European governments are debating whether to introduce tougher regulations on zero-tobacco heat sticks, reports Reuters.

Big tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) had launched this new type of sticks made from nicotine-infused substances such as rooibos tea, to get around the EU ban on flavoured heated tobacco products.
According to Reuters, the European Commission is currently evaluating EU tobacco laws and said that any changes would be subject to the findings of that effort, public consultation and an impact assessment.
In certain countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Croatia governments are already looking into stronger regulations for the products.
“We plan to regulate them in future,” a spokesperson for Croatia’s health ministry said. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Federal Customs Authority in Germany said they were in a dispute with some manufacturers over whether existing tobacco tax laws cover the new products, reports Reuters.
BAT said it supports the introduction of evidence-based regulation and appropriate excise taxes for its zero-tobacco sticks and PMI said it also believes nicotine-containing cigarette alternative should be regulated and taxed appropriately.
Malcolm Saxton, senior consultant for chemistry at regulatory consultancy Broughton, said he believed the European Commission would close all loopholes next time the EU tobacco laws were updated. He added it was likely that tobacco companies would then have to prove their products were able to reduce the harms of smoking and not merely there to circumvent regulation, reports Reuters.