E-cigarettes in the United Arab Emirates

5th November 2024: Kuwait: The International Conference on Tobacco Control organised by the Ministry of Health has recommended that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries establish national observatories to monitor tobacco industry activities and align with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards on tobacco control. Additionally, the conference advocated for regulating novel emerging products in the region, such as nicotine pouches, and recommended increasing excise taxes on tobacco.
22nd August 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Federal Tax Authority announced in a press release that its inspection campaigns during the first six months of 2024 resulted in the confiscation of 5.52m non-compliant tobacco packages compared to 7.92m in the first half of 2023.
26th July 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ajman Police has launched an initiative called “Your Life is Purer Without Smoking” to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and to curb the illegal trade of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco.
9th July 2024: China: According to trade data published in the press from the General Administration of Customs, in May 2024, exports of e-cigarettes to the Netherlands totalled approximately $42.23m, representing a month-on-month decrease of 0.6% but a year-on-year increase of 18.3%. Meanwhile, exports of e-cigs to Canada amounted to approximately $23.13m and showed increases both month-on-month (39.5%) and year-on-year (12%), while e-cig exports to the UAE totalled approximately $21.77m, showing increases both month-on-month (40.8%) and year-on-year (14.4%).
6th June 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has issued a newsletter warning against the use and promotion of electronic smoking products, saying there’s no scientific evidence that would suggest they are less harmful than other tobacco products.
28th May 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Dubai Municipality and the Department of Planning and Development have conducted a joint inspection to verify retailers’ compliance with the approved standards for e-cigarettes and related products. The inspection resulted in the issue of 11 violations for non-compliant or expired products and the confiscation of 1,555 non-conforming products, press reports.
6th May 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Federal Tax Authority reported that in 2023 its control efforts resulted in the seizure and confiscation of nearly 21.29m units of tobacco products that didn’t bear the Digital Tax Stamp (DTS). Last year, it was announced that in 2022, a total of 5.5m units of tobacco products without the DTS were confiscated.
5th October 2023: UAE: A total of 14.6m packages of tobacco, of which 22,000 were e-cigarettes, have been seized by the Federal Tax Authority for not bearing the digital tax stamps, press reports. Under Decree No. 42\2018, all vapour products need to bear the Digital Tax Stamp.
31st May 2023: UAE: The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre has launched the “Tobacco Control Awareness Programme” to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). It emphasises their association with heart attacks, strokes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and addiction, and stresses that ENDS are just as harmful as traditional tobacco products, with flavourings and nicotine levels that make them more addictive.
12th April 2023: United Arab Emirates (UAE): The National Rehabilitation Centre has warned against using e-cigarettes, saying that they stimulate addictive behaviour and harm health, and encourage non-smokers to use them in the belief that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
18th January 2023: United Arab Emirates (UAE): The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has told ECigIntelligence that a new fee is now being charged to issue the conformity certificates for regulated products. The fee is AED670 ($182) for the certificate and AED620 ($169) for the technical review of documents. It now takes one and a half working days to resolve an application instead of three, and applications are submitted per model type or per stock keeping unit (SKU).
13th December 2022: Gulf Cooperation Council: The Gulf Health Council has launched a week-long online campaign under the slogan “#companionship_without_vaping” to combat the use of e-cigarettes, particularly by young people, press reports.

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