TPD compliant products are critical in protecting consumers’ health, among other benefits. One of the areas where TPD regulations are thoroughly enforced is vaping. From vape pens to e-liquid bottles and caps, there are multiple standards and regulatory controls set by the TPD that manufacturers, suppliers, and even consumers must follow.
This article reveals all about TPD Compliance as it relates to vaping, beginning from the TPD meaning.
What is TPD?
TPD stands for the Tobacco Products Directive. It’s a directive that regulates the sale and merchandising of tobacco related products in the European Union. The TPD was first created in 2001, but it was not until 2014 that the EU revised it to include e-cigarettes. By 2016, the directive came into full effect, and strong enforcements were made to ensure that vapes and electronic cigarettes followed it.
What is TPD Compliant?
This is the term for vape products/companies that fully comply with the TPD regulations. For instance, a TPD compliant vape juice has met every rule or regulation, most of which have to do with nicotine strength and ingredients.
The aims of the TPD include:
The TPD sets several regulations that affect the entire vaping community – consumers, producers, and retailers. Here are the key regulations:
MHRA means the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. This agency makes sure that medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet the required quality/safety standards. They also ensure that the supply chain for these items is safe and secure.
The TPD mandates all companies producing vapes and vape products to register with the agency. These companies are also required to notify the agency six months before releasing a new product for public sale.
The regulations for e-liquids include:
When it comes to vape juice bottles, there are restrictions on bottle size, caps, and other things. Here are the restrictions:
The restrictions for labeling include:
The TPD Restrictions on advertising slightly vary depending on the country. Here are the regulations for advertising vape products in the UK.
The easiest way to verify if your e-liquid is TPD Compliant is to check the label. Companies that follow TPD guidelines in making their products are always proud to announce it on their product labels. This strengthens their reputation/credibility and puts them on the good side of the law.
You can verify any vape product’s compliance with TPD by checking it against TPD guidelines. For instance, you can check how much addictive chemical and artificial colors are used in a vape liquid.
Not all countries are very active in enforcing the TPD guidelines, but TPD UK doesn’t take any chances.
Vape tanks are not exempted from the TPD restrictions. Here’s what the TPD stipulates on them:
To verify your vape tank’s compliance with TPD, simply check the volume of the tank and look for any substance warning stickers on it. If these 2 conditions are satisfied, the vape tank complies with TPD.
TPD regulations affect vapers to a considerable extent. Companies are forced to produce what the TPD prescribes rather than what the consumers want. In a region like the UK that strictly enforces these laws, you’ll find only TPD-regulated vape juice in supermarkets and stores.
Let’s say, for instance, you quit smoking, and you’ve gotten used to vaping high-chemical-concentration liquids. But then, you find out that all the stores in your area only sell 0.2% addictive chemical vape juices due to TPD guidelines. Situations like these can be disorienting and are what drive most consumers to seek DIY vape products.
Another thing most consumers do in situations like these is to use shortfills. These are 0% addictive chemical e-liquids to which customers can add their own chemical liquid/shot and then vape. That’s one easy way the vaping community bypasses TPD restrictions.
Although TPD is a legal requirement, there are many loopholes in the legislation, and some producers and importers have found a way around it. The TPD loopholes can be found in the following products:
When it comes to e-liquids, products only need to be TPD compliant if they contain the addictive chemical. To circumvent this regulation, producers have produced a range of short-fill products. Short-fills are also known as “shake and vape.”
The shortfills are addictive-free refills sold in 100ml bottles and are intentionally under-filled by the manufacturing company. They allow the consumer to fill up the bottle with e-liquids that contain the addictive chemical as well as taurine, and caffeine. Because this product is exempted from TPD regulations, producers get to skip restrictions on the size of the bottle and notification requirements. Consumers can purchase both the short-fill and an addictive-only e-liquid and mix the two to produce a addictive e-liquid refill.
One of the regulations of TPD restricts the size of the tanks to 2 ml. However, alongside the TPD-compliant tank, manufacturing companies often include a tube that the consumer can assemble with other parts to form a tank bigger than 2 ml. The tube isn’t subject to TPD restriction.
Squonk is a box mod made up of a battery and a bottle. The Squonk allows consumers to feed the attached RDA bottom-up instead of dripping from above. Consumers can then apply e-liquid to the RDA easily.
We take TPD guidelines very seriously in creating products at Nexeem. All our 10ml bottles are TPD compliant. For instance, you’ll never find a Nexeem bottle without proper child-proof caps or tamper bands. You can check out our full array of bottles here.
All of that for a price lower than you would expect!
