a list of ingredients. Firstly, because the purpose of the Directive is to harmonise regulations across the EU, the court found that there were significant divergences between the regulations in different Member States which justified the EU regulating the market. The court found that it was permissible to regulate e-cigarettes differently than other tobacco products in part because e-cigarettes are novel products and there is insufficient information on their health effects. The identified and potential risks linked to the use of e-cigarettes means the EU may act according to the precautionary principle.