Refillable electronic cigarettes could be banned in the European Union under an agreement to regulate the devices for the first time.
Despite intensive lobbying from the burgeoning e-cigarette industry, an EU-wide ban could be imposed if at least three member states prohibit refillable e-cigarettes.
Under the deal struck between the 28 governments and the European Parliament, both sides agreed not to regulate e-cigarettes — which includes refillable and disposable — as medicinal products, as initially proposed by the European Commission.
Instead, they will be treated as tobacco products if they contain less than 20mg of nicotine per ml of liquid and their advertising will be heavily curbed, in line with tobacco, when the changes are enforced from 2016. Unlike tobacco companies, e-cigarette businesses may advertise