Ensuring sustainability and dissemination of TPD and JATC activities in Europe

Abstract

The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is a complex binding European Union (EU) legislative document. The aim of the TPD is to preserve a high level of European public health and support the functioning of the internal market of tobacco products in the EU. The European Commission concluded that the European Union Member states need additional assistance in this daunting task. Over the 3 years period (2017-2020) the TPD will come into full swing and the wealth of information that will be available to regulators will be unprecedented. The Joint Action for Tobacco Control (JATC) presents action oriented, evidence-based initiative that should provide support the implementation of the TPD. This collaboration between 30 partners from 23 European countries is funded through the European Commission's 3rd Health program. The aim of the JATC is to harmonize the regulation of tobacco products in all EU Member States, through the analysis of data submitted by the tobacco industry to EU regulators and development of actions needed to take place in tobacco product licensing and regulation. Objective of the symposium is to provide information on the TPD and JATC and to foster communication and collaboration between relevant stakeholders. The symposium target audiences are EU Regulators and Policymakers, International and National Tobacco Control Stakeholders and researchers who will benefit from the findings and the project's broader policy implications - as the largest current European Public Health Policy in implementation. The nine work packages of the JATC are Coordination, Dissemination, Evaluation, Integration into National Policies and Sustainability, EU Common Entry Gate (EUCEG) data, Extraction and Handling, Tobacco Product Evaluation, E-cigarette Product Evaluation, Laboratory Verification, Collaboration and Analyses and Additives Subject to Enhanced Reporting Obligations. Under the TPD (2014/40/EU), manufacturers and importers of tobacco products, have to submit key information to the authorities in the Member States in which they plan to market the products. This submission of information is performed through the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG). While the EU-CEG IT-system is owned by the European Commission, each EU MS own their data in the EU-CEG. TPD states that EU MS should share data with other EU MS and with the Commission. Furthermore, this data is, to the extent possible, to be released to the public. Actions within this package bring significant added value as it addresses the issue of tobacco product monitoring at an EU wide level - an activity that would be impossible to be done by one, or a few, EU MS by themselves. One of the specific aims of the JATC is dissemination of information and project's results to the public, regulators and researchers. Dissemination of information relevant to Tobacco Products Directive and tobacco control in general is essential for maximizing the impact of the JATC. Finding the most appropriate way of dissemination with protection of sensitive data is of great importance. However, despite the numerous available communication tools, dissemination of information is challenging. Funding JATC has received funding from the European Union's Health Programme (2014-2020).