E-cigarettes in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: The Riyadh Municipality has tweeted about “the most prominent violations” by hospitality premises serving “tobacco products”, which include e-cigarettes. They include offering tobacco products without a permit, failure to disclose monthly sales, failure to specify a “tobacco product serving fee” and adding it as a separate item on the customer’s invoice. The authoritiy points out that all these violations are subject to the penalties stipulated in the 2019 Anti-Smoking Law.

Saudi Arabia: The National Committee for Tobacco Control has tweeted that the Islamic pilgrimage season, the Hajj, is an opportunity to quit smoking, and stressed that under the Anti-Smoking Law Royal Decree No. (M/56)/2015 it is prohibited to consume any tobacco product in religious areas, including squares and places surrounding mosques. Saudi Arabia’s anti-smoking regulations also apply to e-cigarettes.

Saudi Arabia: The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority  has introduced an initial draft through the Public Consultation Platform, proposing amendments to the executive bylaw on excise tax. It suggests that a warehouse should be eligible for licensing as a tax warehouse if it acquires an average of 500,000 vaping devices a year rather than 1m devices as at present, and 125,000 l of e-liquid rather than 500,000. The authority has until 30th July to discuss the amendments before accepting them.