The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading a law establishing the rules of production, circulation, as well as rules and forms of conformity assessment of non-smoking tobacco products in Russia. The document was initiated by the Government of the Russian Federation.
The Technical Regulations of the Customs Union establish that before the adoption of an international treaty to establish a ban on the production, import and circulation of non-smoking tobacco products on the territory of the Union, these processes must be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the member States of the Customs Union and the single Economic Space. In this regard, the law provides for the establishment of rules for the production, circulation, as well as rules and forms of conformity assessment of non-smoking tobacco products in the territory of the Russian Federation. The relevant technical regulations will be called the "Technical Regulations for non-smoking tobacco products".
The document establishes new requirements for ingredients used in the production of non-smoking tobacco products, reporting, as well as information for consumers and conformity assessment of this type of product. Thus, the use of food products, additives and flavorings allowed for use in food products in the EAEU and Russia is allowed as ingredients of non-smoking tobacco products. The manufacturer or importer of non-smoking tobacco products is obliged to submit a report containing information on its composition annually no later than March 31 of the year following the reporting calendar year.
The information printed on the packaging must not contain terms, descriptions, signs, symbols or other designations that directly or indirectly create a false impression that a non-smoking tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products. The information printed on the packaging or leaflet should not contain images of food products, medicines, medicinal plants, as well as words that directly or indirectly cause consumers to associate non-smoking tobacco products with food products.
The law retains the provisions on granting the Government of the Russian Federation the authority to approve regulatory legal acts establishing requirements for samples of special (excise) stamps applied to consumer packaging of non-smoking tobacco products and tobacco products, their price, rules for their manufacture, acquisition, accounting, identification, destruction, as well as requirements for purchasers of special (excise) stamps.
According to the amendments adopted in the second reading, the use of substances aimed at increasing the attractiveness of non-smoking tobacco products is not allowed as ingredients: flavorings, as well as dyes and additives that enhance tobacco (nicotine) dependence, including nicotine salts, ammonium and ammonium derivatives, ammonia, acetaldehyde, sugars (using sugar to replace sugar lost during processing is allowed under the condition, that this does not lead to the appearance of taste and/or aroma or to their enhancement or does not enhance the effect of tobacco (nicotine) dependence, toxic effects or carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic properties of the products).
The law "On the Protection of Citizens' health from exposure to ambient tobacco smoke, the effects of tobacco consumption or consumption of nicotine-containing products" is amended accordingly in terms of fixing the following terms: "nasvai" is a type of non-smoking tobacco product designed for sucking and made from tobacco, lime and other ingredients; "sucking tobacco (snus)" is a type of non-smoking tobacco product intended for sucking and completely or partially made from purified tobacco dust and (or) a fine fraction of cut tobacco with or without the addition of other ingredients. The law "On State Regulation of the production and turnover of tobacco products, tobacco products, nicotine-containing products and raw materials for their production" is amended to completely ban the production of tobacco and snus in the Russian Federation. Currently, there is a ban in the Russian Federation regarding the trafficking of these substances.
It is envisaged that the nicotine content in non-smoking tobacco products should not exceed 10 mg per product.
The law will enter into force on March 1, 2025, with the exception of provisions for which a different date has been set for their entry into force.
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