Market and legal data for the vapour sector in Bangladesh

1st October 2024: Bangladesh: Health experts have proposed a nationwide ban on e-cigarettes, alongside increasing taxes on tobacco products, tightening tobacco control laws and halting advertising campaigns by tobacco companies. These suggestions were presented during a workshop titled “Empowering Young Physicians for Tobacco Control in Bangladesh”, which linked tobacco use to non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, indicating that the scientific community in Bangladesh is taking a stricter approach towards all tobacco products.
27th September 2024: Bangladesh: At the Anti-Tobacco Youth Convention 2024, participants proposed amendments to the draft Tobacco Control Law aimed at reducing tobacco use. Key proposals included banning the import, production and marketing of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, restricting retail and public sales of tobacco, prohibiting product displays at points-of-sale, eliminating smoking areas in public spaces and transport, banning tobacco companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and increasing the size of pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging from 50% to 90%. The forum’s proposals to amend the Tobacco Control Law would enforce measures that, if adopted, would strengthen public health policies in the country. It was organised by the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP), which has successfully advocated for development initiatives – such as maternity allowances.
5th August 2024: Bangladesh: Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and the army will oversee the formation of an interim government, army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a statement to the nation. The government held a negative stance towards vaping products. Hasina adopted a programme for the country to become tobacco-free by 2040 that aims to restrict the circulation and use of nicotine products in general. In 2023, the Ministry of Health proposed a ban on the sale, promotion, marketing, production, import, and export of nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes. However, the proposal has not yet been adopted.
1st July 2024: Bangladesh: The Anti-Tobacco Parliamentary Women’s Forum – a forum of female members of parliament, calling to curb tobacco use – has sent a letter to prime minister Sheikh Hasina urging the swift passage of amendments to the Tobacco Control Act proposed by the Ministry of Health, press reports. In May 2023, it was reported that the Ministry of Health was working on amending Act 11/2005 on Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Tobacco Control Act) in order to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems. E-cigarettes are not defined as a tobacco product in the Tobacco Control Act, or in its amendments.
3rd July 2023: Bangladesh: The government is currently working on amending Act No. 11/2005 on Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Tobacco Control Act). The current amendments aim to ban the use of nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes, with a BDT5,000 ($46) penalty for offenders. It also seeks to ban the sale, promotion, marketing, production, import, and export of vaping products, imposing a three-month prison sentence or a BDT200,000 ($1,850) fine for violations, press reports.
19th June 2023: Bangladesh: During a seminar organised by Nari Maitree – an NGO advocating women's rights – MP Aroma Dutta (Awami League) called for the swift approval of a draft amendment to the Tobacco Control Act, which aims to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and make Bangladesh tobacco-free by 2040. Dutta highlighted the high rate of tobacco use in Bangladesh, particularly among women, and the associated health risks such as cancer and heart disease, and emphasised that the amendments aim to protect everyone from the harmful effects of tobacco, press reports.
6th June 2023: Bangladesh: Finance minister Mustafa Kamal’s National Budget, announced last week, includes a proposed increase in customs duty from 5% to 25% on e-cigarette devices, and a new tax category for e-liquids at a rate of 150%. He said the increases were aimed at reducing e-cigarette use, which he said was as harmful to health as combustible cigarettes.
22nd May 2023: Bangladesh: Hossain Ali Khondoker, co-ordinator of the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC), told press that the government is currently working on amending Act No. 11/2005 on Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Tobacco Control Act) in order to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems. Khondoker warned against e-cigarettes, and said that the harm-reduction approach is a misleading concept that misguides youths. E-cigarettes are not defined as a tobacco product in the Tobacco Control Act, or in its amendments.
3rd March 2023: Bangladesh: At an event to discuss the role of the media in tobacco control, representative Md Abdul Aziz of the Awami League (ruling party) called on the government to ban e-cigarettes, arguing that increasing taxes is not an effective solution to limit their consumption. During the event, the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Bangladesh, also urged the government to amend the tobacco control law and ban all types of electronic smoking, impose more restrictions on tobacco retail, and increase the size of health warnings on cigarette packets from 50% to 90%, press reports.
30th January 2023: Bangladesh: In response to the proposed amendment to ban vaping and heated tobacco products, the Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (Bendsta) has called on authorities to withdraw the proposed ban and to consult with all industry members before making any policy decisions, media reports. The organisation fears the ban will jeopardise the prime minister's vision of making the country tobacco-free by 2040.
16th December 2022: Bangladesh: The Ministry of Health intends to ban vaping products and heated tobacco by amending the Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products (Control) Act, press reports. According to our understanding, no bill has been published yet.
27th June 2022: Bangladesh: A proposed amendment to the Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) Act entails a ban on production, import, and sales of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, media reports. A consultation on the proposal is open until 14th July.

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LATEST ALERTS

E-cigarettes in Bangladesh

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