AmCham Bulgaria addressed the President of the National Assembly, the Chairs of the relevant Commissions: of the Economy and Investment Policy; of Healthcare; Youth and Sports; Demography Policy, Children, and Family, and copied to the Budget and Finance one, arguing the Draft Law for the Amendment and Supplementation of the Tobacco and Related Products Act, bearing reference number 51‑654‑01‑5 of January 19, 2026, proposed by a group of Members of Parliament from the parliamentary group “BSP – United Left.” This draft introduces a ban on entire categories of products containing nicotine.
“We are aware that the concerned industry has argued the complexity of the topic and has presented numerous solid arguments from legal, market, and consumer perspectives. Nevertheless, the Draft Law amending the Tobacco and Related Products Act was adopted at first reading by one of the participating committees – the Youth and Sports Committee on January 28, 2026,” the position says.
It goes on: “We fully understand the concern for the current young generation and the care for future generations, which are articulated in the motives of the Draft Law. However, we are once again faced with an example which, although driven by good intentions, suffers from a series of shortcomings, among which we note the following:
- Preparation of legislation intended to be adopted at high speed, without the necessary legal coherence or economic justification.
- Moving toward a complete ban of an entire group of products, while the motives selectively present only certain aspects of the wide-ranging issues related to the presence of such products on the market.
- Introducing a planned, centralized approach without market analysis and without real dialogue with the stakeholders.
Our position is that the Draft Law should not be considered, and we propose that it be withdrawn because, when examined as a whole and in detail, its existence in the legal framework does not create a real necessity for legislative changes; there is no feasibility analysis; the financial impact assessment is entirely missing or superficially described; the accompanying impact assessment is incomplete; it lacks the principle of proportionality; and the necessary compliance checks with EU law and several technical regulations are absent. These and numerous other arguments demonstrate its inconsistency as well as its potential market and fiscal harm.”