Tag: Verband des eZigarettenhandels

New Managing Director at German E-Cig Association

Michal Dobrajc (left) and Oliver Pohland (Photo: VdeH)
Oliver Pohland has been named managing director of the German e-cigarette association Verband des e-Zigarettenhandels (VdeH). He succeeds Michal Dobrajc, who has served in the position since Dec. 21, 2018.
Pohland has years of experience in the private sector and political association management. He also has an extensive network at the state, federal and EU levels. Most recently, Pohland served as the federal manager of the THW Federal Association.
Pohland, who successfully quit smoking through vaping, plans to advocate for reasonable regulation of vapor products at all levels. In his view, the beleaguered vaping sector should be given an opportunity to grow and assist smokers in switching to less harmful nicotine products.
Earlier this year, the VdeH campaigned vigorously against government plans to significantly raise taxes of vapor products.
“I am really looking forward to my new job,” said Pohland in a statement. “As managing director, I will use all my expertise and experience to create a legal framework that benefits all member companies. My goal is to give the members of VdeH a strong voice at all levels of politics.”
Dobrajc, who will continue chairing the VdeH for the time being, said he looked forward to working with Pohland.
“In Oliver we have gained an experienced expert on the German and European political landscape,” he said. “I am confident that the VdeH will benefit from his pragmatic and honest way of working.”
September 1, 2021
Trade Body Slams German Vapor Tax

Photo: katatonia
The German association for the e-cigarette trade VdeH has sharply criticized the passage by specialist committees in Parliament of a tobacco tax reform bill that calls for significant tax hikes on vapor products including nicotine-free variants.
The plans will not only boost the black market but also destroy numerous small and medium-sized businesses, according to VdeH.
“The mere fact that e-cigarette liquids are generally taxed more heavily than tobacco cigarettes and thus ignore the 95 percent lower potential for damage is insane health policy,” said VdeH managing director Michal Dobrajc in a German-language statement. Taxing nicotine-free products as well as cigarettes defies common sense, he added.

If you are serious about reducing the smoking rate, then you have to support the industry that is making a significant contribution to reducing it instead of destroying it.
Michal Dobrajc, managing director, VdeH
Dobrajc said Germany should learn from the experience of other countries that were forced to lower their vapor taxes as vapers returned to smoking and anticipated revenues failed to materialize.
“The Tobacco Tax Modernization Act is a disaster in both health and economic terms,” said Dobrajc. “If you are serious about reducing the smoking rate, then you have to support the industry that is making a significant contribution to reducing it instead of destroying it.”
June 10, 2021
Vape Group to Protest German E-Liquid Tax Plans

Photo: Nikolaus Bader from Pixabay
Germany planned e-cigarette tax is a health policy disaster that will destroy jobs and boost black market sales without generating significant additional revenues, according to the country’s e-cigarette Trade association VdeH.
Under the plans, e-liquids will attract a tax of €4 per 10 mL bottle from July 1, 2022. On Jan. 1, 2024, the tax will increase to €8 plus VAT, i.e. €9.52 per 10 mL bottle. Based on an average sales price of about €5 per bottle, this amounts to a tripling of the retail price, says VdeH.
On April 21, the VdeH plans to protest the plans by projecting statements from scientists and consumers supporting its position on a 20 x 35 meter “hydro shield” at the Reichstag waterfront in Berlin.
“The planned excessive taxation means that the 95 percent less harmful e-cigarette will soon be more expensive than conventional cigarettes,” says Michal Dobrajc, managing chairman of the VdeH in a press note. “With 11 million smokers still in Germany, the e-cigarette is the greatest health policy opportunity we have–we must use it. The planned tax would have exactly the opposite effect.”
The tax plans, which fail to consider the expected market slump of 50 percent when calculating tax revenue, would take the level of vapor product taxation in Germany to five times the EU average, according to the VdeH.
The law would not only shift consumption back to more harmful tobacco cigarettes, but also sacrifice the entire industry to the black market, the trade group cautions.
April 19, 2021