ISO for e-cigs

GLOBAL manufacturing standards are being developed for the e-cig industry.

The move to develop an international standard by the International Organization for Standardization was revealed by Gerry Stimson, emeritus professor Imperial College London who worked with the British Standards Institution group on e-cig standards.

This, however, could take up to three or four years to develop, he says.

Meanwhile, a European Standard for e-cigs is being developed through the European Committee for Standardization. Once ready, it will supersede national standards across Europe. That is probably two to two-and-a-half years away, he estimates.

He believes such standards will clear up the murkiness of existing regulations.

“Having a good global standard is a good idea but if it is set too high, it’ll slow down innovation and favour big companies. That reduces the choice of products.”

While the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive sets some perimeters around the product, it doesn’t go into specifics. The standard, on the other hand, will elaborate on details and technicalities like the manufacturing process and quality, Stimson explains. The processes are different but they are linked.

“The TPD’s vague and crude – a legal framework of what you can or cannot do, and what you should do. It’s like saying, ‘You must make the washing machine safe’. How do you do that? Standards will tell you how.”

Meanwhile, consumers will just have to trust the industry to deliver products of a good standard. And, he believes, it will because companies don’t want to kill their customers.