Suitcases of money versus a loophole in the system. Commission in favor of a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes and sachets

• The Sejm Health Committee has adopted the draft law on e-cigarettes without amendments.
• This concerns provisions aimed at limiting the sale of nicotine-free e-cigarettes and tobacco pouches to children and adolescents.
• The MPs were unanimous, because it is about fast-tracking the process, so that the act comes into force before the summer holidays.
• The committee meeting was held by decision of the presidium without the social side

The meeting began with the Chairwoman of the Committee, Marta Golbik (KO), informing about the details of the motion submitted by MP Janusz Cieszyński for the CBA to supervise the legislative process.

As she said, she requested a legal opinion on this matter and received information that at the current stage of work in the Sejm, there is no possibility of covering the government bill with the anti-corruption protection of the CBA based on the guidelines. She informed that on May 2, Cieszyński applied to the Prime Minister for anti-corruption protection, in connection with the decision of the presidium of the commission, its session will be held without the presence of the social side.

Janusz Cieszyński explained that the reason for contacting the CBA was that "there were very aggressive lobbying activities on this matter before the previous committee meetings".

- It's hard to expect that during a committee meeting someone will come here with a suitcase of money. No, this is happening outside. It's not about what happens in the Sejm, but outside the Sejm - he said. He added that he was surprised that there were no appropriate procedures and that he had to write to the prime minister asking for the process to be covered by anti-corruption protection in a case "that does not require much thought, that the gigantic interests of tobacco companies are something that should be covered by such protection". He added that he requested that until there is information about the protection, the entire legislative process be suspended.

Chairwoman Marta Golbik assessed that such actions are delaying the introduction of this act, "because unfortunately this is how it looks". - You found a loophole in the system, i.e. the possibility of introducing anti-corruption protection at the stage of legislative work - she emphasized. As she said, the act was covered by anti-corruption protection at the stage of government work, and now the point is to prevent children from having access to e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets during the holidays.

Marta Golbik admitted that the act should be covered by such protection, but "if there is no such possibility, then instead of prolonging work on this act, which is not complicated, let's introduce it as soon as possible to limit children's access to e-cigarettes."

Hence the decision to have no social side, so that no one would disrupt the work of the meeting.

Deputy Minister of Health Wojciech Konieczny also recalled that the protection was at the stage of government work.

Deputy Minister of Health Wojciech Konieczny emphasized that during the notification process the commission submitted comments, among others, on the definition, but these comments do not affect the suspension of the legislative process. - No significant inconsistencies with the directive were found - he informed.

However, if significant amendments are adopted to the project, it will have to be submitted for re-notification.

MP Joanna Wicha (Left) stated that the act requires amendments and has comments on it, but she will not submit them because it is important for it to enter into force as soon as possible and to start functioning during the summer holidays to protect young people. - We promised that we would introduce this act before the summer holidays. It mainly concerns young people (...) - she reminded.

As she said, she would propose introducing a ban on flavoured nicotine sachets, if they were to be used at all, setting the minimum number of sachets in a package at 20, "because it is easier to buy one sachet than 20" and reducing the nicotine content from 20 to 6 mg.

She asked about further restrictions. The Deputy Minister of Health admitted that the next draft, which will go to public consultation this month, includes a ban on flavoured sachets, but the proposed act does not include a total ban on their sale. He added that the changes proposed in the next draft will require a longer notification.

- This project has been approved by the government work programming team, so it is now officially being processed - informed Wojciech Konieczny.

Also MP Janusz Cieszyński proposed an amendment to ensure that the sanitary inspection, not the trade inspection, would be responsible for controlling the sale of e-cigarettes, because the State Sanitary Inspection is 17 times more numerous and "will be able to effectively support these activities".

Deputy Minister Wojciech Konieczny explained that the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station is involved in the fight against the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, but has limited competences when it comes to controlling trade in these products and the competent body here is the Trade Inspection. The Office for Chemical Substances and the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station have other tasks resulting from their competences within their scopes.

As he said, the issue of supervision is an important point in the project, so changing the method of supervision would require another notification. These arguments caused the amendment to be withdrawn by the applicant.

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