Harm Reduction: Differentiated Regulation in the Tobacco Debate in Bulgaria and in Brussels

| Full text of the report | English version |

An important moment is approaching for tobacco and tobacco product consumers in the European Union. The European Commission is expected to present a draft revision of the Tobacco Excise Duty Directive 2011/64/EU in December this year. In the coming months, the European institutions, represented by the Council through the Member States and the European Parliament, will debate and work together with the Commission to define new rules and minimum requirements for the levels of taxation of tobacco products in the EU.

Adopting the harm reduction principle as a guiding principle in tobacco smoke control policy involves adopting and implementing specific policies in the areas of health, taxation and direct consumer regulation of the sector. Here are a few suggestions in this direction, which it would be advisable to include in the updated version of the Excise Duty Directive 2011/64/EU, as well as in the subsequent update of the Tobacco and Related Products Directive 2014/40/EC:

- Introduction of the harm reduction principle as a complementary but also key principle in tobacco policy;

- Promoting a policy for the consumption of smoke-free products with a lower risk profile;

- Replacing the precautionary principle with the innovation principle, where relevant;

- Differentiated treatment of non-combustible alternatives, together with all innovative less harmful products, different from traditional tobacco products;

- Revision of the rules for minimum excise duty rates so that they reflect the difference in risk profile between different products;

- Using calculations for possible savings in terms of lower mortality and morbidity when preparing estimates for the taxation of excisable goods.

In general, our recommendation is to adopt a harm reduction paradigm as a replacement for outdated and outdated views and policies of prohibitions and restrictions. Such an approach includes differential treatment of innovative less harmful products from a regulatory perspective and specifically from a tax perspective.

For more information, read the full text of our recommendation.

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