Heated Tobacco as a Novelty Tobacco Product Subject to Excise Duty: A Cross-country Comparison

Abstract

First prototypes of tobacco heaters were developed by the largest global tobacco companies as early as the 1980s. However, the first heat-not-burn tobacco products (not resembling the prototypes) were promoted on the market with success many years later – in 2014 in Japan, then in Switzerland, and in Italy. From the beginning, these products were offered for sale with the information that they were less risky for consumers, compared to traditional tobacco products. The first definition of novel tobacco products, which included heated tobacco products (HTPs), was part of the so-called Tobacco Directive (TPD). However, HTPs are not yet a subject to TPD norms. Therefore, each Member State is free to apply the excise tax rates to HTPs. Currently, there is a discussion in the EU on harmonizing excise tax policy also with regard to heated tobacco. The article discusses the current legal status of HTPs at the level of EU law, as well as in light of legal systems of selected Member States representing a diversified approach in the field of excise policy towards this category of tobacco products.