The Rulebook on Establishment of the List of Serbian Standards regarding the General Product Safety, which was published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 20/2021 of March 10, 2021 (“the Rulebook”), entered into force on March 18, 2021, while its implementation began on June 1, 2021, except for certain provisions, which began to apply on January 1, 2023. The Rulebook has already been referred to in one of our earlier articles, which is available here.

With the adoption of the Rulebook, which represents a by-law passed in relation to the Law on General Product Safety (Official Gazette of RS no. 41/2009 and 77/2019), as a part of the process of harmonizing domestic regulations with the law of the European Union, a reference list of harmonized European standards on general product safety was transposed into the Serbian law.

New standards regarding the general product safety

Thus, on January 1, 2023, the application of two standards from the List of Serbian Standards regarding the General Product Safety began, namely:

• standard under the number 37 – SRPS EN ISO 12863:2018, i.e., Standard test method for assessing the ignition propensity of cigarettes; and
• standard under the number 49 – SRPS EN 16156:2018, i.e., Cigarettes – Assessment of the ignition propensity – Safety requirements.

Accordingly, as of the aforementioned date, producers and importers of tobacco products on the market of the Republic of Serbia can produce or import only cigarettes that are produced with the so-called self-extinguishing paper, compliant with the prescribed requirements for product safety. Self-extinguishing paper enables a discarded cigarette, i.e., an unextinguished cigarette that has not been consumed for a certain period of time, to extinguish itself, which reduces the possibility of an incident, such as a fire.

Supervision over the application of the safety standards prescribed by the Rulebook and the Law on General Product Safety is exercised by the ministry responsible for trade, through the market inspection.

This article is to be considered as exclusively informative, with no intention to provide legal advice. If you should need additional information, please contact us directly.