Criteria

The e-cigarette category includes product bans (up to 30 points), advertising restrictions (up to 10 points), taxes (20 points) and vaping bans (up to 40 points) with a total of 100 points available.

Sales restrictions. Up to 30 points are given for bans on certain types of e-cigarettes and/or fluids. Full prohibition or the regulation of e-cigarettes as medical products would give 30 points, but e-cigarettes are now legal in all EU countries subject to different degrees of regulation. The EU’s Tobacco Products Directive sets limits on tank sizes, fluid strength, bottle size and several other product features, meaning that all TPD-compliant countries score at least 10 points. Further points are awarded for bans on flavours (up to 5 points), refillable e-cigarettes (5 points) and cross-border sales (5 points).

Advertising. Points are awarded according to the size and scope of advertising restrictions. All countries have to ban any form of e-cigarette advertising that can cross borders under the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive and therefore score at least 6 points. Further points are awarded for bans on purely domestic e-cigarette advertising.

Tax. Countries which place a specific tax on e-cigarettes (in addition to standard sales tax) score up to 20 points. Points are awarded according to the size of the tax as a proportion of the highest tax (adjusted for purchasing power), with the highest tax jurisdiction scoring 20.

Vaping ban. Up to 40 points are awarded for bans and restrictions on e-cigarette use (vaping) in public places. In countries where vaping is classed as smoking for the purpose of smoking bans, the score from the smoking ban subcategory in the tobacco index is used.