Is your vape TPD compliant?

If you live in a European country and vape, you've probably heard of TBD and, quite recently, TBD compliance. In this post, we look into the Tobacco Products Directive initiative, what it does and what it means for vapers and vape shops.

What is TPD?

TPD is short for Tobacco Products Directive, a bill designed to regulate the tobacco and e-cigarette industries in the EU. Regulations pertaining to the e-cigarette industry can be found in Article 20 of the document, which has become the foundation for vaping regulations in the UK and most other EU countries.

Some of the key points mentioned in the Directive are:

• 10ml e-liquid limit per bottle (e-liquid bottles can only be legally sold if they don't contain over 10ml of vape juice)
• 2ml e-liquid limit for tanks (tanks in vaping devices can not go over the capacity of 2ml)
• 20mg/ml limit on nicotine levels (the concentration of nicotine in e-liquid can not go over 2% or 20mg/ml. Generally, nic salt e-liquids can go up to as high as 50 mg/ml)
• Packaging requirements (all e-liquids must come with warning labels)
• A 6-month notification period (new vaping products must be notified six months before they are allowed to be legally sold).
• Emission testing for all e-liquids (all e-liquids must undergo special testing prior to being legally sold. The testing is quite expensive and puts limitations on the size of companies that are able to sell e-liquids).

So, how do you know if your vape gear is TPD compliant?

TBD regulations concern both e-liquids and vaping kits.

Here’s how to tell if your e-liquid is TBD compliant:

• The e-liquid bottle has to be under or 10ml.
• It has to come in a box with a warning leaflet.
• The nozzle on the bottle must be at least 1 cm long and release not more than 20 drops per minute.
• The e-liquid must have an ECID (European Community Identification Number) and must be registered on the MHRA (The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) website.
• There should be a warning on the packaging saying: "This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance".

Here’s how to tell if your vape tank is TBD compliant:

• The tank must not go over the capacity of 2ml of e-liquid.
• It must have an ECID (European Community Identification Number) and be registered on the MHRA (The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) website.
• There must be a warning label on the packaging saying "this product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance. The following warning applies when the product is used with e-liquids containing nicotine". The second part of the warning is added because the vaping device does not actually contain nicotine when initially purchased.
• Some atomizers in TBD compliant tanks also undergo emissions testing. However, you won't find any information on that on the label of the product — the only way to check if the atomizer has been tested for emissions would be to look up the model on the MHRA website.

How important is it that your vape is TBD compliant?

It depends.

Some TBD regulations seem to be openly hindering for vape businesses and confined for vapers: for instance, the 10ml limits on e-liquid bottles and nicotine level restrictions.

With that, having a mechanism in place for regulating the quality of e-liquids is something that is truly reassuring. This will significantly reduce the chances of dangerous or low-quality ingredients making their way into your vape juice — which is especially important amidst the recent black market e-liquid issues.

Will all vape gear now be TBD compliant?

Probably not. And this will largely depend on how many resources will be used to enforce TBDr regulations across the industry.

As the new regulations settle in and even after that, there will probably be vape shops that will still sell unregulated e-liquids and vape kits. And it may be up to consumers to go the extra step of checking whether your vape gear is TBD compliant.