Market & legal data for the vaping sector in South America

Latin America: regulatory news round-up

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd June 2024

Developments in the alternatives category in some Latin American countries may feed new hopes for legality and regulation. However, the majority keep heading towards stringent regulations or prohibitions ...

Colombia regulates e-cigarettes for first time to keep in step with growing usage

Written by ECigIntelligence | 27th May 2024

A law to regulate vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine products in Colombia for the first time was signed into law by president Gustavo Petro on 9th May. Products are now legal, with some restrictions...

Paraguay: the hub for illegal trafficking of e-cigarettes into Argentina and Brazil

Written by ECigIntelligence | 23rd May 2024

Paraguay has become the main entry point for the millions of vaping devices sold and consumed illegally in Argentina and Brazil — where vape imports are prohibited — according to industry experts ...

Will Brazil legalise e-cigs tomorrow or will the ban be kept in place for now?

Written by ECigIntelligence | 16th April 2024

A decision on the regulation of vaping and heated tobacco products in Brazil to be made tomorrow (17th April) could then potentially be overruled by the country’s legislature ...

Colombia passes regulation specifically for e-cigarettes and tobacco alternatives

Written by ECigIntelligence | 3rd April 2024

Colombia’s congress has passed a bill that would create nationwide regulation to govern the use, sale and promotion of e-cigarettes and other tobacco alternatives for the first time in the country’s history ...

More outrage against flavour bans as traditional industries are threatened

Written by ECigIntelligence | 1st April 2024

The trend towards ever tighter restrictions on flavoured e-liquids may prevent under-age vaping, but it also risks killing off traditional industries around the world and even threatens rare species ...

‘Historic decisions’ on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products absent at COP10

Written by ECigIntelligence | 14th March 2024

COP10 was to be the conference where countries finally got to grips with emerging alternative tobacco products, but none of the decisions made applied to ENDS or HTPs or their industries ...

Argentina e-cigarette tax proposal gives local industry hope for vaping regulation

Written by ECigIntelligence | 20th February 2024

A proposal to tax vapes and related devices in Argentina is considered a positive sign that the country may be considering formal regulation in the sector – even though the overall bill failed to pass...

Leaders in Latin American vape sector fear further e-cig restrictions at COP10

Written by ECigIntelligence | 5th February 2024

Leaders of vaping associations in Latin America have told ECigIntelligence they anticipate further restrictions and reinforced regional bans on tobacco alternative products to result from this week's COP10 ...

Latin America’s vapour industry hopeful that some bans will be lifted in 2024

Written by ECigIntelligence | 2nd January 2024

E-cig and vape associations in Argentina, Mexico, Panama and other Latin American nations are hopeful that 2024 will bring eased restrictions and the lifting of bans that have complicated sales and consumption of tobacco alternatives...

Government change ‘opens a door for us’, say Argentinian vape industry members

Written by ECigIntelligence | 4th December 2023

The recent election of president Javier Milei in Argentina is considered encouraging for the South American country’s e-cigarette and heated tobacco market, industry leaders told ECigIntelligence ...

Chile on course to regulate vape products in May 2024 and ban sales to under-18s

Written by ECigIntelligence | 23rd November 2023

Vaping products will no longer be considered pharmaceutical products in Chile, following the passage of bill 12626-11 – with outlining regulations expected to be issued by May 2024 ...

ENDS debate splits opinion in Brazil, where over 2m users defy current ban

Written by ECigIntelligence | 6th October 2023

The first in a series of debates on tobacco alternatives in Brazil has shown how opinion is slowly evolving. A public hearing on the regulatory status of ENDS was held on 28th September ...

Venezuela joins others in Latin America with ban on vapes and heated tobacco

Written by ECigIntelligence | 11th August 2023

Venezuela is the latest Latin American country to issue a government decree banning nationwide sales, consumption, exports and distribution of vapes and heated tobacco ...

Should it stay or should it go? Brazil’s ban on e-cigarettes is put in question again

Written by ECigIntelligence | 13th July 2023

A relaxation of the ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in Brazil could be around the corner following a public consultation, according to some commentators in the country ...

PMI ends interest in US vaping market, outsources manufacturing elsewhere

Written by Freddie Dawson | 28th April 2023

Philip Morris International will scale back and partially outsource its vaping business, instead focusing on other tobacco alternatives that can help it become a majority smoke-free revenue company by 2025 ...

Ex-minister leads latest bid to legalise and regulate e-cigarettes in Argentina

Written by ECigIntelligence | 11th April 2023

A bill to legalise and regulate the sale, marketing and consumption of e-cigarettes in Argentina has been put forward by a former government minister ...

Where do we go now? ECigIntelligence’s guide to regulation expected in 2023

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd January 2023

Disposables and youth vaping are likely to be the major themes for vaping in the year ahead, affecting debates on matters such as taxes, flavour bans and environmental measures ...

Brazil warns 32 companies to stop selling e-cigarette products or face big fines

Written by ECigIntelligence | 14th September 2022

The Brazilian Ministry of Justice has written to 32 companies ordering them to cease the sale of vaping products in the country ...

Report finds novel products a threat to tobacco control progress in the Americas

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 8th September 2022

New and emerging nicotine and tobacco products such as e-cigarettes are becoming increasingly available in the Americas and now pose a threat to the progress of tobacco control, a new report says ...

Brazil's health chiefs decide e-cigarette ban should stay – and be made tougher

Written by ECigIntelligence | 12th July 2022

E-cigarettes will almost certainly remain banned in Brazil following a unanimous vote by the board of Anvisa, the country’s health agency ...

Health agency consultants recommend preserving Brazilian e-cigarette ban

Written by ECigIntelligence | 26th April 2022

A long-anticipated report on possible future e-cigarette regulation will not make pleasant reading for Brazil’s vaping industry and its supporters ...

ECigIntelligence's 2021 predictions reviewed: did our crystal ball work?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 27th January 2022

We look back at predictions ECigIntelligence published at the start of 2021. Real events and developments confirmed ECigIntelligence’s analysis in many cases, though Covid delayed things ...

End of the ban? Brazil nearing a decision at last on regulation of e-cigarettes

Written by ECigIntelligence | 3rd January 2022

Brazil seems close to clarifying a future legal path for tobacco alternatives in a regulatory process expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022 ...

Argentina's ruling party puts forward 'fundamental' proposal to ban e-cigs

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 8th September 2021

A bill to prohibit the manufacturing, distribution, sale and use of e-cigarettes in Argentina has been presented in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress ...

Brazilian MPs consider e-cig prohibition ahead of possible new legal path

Written by ECigIntelligence | 17th May 2021

A new proposal to reinforce a nationwide ban on e-cigarettes in Brazil is being considered in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress ...

Colombian Ministry of Health backs bill to introduce e-cigarette regulation

Written by ECigIntelligence | 11th March 2021

Colombia’s Parliament is considering a bill to update the country’s existing anti-tobacco law with fresh regulations on the use and sale of vaping products ...

Health body calls for e-cig regulation in Argentina in place of 'outdated' ban

Written by ECigIntelligence | 3rd November 2020

Public health and vaping organisations in Argentina are working on a proposal to regulate e-cigarettes, arguing that the current legislation, which dates from 2011, is no longer fit for purpose ...

World No Tobacco Day 2020: the debate about harm reduction

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 31st May 2020

World No Tobacco Day provides an opportunity to consider the approach that public health authorities, policymakers, and advocates around the world have towards the role of tobacco-alternatives products ...

Brazil puts back until 2021 a decision on whether to legalise e-cigarettes

Written by ECigIntelligence | 26th May 2020

Brazil has postponed until next year a decision on the possible legalisation of e-cigarettes amid a “reorientation” of health priorities to contain the expansion of the coronavirus pandemic ...

Most US smokers ‘favour lower nicotine levels in combustibles’

Written by ECigIntelligence | 25th October 2019

More than four out of five adult smokers in the US favour requiring tobacco companies to lower the levels of nicotine in cigarettes to make them less addictive, researchers have found ...

Colombia moves towards legislation equating vapes with combustibles

Written by ECigIntelligence | 10th October 2019

Legislation to restrict the use of e-cigarettes in Colombia is picking up momentum, with a final vote in Congress expected by the end of the year ...

Imperial lowers growth forecast; CEO resignation causes uncertainty

Written by ECigIntelligence | 4th October 2019

Imperial Brands CEO Alison Cooper’s resignation is being seen as a catalyst – alongside challenging market conditions for tobacco, and regulatory changes in the US for next-generation products (NGP) – for uncertain times among Big...

Brazil to launch public consultation on approach to e-cigarette regulation

Written by ECigIntelligence | 5th September 2019

The Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency, ANVISA, is to launch a public consultation as a step towards deciding whether to amend the national ban e-cigs and heated tobacco ...

Brazil opens debate about possible legalisation of e-cigarettes

Written by ECigIntelligence | 15th August 2019

Brazil has held its first hearing on the possible legalisation of e-cigs, with an intense debate about changing the 2009 resolution that forbids their advertising, import, and sale ...

Chile’s lawmakers set on equating e-cigarettes with combustibles

Written by ECigIntelligence | 5th July 2019

Moves are afoot in Chile to regulate electronic cigarettes by making them equivalent to conventional cigarettes in the eyes of the law ...

World Bank recommends taxing e-cigs to raise revenue and cut youth use

Written by Aidan Semmens | 23rd April 2019

The World Bank has published a paper on e-cigarette use and taxation that could prove influential in many countries, possibly leading towards moves for greater taxing of vapour products ...

US International Trade Commission investigates 23 over ‘Juul-like’ e-cigs

Written by Daniel Mollenkamp | 9th January 2019

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating 23 companies, including five in China and one in Uruguay, for US patent infringement of Juul’s e-cigarette cartridges and components ...

Colombian bid to regulate vaping as smoking tied up in political numbers

Written by ECigIntelligence | 19th December 2018

A new bill proposed in Colombia’s Senate is paving the way for the country to begin regulating e-cigarettes on a par with tobacco – though the plan is tied up in the country’s complex political...

Smoking in Brazil – public health experts plead for better data

Written by ECigIntelligence | 21st June 2018

Brazilian public health officials are trying to make judgements in areas such as the regulation of e-cigarettes without clear data on the country’s smoking demographics – and they want more and better information ...

Provincial bid to put teeth in Argentina’s ineffective e-cig ban

Written by ECigIntelligence | 19th June 2018

Lawmakers in Argentina’s most populous province are expected to vote on a new bill that bans electronic cigarettes, in a move intended to reinforce a country-wide ban that has been largely ignored ...

Brazil’s tobacco control experts united against legalising vaping

Written by ECigIntelligence | 7th June 2018

E-cigarettes will not be legalised in Brazil any time soon, according to members of a government science panel who concluded there was not enough scientific evidence to justify supporting them ...

Colombian health ministry calls for IQOS to be treated like combustibles

Written by ECigIntelligence | 30th April 2018

Colombia’s health and finance ministries have moved to force heated tobacco products such as IQOS to comply with the country’s tobacco law, arguing there is no evidence to suggest that they present any lower risk...

Uruguay expands smoking ban to cover vaping

Written by | 24th October 2017

Uruguay has moved to expand the country's smoking ban, meaning vaping is now banned in enclosed spaces. The new ruling also imposes plain packaging measures on tobacco...

Colombia puts e-cigarette regulation on the back burner as elections loom

Written by ECigIntelligence | 22nd August 2017

An attempt to regulate e-cigarettes in Colombia has failed at its first voting hurdle, with no prospect of any renewed proposal coming soon ...

Despite official bans, South America has great market potential for e-cigs

Written by ECigIntelligence | 29th June 2017

E-cigarettes, banned throughout most of South America, could nevertheless be taken up rapidly across the continent, according to a senior public health policy expert on the...

WHO report on e-cigs to be presented at COP7 conference

Written by Barnaby Page | 6th June 2016

Tobacco control leaders from around the globe will be presented with the latest findings of the World Health Organization (WHO) on e-cigarettes and public health at a meeting in India this...

Mexico’s retail ban stands despite supreme court ruling

Written by Barnaby Page | 29th October 2015

Selling e-cigarettes without a medical licence is still not legal in Mexico, despite a supreme court ruling in favour of one...

Developing nations advised to adopt pharma model

Written by Barnaby Page | 21st August 2015

Governments of poorer countries need to regulate e-cigarettes just as much as their wealthier counterparts, and ought to opt for a pharmaceutical model – but they may find it difficult, according to a new paper...

Mexico seizes e-cig products, but was agency acting legally?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 28th January 2015

Authorities in Mexico have seized nearly 10,000 e-cigarette “devices and accessories”, according to...

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