New Zealand: Health New Zealand has procured thousands of Relx vape products from RLX Technology to support smoking-cessation efforts. This decision comes despite RLX facing scrutiny in the country since November 2024, when
press reported that employees from a connected Singaporean company had been recorded in 2023 boasting about bribing New Zealand and Australian authorities to bypass regulations.
Asked in Parliament about purchasing from RLX, associate minister of health Casey Costello, of the right-wing New Zealand First party, rejected the implication that the government had received bribes, and expressed confidence “in the procurement processes”. During the same debate, deputy prime minister Winston Peters (also of New Zealand First), speaking for prime minister Christopher Luxon (of the National Party), suggested that any alleged bribery would have occurred under the previous Labour government and redirected questions to the opposition. The Labour Party’s health spokesperson denied any official involvement and called for an independent investigation.