LATEST ALERTSUK: The “Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update” was published today, reiterating that vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking for both toxicant exposure and potential risks for causing nicotine dependence. The report states that there is a lack of evidence on whether flavours pose health risks, but also that cinnamaldehyde is a cause of concern and that the regulatory bodies should review its use in e-liquids.
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From February 2022, subscribers can view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts round-up section.
Egypt: Tomorrow, 1st October, is the deadline given to companies manufacturing, importing and distributing tobacco and its alternatives to affix prices on tobacco products, e-cigarettes and tobacco alternatives using a QR code, in accordance with the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) Resolution No. 125 of 2021.
China: On 1st October, the e-cigarette standard will enter into effect. Today, the tobacco administration published several documents regulating retroactive QR code labels and further clarifying the rules for foreign production companies, expansion of e-cigarette production capacities, and production licensing. Please note that access to official Chinese websites is not available outside of China.
Denmark: As of 1st October, all e-cigarettes – including those manufactured before 1st October 2021 – must comply with standardised packaging regulations.
US - general: Altria Group has disclosed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to end the non-compete agreement with Juul, press reports. Altria stated: "We believe the decision to terminate our noncompete maximizes our flexibility to compete in the e-vapor space while maintaining our economic interest in JUUL." More information can be found in our news briefing.
Canada: On 1st October, the federal excise duty on vaping products will start applying. The rate of CAD1 (USD0.73) per 2 ml, or fraction thereof, is charged for the first 10 ml. For e-liquids exceeding 10 ml, a rate of CAD1 (USD0.73) per 10 ml, or fraction thereof, is charged.
US - general: Juul's chief regulatory officer, Joe Murillo, has criticised the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s approach towards vaping regulation during a tobacco conference, press report. “Fly-by-night companies have flooded the market with illegally marketed products,” Murillo said. “These products flout laws and regulations and present a public health danger. While we’ve seen progress, regulators need to improve and prioritize effective enforcement.”
EU: ECigIntelligence has today launched its third Survey on New Nicotine Products in the EU. We are asking Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) about their views on e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches and their regulation. Consolidated results will be published, comparing the results with similar surveys carried out in the past two years. This year’s survey is especially relevant given the current policy debates on the topic. In both previous surveys, there was a clear correlation between higher levels of knowledge about novel nicotine products and lower perceived risk. Though the exact degrees of correlation varied by product category, the overall picture was consistent: those who were aware of and had some knowledge of a given category considered it less risky, compared to smoking combustibles, than those unfamiliar with it.
China: Ahead of the implementation on Saturday, 1st October, of the new national standard for e-cigarette products, the tobacco administration has published a notice reiterating that e-cigarettes intended for export must comply with the regulations of the destination country or region. If the destination country does not have relevant laws, the products must comply with Chinese rules. E-cigarette manufacturers with a tobacco monopoly manufacturer's licence who are engaging in exports should make export filings through the electronic cigarette trading management platform. The administration will accept objections from existing e-cigarette manufacturers from 8th to 31st October.
Russia: Sholban Kara-ool, deputy speaker of the State Duma, from the governing United Russia faction, has told the Tass news agency that a ban on e-cigarettes would not work. He said what was needed was public recognition of the harmfulness of substances contained in vapour products.
Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU): The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission decided last week to introduce traceability marking for e-cigarettes throughout the EAEU. The five member states – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – will reportedly determine individually their own procedure and enforcement dates.
Costa Rica: A bill imposing neutral packaging for tobacco products, including e-cigarettes both with and without nicotine, has received the approval of the Legislative Assembly Social Affairs Committee, press reports. The bill, which would also ban advertising and increase the size of health warnings from 50% to 80% of the package area, will now go to the full Assembly to be voted on in two debates.
France: The Ministry of Health has told a French journalist that disposable e-cigarettes are under scrutiny by the health authorities. The ministry also confirmed that – contrary to rumour – the proposed increase in taxes on tobacco products, linking planned rises to inflation, does not apply to vaping products.
US - Portland Oregon metropolitan area: Washington County’s Ordinance 878 – which passed last November, has been on hold since January, was ratified by voters in May, but kept on hold by a preliminary injunction in July – has now been struck down by a circuit court judge, who decided the county had no authority to enact a local ban on the sale of flavoured tobacco products. The county has issued a statement disagreeing with the ruling and saying it will consider options for an appeal.
US - California: The city of Chula Vista has unanimously voted to ban the sale of flavoured tobacco and vaping products from 1st January 2023, local media reports. With a population of over 275,000, Chula Vista is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area.
UK: Asked about packaging restrictions on e-cigarettes, junior health minister Caroline Johnson said the Department of Health and Social Care was exploring whether any additional measures could be introduced to prevent children from vaping, including restrictions related to packaging. The Tobacco Control Plan which could set out these proposals is yet to be published.
UK - Scotland: The Scottish government published a report yesterday on the findings from the consultation on proposed restrictions on e-cigarette advertising . A total of 757 responses were submitted, mostly by individuals. The respondents were nearly equally divided on all issues: 51.5% opposed further restrictions on advertising, while 50.7% agreed that the use of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool should be limited and that exposure to them by non-smokers should be restricted.
South Korea: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency today warned of an increasingly widespread use by young people of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which it says are a gateway to smoking. The agency refers to a study showing a 12% increase between 2016 and 2022 in the use of flavoured tobacco products by smokers aged 13-39.
South Africa: The government has approved the submission to Parliament of the 2018 Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which will regulate e-cigarettes both with and without nicotine. Among other things, the bill – the latest version of which has not yet been published – proposes “100% smoke-free indoor” and some outdoor non-smoking and non-vaping areas, and strengthens the rules on packaging and health warnings.
US - federal: The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has published a new webinar providing a brief overview of the resources available to retailers to help prevent the sale of tobacco products to under-21s, focusing on age verification, internal compliance checks, and recommended training practices. The webinar also covers recent updates to federal law on products that contain synthetic nicotine.
UK: The consultation on the voluntary standard developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), PAS 8855, on vape product quality, performance and safety issues ends today, 28th September.
Netherlands: As the ECigIntelligence Compliance Calendar shows, today marks the end of the Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Sports’ consultation on the regulation to limit the range of permitted flavours for e-liquids. If further adopted, the new rules will come into force on 1st January 2023, allowing for products produced before that date to remain on the market until 1st July 2023.
Italy: The far-right Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d’Italia) took first place in Sunday’s election with over 26% of the vote, and is likely to form a coalition with other right-wing parties, Forza Italia and the League. In the past, right-wing parties have generally supported a more lenient regulatory approach to new nicotine products, with Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, in particular being supportive of the vaping sector.
US - federal: Brian King, director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has told the Associated Press news agency (AP) about his approach to policymaking, including potential flavour restrictions. He mentioned the nicotine-salts technology in e-cigarettes that could be a good fit for smokers, but also warned of its danger to youth.
US - federal: The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) is seeking nominations for two people to serve as voting members on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). Individuals may self-nominate or be put forward by any interested person or organisation. Nominations received on or before 25th November will be given first consideration. Nominations received after that date will be considered as later vacancies occur.
Denmark: The health and finance ministries are setting up a combined task force to strengthen control over nicotine and tobacco products, focusing primarily on flavoured disposable e-cigarettes. Including members of the Danish Safety Technology Authority and the Consumer Ombudsman, it will aim to ensure that new product trends are addressed quickly.
Spain: The government of Catalonia is preparing a regulation that would ban smoking on bar and restaurant terraces and at the entrances of schools, press reports. The measure is aimed at reducing the smoking population in the region. To date it has not been detailed whether the prohibition would also cover heated tobacco or vaping products. According to the last Health Survey of Catalonia, the smoking prevalence amounted to 22.6% of the population in 2021.
US - Tennessee: An ordinance to prohibit smoking and the use of vapour products in certain age-restricted establishments such as bars and music venues that was discussed in the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County was deferred for a second time on 20th September; it was previously deferred on 16th August. Many owners of bars for over-21s are complaining, saying that this ordinance will drive them out of business, local news reports.
South Africa: In a parliamentary standing finance committee meeting, the National Treasury dismissed protests from the business sector over the proposed ZAR2.90 ($0.16) per ml e-cigarette tax and suggestions to lower that to ZAR0.70 ($0.04) per ml, press reports. According to the authority, the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are unknown, and therefore the government is taking cautionary steps. It added that the current rate is introductory and may be adjusted in the short and medium term.
Ukraine: The public organisation Centre of Civic Representation “Zhyttia” (“Live”) is conducting an information campaign called “Schools without nicotine and tobacco” in ten schools in Lviv Oblast (a region in the western part of Ukraine with a population of 2.5m) from September to November, media reports. The project, which was implemented in other regions last year, has support from the WHO, allowing Ukraine to raise awareness among schoolchildren about the health risks of tobacco and nicotine.
US - federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent out a new batch of warning letters to e-liquid manufacturers accused of offering for sale or distribution e-liquid products (listed in the letter) without a marketing authorisation order.
UK: Answering a question about the management of e-cigarette waste, London mayor Sadiq Khan said Londoners can recycle waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) at their local household waste recycling centre and that waste bins for small electrical devices had been introduced in communal bin stores, resulting in a 52% reduction in small electricals going into non-recycled waste from London flats. Lastly, Khan noted that all boroughs are encouraged to include the Flats Recycling Package in their reduction and recycling plans.
Denmark: Health minister Magnus Heunicke has called a meeting today with social media companies, the Danish Safety Technology Authority and several associations to discuss the use of disposable e-cigarettes by children and young people. He stressed that e-cigs with flavours other than tobacco and menthol are illegal in Denmark.
Malaysia: Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has said he expects to finalise the review of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 next week with the parliamentary special select committee in order to table it again in the upcoming parliamentary session, which starts on 3rd October, press reports. Khairy said MPs were generally in favour of the bill, which proposes a ban on vaping products for those born on or after 1st January 2007, and that most of the issues raised during the bill’s first reading had been resolved by the committee.
Spain: The largest anti-tobacco organisation in Spain, the Smoking Prevention Committee (CNPT), has launched a campaign against tobacco and nicotine products, with the hashtag #stophumotabaconicotina (stop smoke, tobacco, and nicotine). The CNPT is urging the government to pass the regulations on vaping and tobacco products that it announced in May.
US - federal: Juul Labs has sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s refusal to disclose documents supporting its order banning the company from selling its e-cigarettes on the US market, Reuters reports. In a complaint filed yesterday in federal court, Juul says the FDA has withheld scientific evidence which would show whether it conducted a legally required balancing of the public health benefits and risks of its products.
EU: The European Commission has published a draft delegated regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on hazard classes and criteria for the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP). The amendment aims to update the CLP Regulation with new hazard classes and their criteria to take technical and scientific progress into account. This may impose new obligations on producers of e-cigarettes, covering more chemicals that may be contained in a device or delivery mechanism. The draft regulation is open until 18th October for comment, which will be taken into account in finalising the revised regulation.
US - Michigan: A number of bills were to be heard today in the Senate Committee on Regulatory Reform, including Senate Bill 572, SB 573, SB 574 and SB 575, all of which relate to the regulation of tobacco and vapour products. SB 572 would further tax consumable materials at 18% of the wholesale price if part of an open vapour system or $0.60 per ml if contained in a closed-system cartridge; alternative nicotine products would be taxed at $0.50 per oz on the basis of net weight of the product as listed by the manufacturer.
Egypt: A circular issued by the Customs Authority makes clear that the General Organisation for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) is responsible for testing e-liquids in the authority’s laboratories – located in Egyptian ports – to ensure they conform to Egyptian standards.
US-federal: Democratic senator from Illinois Dick Durbin has spoken on the Senate floor about the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s failure to meet e-cigarette and synthetic nicotine deadlines, unwillingness to take action against companies that ignore the agency’s orders, and general lack of urgency when it comes to protecting children from these products. He stated: “The FDA has the legal right and authority to pull these products off the shelves, but with respect to illegal e-cigarettes, they do nothing.”
Saudi Arabia: The Board of Directors of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has issued the decision No. 570/2022 approving the amendments to the executive by-law on excise tax. According to the decision, importers and producers of excise goods will now be obliged to disclose the tax to the authority within a period of 15 days from the date of the tax due. In addition, a warehouse will be eligible for licensing as a tax warehouse if it acquires an average of 500,000 vaping devices a year as opposed to the current 1m devices, and 125,000 l of e-liquid as opposed to 500,000 l.
Denmark: Health minister Magnus Heunicke (Social Democrats), and Peder Hvelplund – spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance (a pro-government party) – have shown concern about the advertising of illegal flavoured e-cigarettes on social media, press reports. Peder said it is necessary to strengthen legislation and give further support to the Danish Safety Technology Authority, which controls e-cigarette compliance. As of April 2022, e-liquids with and without nicotine must not contain a characteristic flavour, except menthol and tobacco.
Ukraine: Last week, Kyiv customs officers exposed 12 illegal shipment attempts of 2,000 packages of reusable e-cigs, nicotine-containing cartridges for them as well as disposable e-cigs in international postal shipments, media reports. International parcels were to be sent from different regions of Ukraine to the UAE, Portugal, India and Germany. Since individuals are prohibited from sending such products in international mail, all devices found in international parcels have been seized pending a court decision in the cases.
South Korea: Today (16th September) the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute held an institutional forum to discuss the direction of e-cigarette policy. During the forum, according to the press release, “the current status and problems of the recent spread of e-cigarettes are reviewed, and policy improvement directions are discussed”. The expansion of the definition of tobacco products to encompass products derived from tobacco stems or roots is being considered, as only products that contain or are derived from tobacco leaves currently fall within the scope of the definition. There are several bills in the legislative process to this end.
US - Federal: Brian King, the new director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) said in an interview that his priorities include reaching populations that have been affected by tobacco, informing young people about the dangers of vaping, and making policies, such as flavour restrictions. He said: “The menthol and cigar flavors rulemakings, as well as work related to making cigarettes minimally or non-addictive, are just a few examples of our ongoing work toward meaningful change to achieve health equity”.
Philippines: Member of the House of Representatives Joey Salceda is seeking stricter enforcement of the Vaping Regulation Law. He says that in practice vape products are being wrongfully categorised on some online platforms as “toys” or “electronics”, therefore avoiding paying a tax of PHP47 ($0.82) per ml. Salceda also urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue to draft regulations to fight counterfeits and ensure taxes are being imposed on those products.
Germany: The Federal Association of German Waste has called for a ban on disposable e-cigarettes, press reports. According to the chief executive of the association, Peter Kurth, those products are almost never disposed of in proper recycling centres and “the incorrect use of raw materials in disposable e-cigarettes must therefore come to an end immediately”.
EU: The European Commission has recently published the tentative agenda for forthcoming Commission meetings, which includes the list of items that will be discussed. The revision of the tobacco taxation Directive is among the items to be discussed through an oral procedure, a discussion that is expected to take place on 7th December 2022. The revision seeks to harmonise the taxation of new products, such as e-cigs.
France: Deputy Hubert Wulfranc of the Democratic and Republican Left has submitted a parliamentary question asking whether the minister for ecological transition is considering banning disposable e-cigarettes. Wulfranc describes disposables as “an ecological aberration” and says they are accessible to minors through the major online e-commerce platforms.
Sweden: Social Democrat prime minister Magdalena Andersson resigned today, conceding victory in the country’s general election to the four-party right-wing opposition bloc, led by Ulf Kristersson of the conservative Moderates. While tobacco control policies were not central to the campaign, the right-wing parties have opposed Social Democratic policies and in May voted against the proposal to ban flavoured vapour products. The far-right Sweden Democrats wish to lift the EU ban on snus, claiming Sweden has the lowest rate of tobacco-related deaths; their possible coalition partners the Christian Democrats propose an increase in excise duty on tobacco products; and the centre-right Liberals’ manifesto focuses on the introduction of more prevention and awareness campaigns.
US - federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are “new tobacco products” without the required FDA marketing authorisation.
Hungary: Following an investigation into two Slovak companies selling Elf Bars online, the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has ordered the temporary shutdown of two Hungarian-language websites “to ensure that the businesses’ – presumably illegal – commercial practices cannot reach domestic customers during the GVH’s investigation”. Flavoured vaping products, online e-cigarette sales, and online advertising of vaping products are all illegal in Hungary.
US - New York: The state police have issued a statement on the status of Operation Vaporizer, which was launched in August, targeting sales of flavoured nicotine vapes to minors. Officers found several retailers in Herkimer and Oneida counties selling to under-21s, and charged several people with endangering the welfare of a child. The department added that further arrests were pending.
New Zealand: The association Action for Smokefree 2025 has submitted a paper on the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, proposing that general retailers should be permitted to sell e-liquids in fruit and other sweet flavours, and not be limited to tobacco, mint and menthol. The bill, which aims mainly to reduce the number of smoked tobacco products, is currently under analysis by the Health Committee.
Russia: A bill introducing a combined excise tax for disposable e-cigarettes and the e-liquid contained in them came through its first reading in the State Duma yesterday. It would set an initial rate of RUB62 ($1.03) per device plus RUB17 ($0.28) per ml of e-liquid, to rise over the next few years. If adopted, it will come into force three months after its official publication. However, deputy finance minister Alexei Sazanov reportedly told the State Duma Budget Committee that the bill needed to be modified, eliminating the tax on the device, leaving a tax only on the liquid, which should apply to both disposable and reusable e-cigs. Currently, both e-cig devices and e-liquids are subject to excise tax; however, under the principle of one-time taxation, disposables are taxed only at the devices rate.
US - Alaska: The anti-taxation think tank Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has applauded governor Mike Dunleavy’s decision to veto Senate Bill 45, which would have raised from 19 to 21 the legal age to purchase, sell, exchange or possess tobacco, nicotine-containing products, or e-cigarettes. The bill would also have levied a 35% tax on the wholesale price of all e-cigarette products. ATR’s director of consumer issues, Tim Andrews, said: “Rejecting the tax hike will also make it easier for those who currently smoke to achieve cessation using vapour products.”
UK: Unofficial Elf Bar social media accounts that allegedly target minors had a 15% increase in followers between March and September, rising from 557,960 to over 650,000, according to Vape Club data reported by the media. However, the number of unofficial Elf Bar accounts selling the devices on TikTok has decreased from 205 in March to 53 in September. For the past year, ECigIntelligence has repeatedly reported on increased oversight of the market by Trading Standards.
Sweden: With more than 90% of the ballots counted from yesterday’s (11th September) national elections, the right-wing bloc formed by the Moderates, Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats and Liberals has a slight advantage over the centre-left parties, led by the ruling Swedish Social Democratic Party. However, the official results will not be available before Wednesday, 14th September. Although tobacco control policies have not been central to this campaign, the right-wing parties have not supported some of the Social Democratic policies and, for example, in May voted against the proposal to ban flavoured vapour products. The Sweden Democrats aim to lift the EU ban on snus, claiming that Sweden has the lowest rate of tobacco-related deaths; while the Christian Democrats propose to increase excise duty on tobacco products, and the Liberals’ manifesto focuses on the introduction of more prevention and awareness campaigns.
Jordan: Today, 12th September, the House of Representatives approved the Child Rights bill. The new law considers smoking in the presence of children, even by parents or other family members, an attack on their health and physical well-being. The law dictates fines ranging from JOD100 ($140) to JOD300 ($425) for smoking or vaping in front of children. Vaping is considered smoking according to Public Health Law No. 47/2008 and the “standards for tobacco and nicotine products, including electronic ones”.
Spain: In October, for the first time in 18 years, new 25-year licences (a total of 203) to operate a state-owned tobacconist will go out to tender. According to the law, state-owned tobacconists are the only retail outlets allowed to sell tobacco-containing products (sales are also allowed in vending machines located in fuel stations, restaurants, and other adult-only facilities). Vaping products can currently be sold outside tobacconists; however, the government plans to ban sales outside tobacconists in the coming years. This initiative has been harshly criticised by anti-tobacco organisations, namely the president of Nofumadores, Raquel Fernández Megina, who has said it is a “suspicious” move and a consequence of the economic situation, as she found it contradictory to the government’s tobacco control plans (which reportedly have stalled).
US - Federal: Democratic senator from Illinois Dick Durbin has called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to complete its premarket review of e-cigarettes, claiming the agency has failed to meet the one-year court-ordered deadline to review them. The FDA has said it does not anticipate completing its review of the most popular e-cigarette products on the market until 2023, which Durbin finds a very harmful delay. Specifically, Durbin states that the FDA is not using its enforcement authority to stop the sale of illegally marketed e-cigarettes, even after having sent them warning letters. The senator further wrote that the agency refused to use its authority to regulate the synthetic nicotine marketplace; while the FDA has not authorised a single one of those products, they remain widely available.
EU: Today (12th September) Virginijus Sinkevičius, European commissioner for the environment, oceans and fisheries, answered a parliamentary question submitted by member of the European parliament (MEP) Chris MacManus in which the MEP asked for the Commission’s plans to deal with the environmental impact of disposable e-cigs. The commissioner answered that these products do not fall within the scope of the Single-Use Plastics Directive, as they do not contain a filter or tobacco, and that the executive does not intend to propose any specific measures for these products under said directive. However, the commissioner stated that the proposed new batteries regulation “should ensure that portable batteries in DEC [disposable e-cigarettes] are properly disposed and recycled at their end of life”.
US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a non-tobacco nicotine (NTN) product website that includes up-to-date information about premarket review progress and enforcement actions. As of 6th September, the FDA has issued refuse-to-accept (RTA) letters for more than 800,000 NTN products in applications submitted by 14th May that do not meet the criteria for acceptance; this includes more than 700,000 new RTAs since 3rd August. In total, the FDA has accepted over 350 applications for NTN products, with the vast majority being for e-cigarette or e-liquid products.
Malaysia: Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin said today, 9th September, that “if there are no obstacles, the parliamentary special select committee report [on the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022] will be completed by the end of this month to allow it to be tabled again in the next Parliamentary session”.
EU: A draft of the 2022 version of the Data Dictionary on Electronic Cigarettes has been published on the CIRCABC (Communication and Information Resource Centre for Administrations, Businesses and Citizens) website, a platform developed by the European Commission that serves as an information exchange tool used by its directorates-general, committees and advisory bodies, as well as by relevant stakeholders. The Data Dictionary on Electronic Cigarettes, the final version of which is due to be published on 15th September, provides guidelines on what information must be submitted to notify e-cigarettes via the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG).
Malaysia: The parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) responsible for assessing the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 that proposes a ban on the sale of vaping products to anyone born after 2007 generally agreed yesterday to drop Section 17(1)(c) on the ban of possession of vapour products for anyone born from 1st January 2007, but to retain Sections 17(1)(a) and (b), which prohibit these individuals from using said products, press reports.
Netherlands: The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport announced a consultation on the regulation that would limit the range of permitted flavours for e-liquids. Users, sellers, importers and manufacturers of nicotine-free and nicotine-containing e-liquids may give their responses to the consultation until 28th September 2022. If further adopted, the new rules will come into force as of 1st January 2023, allowing for products that are produced before this date to be placed on the market until 1st July 2023.
US - General: Altria stated that “a jury in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina found that Reynolds Vapor Company’s Vuse Alto e-vapor product infringed three patents owned by Altria Client Services”. The jury has awarded Altria $95,233,292 in past damages, and post-trial proceedings will address ongoing damages. The jury also accepted Altria’s petition to find a royalty rate of 5.25%.
UK - Scotland: The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport, Maree Todd, said that vaping is concerning everyone. “We are seeing solid statistics coming through now that are showing that possibly up to 20% of our young people are vaping, and people are vaping who have never smoked.” She said that what’s needed is to strike a delicate balance between providing information on vaping as a potential method of cessation and protecting children and young people from unnecessary harm.
UK: Junior health secretary Maggie Throup said that the new Tobacco Control Plan will be published “in due course”.
Russia: Sergey Leonov, deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, said that the Liberal Democratic Party, which is formally an opposition party, is developing a draft law on labelling vapes with a warning about their dangers and creating packaging for them featuring frightening images, media reports. Although the Ministry of Health is in favour of such changes, it believes that first such labelling requirements need to be included in the draft technical regulation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU - an economic union of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) for nicotine-containing products, which is currently being developed.
Ukraine: Parliament yesterday rejected amendments N20 and N21 to Bill 5616 “On the legal protection of geographical indications for agricultural products”, which would have allowed vaping and heated tobacco use in some “specially designated” public areas, media reports. The amendments had been criticised for attempting to introduce matters unrelated to the main subject of the bill, which is prohibited under parliament regulations.
Slovakia: The National Smoke-Free Day festival will take place tomorrow in the capital, Bratislava. Among other activities, adult visitors will reportedly be instructed about the main risks associated with nicotine and tobacco use, including smoke-free alternatives.
US - general: Juul Labs is set to pay $438.5m in a settlement of 34 states’ and territories’ investigations into the company’s marketing practices. Under the settlement, Juul will also agree to a range of restrictions on its marketing activities. They include an undertaking not to market to youth, no advertising on billboards or public transportation, stringent limits on social media advertising, and an end to “misleading representations about nicotine content”. “The terms of the agreement are aligned with our current business practices which we started to implement after our company-wide reset in the Fall of 2019,” the company said. It had previously reached separate settlements with some individual states.
UK: The National Health Service (NHS) today published figures showing that 9% of 11- to 15-year-olds vape, either regularly or occasionally, a 50% increase since 2018. A similar result was reported earlier this summer by the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash). At the same time, the NHS reports that 3% of pupils are current cigarette smokers, down from 5% in 2018.
Russia: Yaroslav Nilov, head of the State Duma Committee on Labour and Social Policy, has drawn attention to online selling of e-cigarettes to minors, media reports. Nilov has reportedly asked the prosecutor’s office to check on online stores and their compliance with the law.
UK: Responding to MPs’ questions about e-cigarettes and young people, junior health minister Maggie Throup said the Department of Health and Social Care is considering banning cartoon characters, images and flavour names which might be appealing to children. Throup added that the department was working with the Environment Agency to remind vape suppliers who place more than five tonnes of products on the UK market per year that they are obliged to register with the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme.
Slovakia: As of 1st September, following an amendment to the Act on the Protection of Non-Smokers, e-cigarettes can no longer be sold via vending machines.
US - general: RJ Reynolds has asked for a midtrial end to the suit brought by Altria, which claimed Reynolds had stolen its designs for a pod-style vape without paying a royalty, legal media reports. Reynolds said its product lacked some specifics in the design, which made it different from the patent.
Ireland: Research by the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland shows that 39% of young people aged between 16 and 17 have tried vaping, while 32% have tried smoking, press reports. The main reasons given for trying e-cigarettes were primarily curiosity (66%) and having friends who vape (29%).
Bahrain: The National Bureau for Revenue announced yesterday that from 16th October all cigarettes available for sale must be marked with distinctive digital stamps as laid down by decree No. 3/2022, issued in May. From that date any cigarettes not having the digital stamp will either be destroyed or confiscated. The system is to be extended later to include other tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and hookahs.
Brazil: Stefania Piras, general manager of tobacco products inspection for the National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), has defended the national ban on e-cigarettes and said use in the country is still low, press reports. The Anvisa board voted unanimously in July to maintain the existing ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The agency is still discussing whether a new draft regulation will go out to public consultation.
Belarus: Following inspections in August of 118 retail outlets selling nicotine-containing e-liquids and disposable vapes, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade has reported that in 77 instances products were found to be on open display, in violation of current legislation. Products were also found without certificates of conformity. All offending sellers were told to cease illegal activities.
US - federal: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued its second report on e-cigarette sales and advertising nationwide. The FTC states that it "shows sales of flavored disposable e-cigarettes and menthol e-cigarette cartridges surging dramatically in 2020". It notes that the increase suggests that youth e-cigarette use has shifted towards substitute products rather than declined, and it also shows that the distribution of free and discounted e-cigarettes has reached record highs. “Marketers of e-cigarettes have proven skillful at evading FDA regulation and hooking youth on addictive products," said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Iceland: The government has published two new regulations: Regulation 992/2022 on marketing notifications, licensing, and ingredients of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine and Regulation 991 on the packaging of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine. The regulations repeal the previous regulations on the matter, although the new ones contain mostly the same provisions. Some additions include the introduction of minor changes to the textual health warning that nicotine-containing e-cigs must carry, as well as setting out the procedure to obtain a licence to sell vaping products.
Brazil: The Ministry of Justice has ordered 31 companies to stop selling e-cigarettes within 48 hours or face a daily fine of BRL5,000 ($960). Although the National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has already banned e-cigs, the ministry has seen evidence of them being sold with the appearance of legality.
US - federal: The FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has sent out new warning letters to a number of e-liquid manufacturers for offering e-liquid products (listed in the letter) for sale or distribution without a marketing authorisation order.
Switzerland: The Federal Council has submitted for consultation a draft bill to amend the Tobacco Products Act after a majority of voters in a referendum in February supported a proposal by the campaign group Children Without Tobacco to prevent tobacco and vaping advertising from reaching children and young people. The ban would include advertising in newspapers, at open-air events and online. The consultation will remain open until 30th November and the government expects the preliminary draft to be submitted to the Federal Assembly in the first half of 2023.
US - general: Illinois-based e-liquid manufacturer Gripum’s petition for a review of its marketing denial order (MDO), filed on 8th October 2021 in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, has been denied. The court found that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s denial of the company’s premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) for a range of flavoured liquids was not arbitrary or unreasonable. The same court issued a stay of the MDO on 4th November 2021, pending resolution of the litigation.
China (Macau): The Macau Legislative Assembly has unanimously approved a government amendment to the New Tobacco Control Law, which prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution and transport of e-cigarettes. Until now, e-cig sales have been forbidden in the special administrative region, while limited imports for personal use were allowed.
US - general: The parent company of Philip Morris USA, Altria, has told a federal jury that RJ Reynolds stole its designs for a pod-style vape without paying a royalty, specialist legal media reports.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 276,544 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
Ukraine: Parliament was today due to consider Bill 5616 “on the peculiarities of the legal protection of geographical indications for agricultural products”, including amendments to allow vaping and heated tobacco use in some “specially designated” public areas, media reports. Although the economic policy committe supported both of these amendments, the bill has been criticised for going against a parliamentary regulation that prohibits the introduction of amendments unrelated to a bill’s main subject.
US - federal: The Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) updated the term “grandfathered tobacco product” to “pre-existing tobacco product” on all of its systems. The updated terminology more clearly and appropriately describes these products. A pre-existing tobacco product has the same definition as a grandfathered product: "Specifically, a pre-existing tobacco product is any tobacco product (including those products in test markets) that was commercially marketed in the United States as of Feb. 15, 2007."
UK: Trading Standards in the city of Stoke-on-Trent has removed 3,338 illegal e-cigarettes, worth £43,394 from the market, since January 2022. The illegal products include those with tanks bigger than the 2 ml limit and incorrect health warnings. Councillor Carl Edwards, cabinet member for housing and environment, said that the team regularly carries out test purchases to check that premises are following their legal requirements. Meanwhile, Trading Standards in Herefordshire has seized over £24,000 worth of illegal disposable e-cigarettes and e-liquids over the last three months. The majority of the disposable products seized contained oversized tanks, with the most common type being 1,500 and 3,500 puff ‘bars’, but also those with 12,000 puffs, the announcement states. The tank limit is around 600 puffs.
Saudi Arabia: Yesterday, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing issued a draft rule on retail, licensing and advertising of e-cigarettes. The proposal prohibits product display in shop windows and advertising on the exterior of stores. It also requires retailers to display a health warning and a sign prohibiting sales to minors both inside and outside of their stores. The proposal will be under consideration until 11th September.
South Korea: Today, the Ministry of Health and Welfare updated the requirements applicable to the health warnings that nicotine-containing e-liquids must carry. The new requirements, which are updated every two years, will apply from 23rd December 2022 to 22nd December 2024. The notice comes with a manual with illustrations of the packaging and frequently asked questions.
Colombia: Julián Peinado, the representative from the Colombian Liberal Party, has introduced in the Chamber of Representatives a bill that would regulate e-cigarettes. The bill aims to equate these products with tobacco products. If passed, the bill will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors and will subject them to packaging and labelling restrictions, including the duty to carry a health warning. The bill also proposes banning the sponsoring of sports and cultural events. The Colombian Liberal Party currently holds 32 seats out of 188 in the Chamber of Representatives, which makes it the party with the highest number of seats.
US - Alaska: Senate Bill 45 has been transmitted to the governor. This bill would raise the legal age to purchase, sell, exchange, or possess tobacco, a product containing nicotine, or an electronic smoking product from 19 to 21. It would further levy a tax as follows: 35% of the wholesale price of "(A) a closed-system electronic smoking product; (B) a vapor product sold as part of an open-system electronic smoking product; (C) a vapor product sold separately from a closed- or open system electronic smoking product".
Colombia: The government is planning to impose a tax on e-cigarettes, press reports. The economic commissions of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate have met with the minister of finance, José Antonio Ocampo, this week to discuss the details of the tax. This tax is being considered together with tax amendments in other areas, but no further details about the tax rate or possible tax system have been revealed so far. The government plans to have the tax approved by the end of the year. Representative Milena Jarava from the liberal party Partido de la Unión de la Gente also proposed establishing a tax on the advertising of e-cigarettes on social media.
Chile: On 30th August, the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies is set to discuss Bill 12694-11, which was introduced in the legislative process in June 2019 to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free vaping products. As we previously reported, the bill – which has Gabriel Boric's signature, Chile's president since March of this year – was scheduled to be discussed in the same Committee in previous meetings, which all failed to take place.
EU: Commissioner Stella Kyriakides answered a parliamentary question submitted by two Italian MEPs in which they asked whether the Commission, in the process of reviewing the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), will allow the online promotion of vape products and extend the rules for nicotine-containing products to nicotine-free ones. Kyriakides did not provide a specific answer, just saying that the Commission is running an overarching evaluation of the legislative framework for tobacco control, which includes the Tobacco Products Directive, the Tobacco Advertising Directive and other related tobacco control policies across the EU.
Spain: The Smoking Prevention Committee (CNPT) – the largest anti-tobacco organisation in Spain, representing several medical and anti-tobacco bodies – has criticised the government’s proposal in the Tobacco Market Bill to open 203 new tobacco shops. If passed, the bill would restrict the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids to tobacconists only within five years. The CNPT says that instead of increasing the number of tobacconists, the current number should be cut by half. The CNPT also criticised the delaying of the Tobacco Control and Prevention Plan 2021-2025, which was meant to be approved eight months ago and has not yet even been presented. CNPT president Andrés Zamorano said he fears neither the Tobacco Plan nor the amendment to the tobacco laws that the government announced will take place before the elections that are due in November 2023.
US - federal: The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has granted a petition for review of Bidi Vapor and other companies involved in the case and set aside the marketing denial orders (MDOs) issued to them by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), remanding them to the agency. The court held that the MDOs issued to Bidi Vapor, Diamond Vapor, Johnny Copper, Pop Vapor, Vapor Unlimited and Union Street Brands were arbitrary and capricious due to the FDA failing to consider “the relevant marketing and sales-access-restrictions plans”. ECigIntelligence will publish a report in the coming days tracking and analysing all these cases.
EU: The European Commission (EC) yesterday registered a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), “Call to achieve a tobacco-free environment and the first European tobacco-free generation by 2030”. The initiative seeks, among other things, to end the sale of nicotine products to people born after 2010, to extend outdoor smoking-free and vape-free spaces, and to eliminate tobacco advertising and social media presence. The ECI will now need to gather 1m signatures within a year of the start date determined by its organisers, including minimum numbers in at least seven EU member states. If enough verified signatures are gained, the EC will then decide whether to put forward any legislation.
US - federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent out several warning letters to e-liquid manufacturers, including reminders that the agency’s authority extends to products containing nicotine from any source, not just tobacco. Many of the letters state that the FDA “has not received an application from your firm requesting marketing authorization for the products listed in this Warning Letter”.
Canada - Saskatchewan: The Ministry of Finance has told ECigIntelligence that the federal excise duty on vapour products, due to come into force on 1st October, will not replace the provincial Vapour Products Tax.
US - Federal: Yesterday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter for marketing illegal flavoured nicotine gummies – the first warning letter for this type of product. The FDA stated: "these types of gummies are of particular public concern because of their resemblance to kid-friendly food or candy products and the potential to cause severe nicotine toxicity or even death among young children." "Nicotine gummies are a public health crisis just waiting to happen among our nation’s youth, particularly as we head into a new school year,” said FDA commissioner Robert Califf.
UK: Yesterday, Cornwall Trading Standards stated on social media that one out of six inspected businesses sold a vape to an under-age test purchaser.
Lithuania: The State Consumer Rights Protection Service (VVTAT) fined two companies for introducing into the Lithuanian market disposable e-cigarettes that do not comply with the packaging requirements set by the Law on Tobacco Control, Tobacco Products and Related Products.
US - General: A judge has issued an order amending the judgement that originally had RJ Reynolds paying $11m to Philip Morris International (PMI) for patent infringement. According to Bloomberg Law, the judge increased the amount to more than $14m ($10.9m and $3.16m for two separate patent claims).
Russia: Member of Parliament (MP) Sultan Khamzaev from the ruling party, United Russia, has called for a national ban on the sale of nicotine-containing products to those born after 2014, media reports. In May 2022, MPs from the parliament inter-factional working group on protecting the health of citizens from the dangers of alcohol, drug and tobacco were considering prohibiting the sale of nicotine-containing products to anyone born after 2010, but no formal moves have been made to date. The current legal framework includes heated tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids under the definition of nicotine-containing products.
EU: The final revision of the Ecodesign Directive, as a part of the EU Sustainable Products Initiative (introducing measures for electronics and their hazardous substances, and the implementation of the right to repair, among others), is expected to be approved by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union by the end of 2023, media reports. Although the extent of the possible requirements for the industry is not currently fully clear, we expect additional obligations on devices (e-cigarettes and devices for heating tobacco) to make them more durable, reusable, recyclable and energy-efficient. We expect to see the emergence of a digital product passport for devices (a tool that can significantly enhance the end-to-end traceability of a product, complementing the information provided on labels), requirements for measuring device energy consumption or performance, and more.
Americas: The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which serves as regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO), has published a 148-page Report on Tobacco Control for the Region of the Americas 2022. The report considers the increasing availability of e-cigarettes as a challenge that impedes the progress of tobacco control. It says: “Terms such as reduced harm or reduced risk tend to confuse people and provide a false sense of security in circumstances where there is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that the consumption of so-called reduced-harm products is safe for health.” And it adds: “The main objective of the marketing strategies for these products is ultimately to attract new users while being able to satiate current tobacco users who wish to quit.”
Malaysia: Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has told reporters that the details of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill are to be discussed this week by a bipartisan special select committee, which he will chair. Jamaluddin has already accepted recommendations by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Women, Children and Social Development, including dropping punishment for possession of vaping products by anyone born after 2007, although their use will remain punishable. The bill has sparked heated debate among MPs and others, despite reported calls by the King of Malaysia to support it.
South Africa: The Department of Health has told ECigIntelligence that the draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, first put forward in 2018, has been approved by the Forum of South African Directors General for presentation to the cabinet. Ministers will now either agree and submit the bill to parliament or suggest changes. The next steps, including the timetable, will be guided by the cabinet.
Paraguay: The one-year period for companies to adapt to the requirements set out in Decision 153/2021 ended on 11th August. From now on, manufacturers and importers of e-cigarette products must comply with the notification requirements it lays down, and e-liquids exceeding the 20 mg/ml nicotine limit will not be allowed in the Paraguayan market.
US - California: The San Benito County Board has voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance banning the sale of single-use e-cigarettes and flavoured tobacco products within both incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county, which lies in the Coast Range Mountains to the south of San Francisco and has a population of around 64,000. The ordinance, which also prohibits tobacco retailers from selling e-cigarettes, adds to the Californian trend of local flavour bans while a referendum on a state-wide flavour ban is pending.
Chile: Bill 12694-11 to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for vaping products, with and without nicotine, has recently been on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies Health Committee, having been in the legislative process since June 2019. Though scheduled debates on 2nd, 9th and 16th August failed to take place, the mere fact of the bill’s first appearance on the agenda may suggest a willingness to start pushing it forward. One of the signatories to the bill, Gabriel Boric, became Chile’s president in March.
Kuwait: Kuwaiti Customs has again postponed the adoption of the 100% customs duty imposed on e-cigarettes and e-liquids by the Gulf Cooperation Council, putting it back from 1st September 2022 to 1st January 2023. The administration issued a similar notice in February, postponing adoption of the duty from 1st March to 1st September.
US - California: Senate Bill 1215, which covers the recycling of electronic waste, has been amended by the Assembly to specifically exclude electronic nicotine delivery systems.
Ukraine: Amendments N20 and N21 to Bill 5616 “on the legal protection of geographical indications for agricultural products” would allow public vaping and heated tobacco use in some “specially designated places”. Although the Economic Policy Committee supported both of amendments, they have been criticised for going against a regulation prohibiting the introduction of amendments that do not relate to the topic of a bill.
US - Pennsylvania: House Bill 1309 has been referred to the Senate. This bill would include electronic smoking devices within the definition of "smoking" for purposes of the Clean Indoor Air Act. This legislation would also give all localities the ability to enact smoke-free ordinances that are more restrictive than current state law.
US - general: A Freedom of Information request by a media outlet has revealed an August 2020 memo showing that the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) originally had a different strategy for reviewing premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs). According to the memo, reviews were to be conducted through a “bracketing system”, described as “the process of individually evaluating the highest and lowest variation of a given characteristic within the bundle...and bridging the findings and conclusions to all other products within the bracket”. This system was meant for open-system e-liquids, for which they were expecting a huge number of applications; by dividing PMTA submissions into smaller bundles, the burden was expected to be relieved. That approach would have increased “the likelihood that FDA can issue more marketing orders on a greater number of tobacco products which would provide public health benefit”. It is not known why this approach was later not followed.
Ukraine: Inspectors from the State Production and Consumer Service have begun to check on how restaurants and cafes in the capital, Kyiv, are complying with the anti-tobacco legislation, which prohibits vaping and use of heated tobacco in such places, in line with smoking, media reports.
Egypt: The Ministry of Finance has issued a decree setting out a new process for paying the health insurance tax on tobacco products. Decree No. (369) of 2022, published in the Official Gazette, requires the tax to be paid to the state’s public treasury, through Central Bank of Egypt account 2/70/30301/2, instead of the Health Insurance Authority. E-liquids are taxed in Egypt are taxed at a rate of EGP2 ($0.11) per ml plus 10% of the price.
Colombia: Julián Peinado of the Colombian Liberal Party will next week introduce in the Chamber of Representatives a bill to regulate e-cigarettes, equating them with tobacco products, press reports. If approved, the bill will ban sales to minors and introduce packaging and labelling restrictions, including a mandatory health warning, and ban sponsorship of sporting and cultural events. The Colombian Liberal Party is currently the largest party in the Chamber of Representatives, with 32 seats out of 188.
Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is finalising the draft implementing RA 11900, further regulating vaping products, media reports. The DTI, which is to set technical standards for product safety, consistency and quality, will start a consultation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and proceed with a public consultation with industry, retailers and users.
UK: 3,000 illegal vapes worth between £35,000 and £40,000 in total and 77,420 cigarettes have been seized in twin operations in two West Yorkshire towns. Local press reports that the operation by Trading Standards in Dewsbury and Huddersfield was mounted “in response to recent increases in the sale of illegal vapes in both town centres”.
US - federal: Cristine Delnevo, director of the Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies and a professor of health behaviour, society and policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health, has been appointed chair of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) until 31st January 2025. “This advisory committee plays an important role in several ways, perhaps most notably on the review of modified risk tobacco product applications, as required under the Tobacco Control Act,” Delnevo said.
Philippines: The Bureau of Internal Revenue has published the full text of Republic Act 11900, which will regulate the importation, manufacture, sale, packaging, distribution and use of vaping products. The act will come into force 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two general circulation newspapers, which to the best of our knowledge has not yet happened.
New Zealand: From tomorrow, 11th August, all retailers of vaping products must ensure the products they are selling conform to the new packaging regulations. This includes both general retailers and specialist vape stores. Among the rules are new health warnings and newly prohibited features on packaging.
Russia: The Ministry of Industry and Trade has published a draft decree which would make the digital traceability marking of e-cigarettes and e-liquids mandatory ahead of schedule from 1st November. Under the currently operative government decree, the voluntary experiment with traceability marking should last until 28th February 2023.
Albania: The National Tobacco Agency has confirmed to ECigIntelligence that both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes are regulated under the Law on the Protection of Health from Tobacco Products. Among other measures, the law sets product restrictions, labelling and packaging requirements and retail restrictions.
New York State: County executive Adam Bello has announced that Monroe County’s Department of Environmental Services is partnering with a waste disposal company to collect and dispose of used vape devices and e-liquids. Monroe County, on the shore of Lake Ontario in upstate New York is the first county in the state to set up such a service. “Vaping is not only a public health issue, it is an environmental issue,” Bello said.
Uzbekistan: Parliament was today considering the Conciliation Commission’s views on a bill to restrict the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products, media reports. The Senate rejected the bill in June, calling for clarification and amendments, after it was approved by the lower house, the Legislative Chamber, at the end of 2021. The bill aims to amend current tobacco legislation to cover novel products and to ban sales to under-21s.
Lithuania: The Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products.
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.
US - federal: Brian King, director of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has said in a public update on the agency’s review and enforcement of non-tobacco nicotine products that the CTP has been “working diligently” to process premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs). He said: “I’m thankful that our authority is now clear, and I will not stand by as illegal products with the potential to cause a new generation of youth to become addicted to nicotine, proliferate in the marketplace.” He emphasised that the FDA had received nearly 1m PMTAs from more than 200 separate companies and issued refuse-to-accept (RTA) letters for more than 88,000 products for applications that “do not meet the criteria for acceptance”. Amanda Wheeler, president of the American Vapour Manufacturers Association (AVM), tweeted in response: “Read between the lines: Millions of applications submitted, ZERO approved, yet King assures us the system is working.”
US - general: Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, has issued a statement saying the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “should enforce the law and order immediate removal of all unauthorized synthetic nicotine products”, adding that “sending a small number of warning letters does not comply with the law”.
Australia: More than 15,000 nicotine-containing e-cigarettes have been seized in Western Australia in an operation analysing the content of e-cigarettes that were claimed not to contain nicotine. The state authorities have put more than 3,000 retailers on notice, advising them that the sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes other than by a pharmacy and without a medical prescription is banned.
Canada - Nova Scotia: The Finance and Treasury Board has told ECigIntelligence that the federal excise duty on vapour products, due to come into force on 1st October, will not replace the provincial Vaping Products Tax.
Sweden: The Public Health Agency has updated the publicly available list of notified e-cigarettes and refill containers, which contains 12,156 vapour products.
Malaysia: The Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of Electronic Cigarette Device) Order 2022 comes into effect today. It requires manufacturers and importers of e-cigarette devices and components to apply for a certificate to the inspection and testing body SIRIM QAS International before placing them on the market. E-cigs that comply with the Malaysian Standard on Electronic Cigarette Devices will be marked as such.
Colombia: The incoming government is planning to impose excise duty on e-liquids. President-elect Gustavo Petro and the National Federation of Departments (FND) have signed a document defining the working agenda for the next months, in which duty on e-liquids is labelled as a priority. No details of the rate or model to be imposed have been disclosed.
Canada - British Columbia: The Ministry of Finance has told ECigIntelligence that the federal excise duty on vapour products, due to come into force on 1st October, will not replace the provincial sales tax (PST) of 20% currently charged on vapour products in British Columbia.
Estonia: The Health Board has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which contains 33,042 vapour products.
Kyrgyzstan: The Ministry of Economy and Finance has put forward for public discussion a draft resolution on minimum retail prices for tobacco and nicotine-containing products, media reports. It suggests e-cigarettes should be priced at KGS400 ($4.80) per device in 2023, then rise gradually until 2026.
Romania: The new excise duty on e-cigarettes has entered into force today. It sets duty on e-liquids at RON0.64 (€0.13) per ml from 1st August 2022. In the coming years, the excise duty will be progressively increased to RON0.72 (€0.15) per ml in 2023, RON0.81 (€0.16) per ml in 2024, RON 0.91 (€0.18) per ml in 2025, and RON1.03 (€0.21) per ml in 2026.
US - Federal: Last week, a United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the petitions for review of four e-liquid manufacturers regarding their Marketing Denial Orders (MDOs). They rejected all of the petitioners' arguments, including that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. The decision seemed to focus heavily on the impact of e-cigarettes on the youth.
South Africa: The National Treasury has proposed a flat excise duty rate of ZAR2.90 ($0.18) per ml for both nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products. The bill will be open for public comment until 29th August. Comments should be sent to the designated email addresses set on the authority's website. After the deadline, the authority will engage with industry members through public workshops to discuss the comments.
Ukraine: Bill 7597 seeking to allow smoking, vaping and consumption of heated tobacco in specially designated places in restaurants and bars and/or in open spaces of such facilities has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Currently, smoking, vaping and consumption of heated tobacco in such facilities are banned in Ukraine.
US - California: As of 25th July, it’s unlawful to sell flavoured tobacco to anyone in the unincorporated areas of Sacramento County. The sales ban includes flavoured cigarettes, e-cigarettes and cigars along with any flavoured edible tobacco and nicotine products. According to a Sacramento County news release, all cigarette products with smells and flavours except tobacco are prohibited from being sold. Hookah lounges are not exempt from the ban.
Russia: In January 2022, bill 58606-8 seeking to ban the sale of e-liquids and e-cigarettes in Russia was submitted to the parliament, but it has not even come through the first reading. Marine Gambaryan, head of the Centre for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Consumption of the National Medical Research Centre for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Ministry of Health supports this legislative move. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently opposed a complete ban on e-cigarettes, supporting the industry's position on the need to accelerate the timing of the introduction of mandatory traceability markings for such products, media reports. Currently, according to the government decree, the voluntary experiment on the labelling of e-liquids, cartridges and closed e-cigarette systems with traceability markings will last until 28th February 2023.
Ukraine: Petition No. 22/147290 aiming to prohibit smoking on balconies and from the windows of apartment buildings has been published. If it collects 25,000 signatures, it may become a starting point for amending the current public place usage restrictions. Given the fact that all current smoking restrictions equally apply to vaping and consumption of heated tobacco, we believe their use on balconies and from the windows of apartment buildings could also potentially be banned if the petition succeeds. However, the petition has so far only collected 271 signatures, with 61 days remaining until the deadline.
Portugal: Tomorrow is the last day to participate in a public consultation on the 2030 National Strategy for the Fight against Cancer. Among measures proposed are an increase in e-cigarette and tobacco prices, regulation of ingredients and packaging, and raising the minimum legal purchase age.
Indonesia: Government officials and stakeholders met yesterday to discuss revising the tobacco framework, Government Regulation 109 of 2012, with a view to regulating e-cigarettes, press reports. Deputy health minister of Health Dante Saksono said several ministries were working on it, although a formal initiative sent by the Ministry of Health to the president was rejected in January.
Malaysia: The Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Health, Science and Innovation has recommended that the proposed generational ban on purchase of vape products should be delayed for three years, and that the ban should start with those born after 2008, instead of 2007, press reports. The committee wants a three-year evaluation period to assess the government’s preparedness to implement the ban and to assess the need for separate regulation of vaping products. It said that e-cigarettes have “harm reduction” characteristics compared to combustible tobacco.
New Zealand: Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), which represents 78 local, regional and unitary councils, has called on the government to limit retail availability of vaping products and impose proximity restrictions on vape stores. LGNZ president Stuart Crosby said: “We welcome the recent changes that include restrictions around the sale of vapes and advertising and sponsorship but vapes are still available in too many places in our communities.”
New Zealand: The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, which would set a limit on vaping retailers and ban the sale of smokable tobacco products to anyone born after 1st January 2009, is now open for comment until 24th August.
Canada: Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Directorate has told ECigIntelligence there is no timetable for the adoption and implementation of the Order Amending Schedules 2 and 3 to the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (Flavours), restricting vaping flavours and banning sweeteners, proposed last year. An official said the information may be included in the next update to the department’s Forward Regulatory Plan.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 273,422 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
Iceland: Tomorrow is the last day to submit comments on the Ministry of Health’s planned amendments to the Tobacco Control Act following the incorporation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the EEA agreement in February. The bill to transpose the TPD into Icelandic law, which has not yet been published, is scheduled to be presented in the autumn, with the proposed changes to be made public after the consultation period.
Denmark: The Danish Safety Agency seized a quantity of illegally flavoured e-cigarettes from five market stalls at the weekend following a tip-off. Since 1st April only tobacco and menthol flavours are allowed in Denmark. The agency announced that it will continue to make unannounced visits to markets and festivals over the summer to check if illegal e-cigs are being sold. It will also monitor social media and use artificial intelligence tools to identify products for sale online.
Morocco: The Haraki Group of members of the centre-right Popular Movement submitted a draft bill on e-cigarettes to the House of Representatives during a public session yesterday. According to press reports, the proposals include stricter rules on public vaping, health warnings on packaging, a ban on e-cig advertising and on their sale to minors. However, as the party holds only 28 of the 395 seats in the House, the bill is unlikely to gather sufficient support.
Vietnam: During a symposium yesterday on new tobacco products, the Ministry of Health objected to a proposal put forward by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for a two-year pilot programme for trade in e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, press reports. Tran Thi Trang, deputy director of the health ministry’s legal department, said the pilot proposal came purely from a business perspective and has not been thoroughly studied from the point of view of public health.
UK - Wales: The Welsh government yesterday published its tobacco control strategy, aimed at reducing the adult (16+) smoking rate to 5% or less over the next eight years. One of the objectives is to work on discouraging the uptake of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products among teenagers and young people by 2030.
US - Federal: Matt Holman, director of the Office of Science at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) is leaving immediately to join Philip Morris International (PMI), media reports. According to a memo from CTP director Brian King: “Holman has been on leave and has recused himself from all CTP and FDA work while exploring career opportunities outside government.” Holman leaves just as the CTP faces a series of major decisions, including a potential ban on menthol cigarettes, lowering nicotine levels, and the ongoing efforts to rein in Juul and other e-cigarettes.
New Zealand: The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill was approved at its first reading in Parliament. The bill is aimed primarily at reducing the number of retailers who can sell smoking products, while it also includes a ban on the sale of smoking products to anyone born on or after 1st January 2009. The bill is now with the Health Committee, which will prepare a report on it before submitting it for second reading. Commenting on the bill, associate health minister Ayesha Verall said she was not happy with the current rate of youth vaping, but added that vaping was a helpful “quit tool” and that its harm was “nowhere on the scale of tobacco”.
Malaysia: A much-discussed bill banning the sale of vaping products to people born in or after 2007 was tabled in Parliament today. The bill does not mention nicotine but defines a “smoking device” as “any electronic device or a battery-operated device or other device, which is used to heat, vaporise, or burn a tobacco product, smoking substance, or substitute tobacco product for smoking”. It defines a “smoking substance” as “any substance or combination of substance comprising of propylene glycol, glycerol, or triethylene glycol for the purpose of smoking”, including nicotine-free e-cigarettes. The bill equates vaping with smoking, and proposes penalties for the purchase, possession and use of vaping products by anyone born after 1st January 2007.
US - New York: Senate Bill 4142 has been signed into law by governor Kathy Hochul. The bill makes smoking on all state-owned beaches and boardwalks, in marinas, playgrounds, recreation centres and group camps punishable by a $50 fine. It exempts the Adirondack and Catskill conservation parks from the ban as well as parking lots, sidewalks adjoining parks, and areas not used for park purposes. The ban does not apply to e-cigarettes.
Philippines: The Bureau of Internal Revenue has published an updated list of registered manufacturers and importers of vapour products. According to the authority, any product not included in the list and that does not comply with regulations, such as the health warning requirements, is considered unauthorised.
Philippines: The Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Bill (Vape Bill), which introduces further regulation of vaping and heated tobacco products, has lapsed into law after president Bongbong Marcos took no action on it. Among the new provisions is the lowering of the minimum purchasing and sale age to 18. The Department of Trade and Industry becomes the authority to set technical standards. The President’s Office is yet to release a copy of the law.
Europe: A period of consultation on amendments to the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation opened on Friday, 22nd July, and will run until 19th August. In summary, CLP “sets rules for classifying, labelling and packaging substances and mixtures. Annex VI lists notes that can be assigned to substances with harmonised classifications. These notes provide further instructions on how to classify and label these substances or mixtures containing them. This initiative assigns new notes (added to the CLP Regulation by a recent amendment) to certain substances.”
UK: Lancaster Magistrates Court has fined a store owner for selling nicotine vaping products to minors after a 14-year-old volunteer made a successful purchase in February, local press reports. In addition to a £184 fine, the retailer was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £34 and council costs of £200. County trading standards manager Angela Lomax said: “Lancashire trading standards will continue to undertake test purchasing operations relating to the whole range of products and services that are subject to age restrictions.”
Italy: The Lazio Administrative Tribunal (TAR) has temporarily suspended a decree introducing retroactive notification fees for vapour products due by 30th July following an appeal by the industry association Anafe. The judges said the Ministry of Health had enacted the decree more than five years after the deadline set by the decree transposing the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into Italian law. The TAR will rule on the legitimacy of the decree on 18th November.
US - federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has issued some more warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquids classed as “new tobacco products” without the required authorisation to remain on the market.
Thailand: Cannabis-based e-liquids will not be exempt from the ban on the import and sale of vaping products. The National Tobacco Products Control Committee has made clear that both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes with cannabis are banned, press reports.
Malaysia: Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin today tweeted that, after having taken into account all the opinions expressed in stakeholder engagement sessions, sales of vaping products will be banned to those born in or after 2007, rather than 2005 as previously reported. In a separate tweet, Khairy said the “Generational Endgame” bill will be tabled in Parliament next week.
UK: In response to a series of parliamentary questions, junior health minister Maggie Throup said the government was considering the recommendations of the Khan Review, “including measures to protect children and young people from starting vaping”. She added: “We are assessing options such as potential benefits of banning cartoon characters and images which are appealing to children and the merits of prohibiting free samples. We are also looking at flavours and the appeal for young people.”
United Arab Emirates: The Public Prosecution authority has published a warning on Instagram that the sale, distribution and promotion of tobacco products to under-18s is prohibited. Under the Electronic Nicotine Products standard, e-cigarettes are treated like traditional tobacco, so selling them to minors can lead to at least three months’ jail and a fine of no less than AED15,000 ($4,000) under Federal Law No. 03/2016 on child rights and Federal Law No. 15/2009 on tobacco control.
Egypt: The Ministry of Health and Population has tweeted a warning about e-cigarettes, which it says “do not help you quit smoking”. It adds: “E-cigarettes contain toxic substances that harm your health just like regular cigarettes.”
Italy: Prime minister Mario Draghi has submitted his resignation and dissolved Parliament after the right-wing parties withdrew their support in the Senate. The next elections are due in September 2023 and the far-right Brothers of Italy are currently ahead in the polls, followed by the Democratic Party, League and Five Star parties. In the past, right-wing parties have generally supported a more lenient regulatory approach to new nicotine products. Excise duties on vapour products, currently reduced by a law approved in February 2022, will rise to around €0.25 per ml for nicotine-containing e-liquids and around €0.20 per ml for those without nicotine unless the new government amends the existing legislation.
UK: In a debate yesterday (21st July) in the House of Commons, conservative member of parliament (MP) Caroline Johnson brought up the recent reports on the increasing number of children using e-cigarettes and asked when the government is going to have a debate about preventing children from picking up vaping.
UK: Yesterday, 21st July, Sandwell Trading Standards announced results of recent inspections resulting in the seizure of more than £64,000 worth of illegal vapour and tobacco products. Over 800 vaping products were seized for being in excess of the 2 ml tank size limit (ranging from 4.5 ml to 9 ml), and for not including usage instructions, health warnings and the name and address of a UK contact for products manufactured outside of the UK. In addition to having their stock confiscated, offenders could face unlimited fines and up to ten years in prison. Councillor Danny Millard, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for communities, said: “Illegal tobacco and vaping products can be even more hazardous than commercially approved items. While you think you might be getting a bargain, you can never be sure what you are smoking and the effect it might have on you.”
Philippines: In response to a request from the president’s office for comments and recommendations on the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Bill (Vape Bill), several government agencies, including the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), have expressed their support for the bill, press reports. In parallel, the Philippines Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Health (DOH) requested to veto it. The bill will lapse into law on 24th July if the president does not act on it.
United Arab Emirates: The UAE Federal Tax Authority has issued a press release stressing its commitment to enforcing the Digital Tax Stamp (DTS) on tobacco products. The authority explained that control efforts resulted in the seizure and confiscation of nearly 5.5m units of tobacco products that did not conform to specifications, and assured that it will increase efforts to control the markets and ensure the correct implementation of the excise tax. It’s worth noting that e-cigarettes should also bear the DTS.
US - Michigan: House Bill (HB) 6108 has been signed into law by the governor. This bill amends state law to raise the legal age to purchase a tobacco product, vapour product or an alternative nicotine product from 18 to 21, in accordance with federal law.
Malaysia: Replying to a parliamentary question put forward by member of parliament (MP) Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, who asked whether the Ministry of Health intends to recognise e-cigarettes as a harm-reduction tool, the minister of health, Khairy Jamaluddin, replied on 19th July that the Ministry is still studying the use of e-cigarettes as a harm-reduction method. Jamaluddin acknowledged that in other countries e-cigs have been recognised as such, but noted at the same time that “scientific data shows that e-cigarettes affect one’s health”. He added that “the policy decision to recognise electronic cigarettes as a harm-reduction tool needs to be carefully made based on strong scientific evidence”.
US - general: Chinese e-cigarette manufacturer JWEI has announced that it has submitted a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a device it says focuses on safety and harm reduction and is designed to curb under-age use. The company said it had “embedded the comprehensive PMTA guideline into a set of coherent criteria for product development and study objectives”.
Switzerland: In a joint campaign with five other cantons, the Basel cantonal laboratory examined e-liquids for their nicotine content, prohibited ingredients and health warnings. After it was found that two thirds of the samples were not legally compliant, 44% were subjected to a sales ban for failings such as the nicotine content not being declared in the official language or chemicals being incorrectly classified. According to the health department, the high rate of non-compliance demonstrates that manufacturers and importers are not aware that the products come under the Federal Food Safety Act and the Chemicals Ordinance.
Jordan: The House of Representatives has referred a government-drafted bill of child rights to a joint committee of the Women and Family Affairs Committee and the Legal Committee. The bill proposes fines ranging from JOD 100 ($140) to JOD 300 ($420) for smoking or vaping in front of children, including by parents or family members. Vaping is considered to be smoking under Public Health Law No. 47/2008 and the Standards for tobacco and nicotine products, including electronic ones.
US - federal: US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf has ordered an external review of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), citing a “series of challenges that have tested our regulatory frameworks and stressed the agency’s operations”.
US - general: Myblu vaping products will not be allowed to be sold in the US market while the court reviews a marketing denial order (MDO), as an appellate court has declined to issue an emergency stay for Fontem US in its challenge against an MDO handed down by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Israel: Health minister Nitzan Horowitz is considering further restricting the marketing of disposable e-cigarettes and raising the excise duty on them, due to their growing popularity among young people, press reports. He is reportedly considering requiring disturbing and impactful images on packaging to discourage purchase.
Malaysia: A poll of 40 members of Malaysia’s lower parliamentary chamber the Dewan Rakyat found only 12 said they would vote in favour of a bill banning the sale of vaping products to anyone born after 2005. Another 26 said they would decide how they would vote after the publication of the draft bill. The report by CodeBlue, a newspaper specialising in health matters, says most of those as yet uncommitted “appeared to lean towards opposing the tobacco bill in its current form, as they expressed various concerns with the proposed generational ban on tobacco and vape”.
Russia: The bill setting future tax rates has been adopted and published, increasing excise rates for e-liquids and e-cigarette devices in 2025 by 4%. Devices will be taxed at RUB 70 (€1.20), and e-liquids at RUB 20 (€0.34) per ml.
Czech Republic: The Ministry of Health has updated the publicly available list of notified herbal products for smoking, e-cigarettes and refill containers.
US - California: Attorney general Rob Bonta yesterday announced $22m in state funding for local government agencies to tackle the illegal sale of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, especially to minors. He said the Department of Justice’s Tobacco Grant Program would give local agencies “the funding they need to keep our children healthy and hold tobacco retailers accountable”. Any local agencies with authority to enforce tobacco-related state laws or local ordinances are eligible to apply.
US - general: Triton Distribution and Vapetasia, two manufacturers of flavoured e-liquids, were denied a review of the FDA’s marketing denial order (MDO) in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, Bloomberg reports. Triton was granted a stay of execution last October, allowing the company to continue selling its flavoured e-cigarettes after receiving an MDO from the FDA in September, pending the resolution of the case. Earlier this year, when the court heard oral arguments, the questions put by the three-judge panel seemed to suggest one judge would be in favour of Triton’s case, while the other two questioned it.
Ireland: The Oireachtas (parliament) Joint Health Committee is pushing for a flavour ban and age restrictions on e-cigarette sales. The committee has published a report containing submissions by stakeholders during pre-legislative scrutiny of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2019, along with its own recommendations in relation to each of the submitted proposals. It supports the regulation of vaping flavours and says all flavours except tobacco should be prohibited. It also says coloured packaging should be restricted and any form of e-cig advertising banned.
EU: Tomorrow, 20th July, is the last day to submit feedback on the initiative to review the Council of the European Union’s 2009 recommendation on smoke-free environments. The initiative seeks to extend the recommendation to cover emerging products and to increase its scope to include additional outdoor spaces such as schools and playgrounds.
US - General: The anti-tobacco, anti-vaping Truth Initiative is calling on the FDA “to immediately remove all synthetic nicotine products now on the market illegally like Puff Bar, a top youth brand, and to only allow e-cigarettes that have been reviewed and meet the rigorous public health standards to remain on the market”. The group says the FDA should prioritise the review of tobacco-derived and synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes, as they are “most popular among youth”.
US - California: Millbrae City Council intends to prepare an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products within the city, which lies in the San Francisco Bay Area and has a population of just over 23,000. Millbrae is in San Mateo County, where sales of flavoured tobacco products and e-cigarettes have been banned in unincorporated areas since 2018. The county intends to update its Tobacco Retailer Permit Ordinance to specifically include synthetic nicotine products and non-nicotine e-cigarettes and to place stipulations on where new retailers can be located. A Californian referendum over a state-wide flavour ban is still pending.
US - Hawaii: House Bill (HB) 1570 has been vetoed by the governor. The version as it currently stands would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products and deem it unlawful to mislabel as nicotine-free any e-liquid product that contains nicotine. The first versions of the bill explicitly banned the sale of flavoured synthetic nicotine products, but the current version after amendments does not.
Armenia: Yesterday, 14th July, the government approved the plan to combat the use of tobacco products and tobacco substitutes for 2022-2026, media reports. The plan is expected to protect current and future generations from the corrosive effects of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, as well as significantly reduce the prevalence of tobacco use. Among other things, the plan seeks to develop the requirements for uniform packaging of such products, revise their tax policy, and provide mechanisms to exclude tobacco industry interference in tobacco control policies.
US - federal: New warning letters have been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Among them is the warning: “Please be aware that, on 15th March 2022, the president signed legislation to amend the FD&C [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic] Act to extend FDA’s jurisdiction to products ‘containing nicotine from any source’, not just nicotine derived from tobacco”; thus, the FDA has started to send out warning letters about synthetic nicotine products.
US - general: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce the congressionally mandated deadline and clear the market of any synthetic nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, that had not obtained FDA authorisation by yesterday, 13th July. It emphasised that a growing number of e-cigarette manufacturers have increasingly switched to using synthetic nicotine since the FDA acted against flavoured products made with tobacco-derived nicotine. The statement by campaign president Matthew Myers singled out Puff Bar as “the most popular e-cigarette brand among kids” and said it “sells synthetic nicotine products with kid-friendly flavors like Banana Ice and Cool Mint”.
Malaysia: The Cabinet yesterday approved the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill that sets out to ban the sale of vaping products to anyone born in or after 2005, press reports. The Cabinet’s approval allows health minister Khairy Jamaluddin to table the bill in Parliament, which he intends to do during the upcoming session, which begins on Monday, 18th July.
US- general: Today, 13th July, is the final date for synthetic nicotine products to be marketed in the US without a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) having been submitted by 14th May. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been criticised for its statement that it could not say how many companies selling such products had submitted an application – making it impossible to estimate the real number of illegal products on the market, media reports. Senator Dick Durbin said: “It seems that the FDA is unable to implement processes for monitoring the market and neglects its duty to ensure compliance with the law.” Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said: “If FDA allowed products to remain on the market that didn’t file an application, it is both directly contrary to the law and puts America’s kids at risk.” Lawyer Azim Chowdhury said he expected the FDA “to go after big companies known for marketing to kids, and hopes the agency does not try to put small vape shops out of business”.
US - federal: The American Vapor Manufacturers Association has formally asked the inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services to investigate “unethical political interference between Congress and FDA”. Specifically it queries whether the commissioner was aware that the FDA’s Juul decision was based on incomplete information; calls for all correspondence between the commissioner and members of Congress (including senator Dick Durbin and representative Raja Krishnamoorthi) to be made public; and also for other communications between the commissioner and a Wall Street Journal reporter, between him and his immediate predecessor, and between any FDA officials and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Parents Against Vaping to be made public.
Spain: The National Committee for Smoking Prevention (CNPT) has published a statement expressing concern about the widely reported decision of the Ministry of Health to stop work on an amendment of the Tobacco Act. The CNPT, which is the leading anti-tobacco organisation in Spain and is associated with medical and health organisations, is urging the ministry to confirm whether or not it will indeed abandon its legislative plans. It also insists on the need to approve laws that reduce nicotine and tobacco consumption and asks the ministry about the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, which was meant to have been approved already. Both the Tobacco Act amendment and the prevention and control plan were intended to impose further restrictions on both tobacco and vaping products.
Mexico: The Federal Commission for Protection Against Public Health Risks (Cofepris) has closed down more than 179 shops and vending machines and seized almost 65,000 e-cigarettes since January 2021, press reports. The Cofepris action comes after e-cig sales were banned by the government, an order that has been contested in court multiple times.
Uruguay: The Ministry of Education and Culture has approved the setting-up of the Association of Vapers of Uruguay (Asovape), which seeks to reduce smoking and regulate the consumption of e-cigarettes, press reports. The ministry said the association would “promote through education...the ways of reducing the harm associated with smoking”. The sale of e-cigarettes has been banned in Uruguay since 2009.
Spain: The Ministry of Health has decided not to continue with its planned amendment to the Tobacco Act, press reports. The government has decided there is not enough time before its term ends at the end of 2023 to undertake the reform, which would have banned smoking on open-air terraces, in cars with children or pregnant women present, and in open-air stadiums. It would also have established neutral packaging and further restricted the advertising of tobacco and vaping products. The amendment was framed within the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, which was meant to be approved by June 2022 and now presumably will not be approved.
US - federal: Tomorrow, 13th July, is the last day synthetic nicotine products can be marketed in the US without a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) having been submitted by 14th May. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will maintain enforcement discretion, it will be illegal after tomorrow to distribute such products without a PMTA.
Philippines: The Presidential Office has confirmed to ECigIntelligence that it received the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Bill, which will further regulate vaping products, on 24th June, six days before president Bongbong Marcos took office. If the president does not act on a bill submitted by Congress, it lapses into law after 30 days of receipt.
Hungary: The Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Activities (SZFTH) has provided ECigIntelligence with figures showing that sales of e-liquids grew steadily in 2017, 2018 and 2019 but began to fall with the introduction of a flavour ban in May 2020. Sales slid from 16,000 l in 2019 to 12,400 l in 2020, 9,500 l in 2021 and 4,200 liters in the five-month period from 1st January to 31st May 2022.
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.
France: Senator Françoise Férat of the Centrist Union Group has submitted a parliamentary question to the minister for ecological transition asking whether he is considering banning disposable e-cigarettes. Férat said disposables encouraged consumption and increased the volume of waste, amounting to an “ecological disaster”.
Iceland: A bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills has today come into force. It makes the sale of vaping products subject to licensing by the Housing and Civil Engineering Institute and explicitly prohibits the advertising of e-cigarettes on social media.
Iceland: On 1st July the Ministry of Health made its legislative plans to amend the Tobacco Control Act following the incorporation of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into the EEA Agreement in February 2022 open for comments via the consultation portal. The legislative plans seek to implement the European TPD into the Icelandic legislative framework, although no bill has been disclosed yet, as the proposed changes will be made public after the consultation period. The bill is scheduled to be presented during the 2022 autumn session. The consultation period ends on 29th July 2022.
US - General: President and CEO of Truth Initiative, Robin Koval, has issued a statement expressing both confusion and disappointment that “after an extensive review of JUUL’s pre-market application which was submitted two full years ago in July 2020, the FDA is now sending mixed signals over its bold decision to deny JUUL’s marketing authorization just two weeks ago”. Truth Initiative is pushing for the FDA to stand by its decision.
Malaysia: The minister of health said today, 8th July, that the bill banning the sale of vaping products to all those born after 1st January 2005 that we previously reported on will be presented to the cabinet next week, before it is tabled in the parliament later this month, press reports. The minister further stated that the bill will envisage jail terms for the sale of vaping products to anyone born after 1st January 2005, but that possession will not be punished with incarceration.
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.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued another batch of warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that it regards as “new tobacco products” lacking the required FDA marketing authorisation.
Brazil: The board of the National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) decided unanimously at an extraordinary meeting yesterday, 6th July, to maintain the existing ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The agency will now prepare a regulatory draft that will be sent to the body’s governing body, the college, for deliberation. The college will later decide whether or not to open the draft for a public consultation.
Sweden: The Public Health Agency has updated the public list of notified e-cigarettes and refill containers, containing 12,054 vapour products.
Italy: The Custom and Monopoly Agency (ADM) has updated the lists of notified nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarette products, now containing a total of 21,341 products.
Philippines: Presidential spokesperson Trixie Cruz-Angeles has told reporters that the new president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, has given no indication of whether or not he supports the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Bill, which would change regulations on vaping products. Bills approved by the former Congress lapse into law if the president fails to act on it within 30 days of receiving it. The presidential office has not confirmed to ECigIntelligence when the bill was received.
Romania: The Ministry of Finance has introduced a bill to progressively increase the excise duty on e-cigarettes and e-liquids. It proposes duty on e-liquids at RON0.62 (€0.13) for 2022; RON0.72 (€0.15) in 2023; RON0.81 (€0.16) in 2024; RON0.91 (€0.18) in 2025 and RON1.03 (€0.21) in 2026. If the bill is approved, the new rate will come into force on 1st August and be updated on that date every year.
US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has administratively stayed its marketing denial order (MDO) against Juul Labs, says “there are scientific issues unique to the Juul application that warrant additional review”. This only suspends the MDO but does not rescind it -- all e-cigarette products need FDA authorisation in order to be legally marketed.
Brazil: The National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) was to discuss the regulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in an extraordinary meeting today, 6th July. The public meeting was called to consider information and comments received during a public consultation, which closed on 10th June. In its preliminary report, published in April, the agency suggested that the existing ban should be maintained. No final decision is expected yet.
France: The National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) has published an updated list of notified e-cigarettes, which includes 81,809 products.
US - Michigan: Senate Bill 1109 has been introduced. This bill would prohibit the sale of vapour products with any heating element not made of or encased in glass and/or ceramic.
Luxembourg: In answer to a parliamentary question about whether the increased use by teenagers of flavoured disposable e-cigarettes, as seen in France, was also occurring in Luxembourg, health minister Paulette Lenert said yesterday that as none of the notification fees for disposables had been paid, their presence on the market was illegal. She added that while it did not currently have usage data on these products, “the Ministry of Health takes the emergence of this type of product very seriously [as] the electronic cigarette in all its forms or variants constitutes a potential health risk”.
US - general: The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA) met up with the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to discuss the future of the vapour industry and what the association called the “pending illicit sales epidemic”. In a meeting well attended by FDA and CTP representatives, the SFATA challenged the mass issuing of marketing denial orders (MDOs) by the FDA, saying it presented the threat of an unregulated illicit market developing. It said that in the cause of reducing youth vaping, the FDA had spread the belief that vapour products are at least as harmful as combustible tobacco. The SFATA, whose presentation used data provided by ECigIntelligence, called on all interested parties to join it in its work of “advocating for a reasonably regulated marketplace”.
EU: EU law requires certain large companies to disclose information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental challenges. The European Council and Parliament have reached an agreement on the rules of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which will impact listed EU and non-EU companies operating in the region, with a turnover of more than €150m. Among more detailed reporting requirements, it requires large companies to report on sustainability issues such as environmental, social and human rights and governance factors, and to have their reported sustainability information independently audited.
Portugal: The Directorate-General for Health has launched its 2030 National Strategy for the Fight against Cancer. Among measures proposed are an increase in e-cigarette and tobacco product prices, regulation of ingredients and packaging, and raising the minimum legal purchase age. The document is under public consultation until 29th July.
Portugal: The State Budget 2022, which increases nicotine e-liquid taxes from €0.32/ml to €0.323/ml, entered into force on 28th June.
Egypt: Today (1st July) the Egyptian Tax Authority published a warning against the sale of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco that do not contain tax stamps. It stated that whoever sells tobacco products without the tax stamp (pendulum) on them could face criminal charges of tax and customs evasion, punishable by imprisonment. The tax authority also announced a new QR stamp system that is yet to be implemented.
Denmark: Starting today (1st July), a tax on nicotine-containing e-liquids applies as set out in the Act 2616/2021. E-liquids with nicotine content of up to 12 mg/ml will be taxed at DKK1.5 (€0.20) per ml, while those with nicotine above 12 mg/ml will be taxed at DKK2.5 (€0.34) per ml.
Panama: A law that forbids e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and other devices, with or without nicotine, was enacted today (1st July). The law makes an exception for free-trade zones, whose purpose is to export and re-export to a third country.
Germany: Starting from today (1st July), e-liquids will be taxed on a base of €0.16 per ml. The tax will see annual increases until 2026. A complaint from the Alliance for Tobacco-Free Enjoyment, an association of small and medium-sized companies, was filed in June in the Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) to prevent future increases in the tax, but so far it has not been analysed.
US - California: San Jose’s ban on flavoured tobacco becomes effective today, 1st July, prohibiting the sale of any tobacco products and e-cigarettes with an artificial flavour, natural flavour, aroma, herb or spice, including menthol-flavoured products. The ban exempts shisha, hookah and premium cigars from the restrictions. San Jose is the most populated city in the San Francisco metropolitan area, which means that the ban could affect around 1m people.
US - Indiana: As of today, 1st July 2022, a tax on e-cigarettes will become effective, as enacted by House Bill (HB) 1001, establishing a tax on the retail sale of closed-system cartridges and vapour products of 15% of the gross retail income received by the retail dealer for its sale. While originally closed-system cartridges were to be taxed at 25%, Senate Bill (SB) 382 was enacted in order to establish the same rate as for vapour products.
US - California: As written in Senate Bill (SB) 395, enacted last year, beginning today, 1st July 2022, “a purchaser shall pay a tax on the purchase for use in this state of an electronic cigarette from a retailer at the rate of 12.5 percent of the sales price of the electronic cigarette”. The bill requires a retailer to collect the tax from the purchaser at the time of the retail sale of an e-cigarette. This tax was aimed at bringing closer tax parity between e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products and found support from the California State Association of Counties, among others, stating: “The bill will place an additional retail tax on e-cigarette and vaping products to help support safety-net services across early childhood, public health, and health care systems.”
North Macedonia: Today, 1st July 2022, a new excise duty for e-liquids, regardless of their nicotine presence, enters into force as a result of the annual increase of MKD0.20 (€0.003) every 1st July envisaged in the Excise Law. Therefore, the applicable excise duty is now MKD2.8 (€0.45) per ml.
Hungary: Pursuant to Government Decree 197/2022, the new excise duty applicable to all e-liquids, regardless of nicotine content, starts today, 1st July. As we previously reported, e-liquids will now be taxed at HUF31.5 (€0.08) per ml.
Germany: Today (30th June) is the deadline for e-cigarette manufacturers and importers to submit their annual market data report on e-cigs.
Austria: Manufacturers or importers must pay the relevant annual fee for the notification of common products by today (30th June).
US - General: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has submitted a brief to the US Court of Appeals for the Columbia Circuit in Washington DC opposing Fontem’s court-issued stay allowing their Myblu products to continue to be legally sold in the US market. The FDA argues that the “irreparable harm” that Fontem has asserted (the inability to market its products lawfully) comes from the Tobacco Control Act itself; a stay of Fontem’s marketing denial order (MDO) would not make the marketing of petitioner’s products lawful.
Egypt: The Egyptian customs authority has published instruction No. 46/2022. Although there is still a degree of discussion, ECigIntelligence understands the instruction prohibits importing brands of all tobacco products that are also produced in Egypt, as reported by local press. No customs release letters will be issued if an imported product is also produced in Egypt, as it is a measure intended to protect local manufacturers. Only brands that are not produced in Egypt may be imported. In addition, the instruction clarifies that sanctions will be imposed according to Customs Law No. 207/2020 against the shipments that do not comply with the instruction.
Lithuania: The Ministry of Environment is asking bars, restaurants and clubs to place bins on their premises for the collection of disposable vapour products. These businesses can obtain the bins for free by contacting the Electronics Manufacturers and Importers Association, UAB Ecodumas or Royal Smoke, which also take care of the correct disposal of these items.
Lithuania: The ban on non-tobacco-flavoured e-liquids, introduced by Law XIV-909, will enter into force tomorrow, 1st July. The Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD) informed ECigIntelligence that manufacturers and importers have to remove non-tobacco-flavoured e-liquids through the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG).
Italy: The research institute Eurispes published a self-regulation code for the sale, marketing and advertising of vapes and heated tobacco products. The code is voluntary and, so far, it has been endorsed by Anafe-Confindustria, Uniecig (retailers association), Tobacconist Italian Federation (FIT), and the companies Logista and Philip Morris Italy.
Netherlands: The Act amending the Tobacco and Smoking Products Act will come into force tomorrow, 1st July, further limiting the advertising of products including e-cigarettes, and banning façade advertising.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 267,980 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
Vietnam: Luu Binh Pyong, a member of the one-party National Assembly, has criticised the loose management of novel tobacco products and spoken out against a ban, press reports. Other members of the Assembly have also supported the creation of a legal framework. Heated tobacco is forbidden in Vietnam while e-cigarettes are unregulated.
Philippines: After campaigning in a televised briefing against the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Bill, the Department of Health has issued a statement urging president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the bill, which it says would hand its power over all aspects of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco to the Department of Trade and Industry. The bill was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in January but has not yet been sent to the president’s office.
US - federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are classed as “new tobacco products” lacking the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain on the market.
Belgium: The Superior Health Council has issued a report on the evolution of e-cigarettes, saying they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes and can be used as a smoking cessation tool – though it stresses that they are not risk-free. The council recommends the government to draw up a list of prohibited additives in e-liquids, extend the notification obligation to nicotine-free vapes, and introduce health warnings for nicotine-free e-cigarettes. It advises against introducing a flavour ban, which it says would be counterproductive, discouraging those who have switched from smoking to vaping.
Hungary: The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) yesterday launched an investigation into two Slovak companies selling Elf Bars online. The GVH said: “The companies presumably give the false impression on their websites that the products can be legally marketed, despite the fact that the distance selling of both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free flavoured electronic cigarettes is prohibited in Hungary.” Hungary’s Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH) recently issued an alert that the sale of Elf Bars, flavoured disposable e-cigarettes, was illegal.
Russia: The State Duma Budget and Taxes Committee has backed a government amendment which would increase excise rates on e-cigarette devices and e-liquids by 4% in 2025, media reports. If the bill is adopted, e-cig devices will be taxed at a rate of RUB70 ($1.38) and e-liquids at RUB20 ($0.39) per ml.
UK: Asked whether the health department is planning to recommend vaping as a substitute for smoking in the upcoming policy papers, Maggie Throup, junior health secretary, reaffirmed that the aim is to maximise the opportunities for smokers to switch to vaping whilst preventing non-smokers and young people from starting to vape.
Hawaii: House Bill (HB) 1570 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor on 4th May. A notice of intent to veto by the governor was issued yesterday, 27th June. The version as it currently stands would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products and would also make it unlawful to mislabel as nicotine-free any e-liquid product that contains nicotine. The first versions of the bill explicitly banned the sale of flavoured synthetic nicotine products, but the current version, after amendments, does not contain such a ban.
Cambodia: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports issued guidelines on the prevention of the use of e-cigarettes in public and private schools, local media reports. Even though such products are banned, the minister is concerned about the rising use of e-cigarettes among youth, and therefore, he asks professors and parents to inform students about the negative effects and report to local authorities the trade of such products.
Canada: Canada’s 2022 budget has received royal assent, introducing federal excise duty on vaping products effective 1st October 2022. The rate would be CAD1.00 (USD0.80) per 2 ml, or fraction thereof, for containers with 10 ml or less of e-liquid. For containers with more than 10 ml, the applicable rate would be CAD5.00 (USD3.90) for the first 10 ml, and CAD1.00 (USD0.80) for every additional 10 ml, or fraction thereof.
Egypt: The Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has extended to October the deadline for manufacturers, importers and distributors of tobacco and its alternatives to print prices on their products using QR codes. A December 2021 resolution originally gave companies until July 2022 to effect the change.
Philippines: The Department of Health has asked charities, clubs and community organisations in a televised briefing to help it campaign against the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Bill, which will change regulations on vaping and heated tobacco products. The bill was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in January but has not yet been sent to the president’s office.
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.
Bulgaria: A budget bill which would have introduced excise tax on e-liquids will not be voted on after the government was dissolved following a no-confidence vote.
EU: The European Commission Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG-Santé) has published a document entitled Healthier Together, on the EU non-communicable diseases initiative, highlighting the control of “tobacco and related products”. The paper lists policies that have proved “effective or promising”, such as product regulation, price increases, warnings, reduced advertising, sponsorship and promotion, and controls on the availability and density of retailers.
US - federal: A federal court has temporarily blocked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning Juul from the US market. The company filed an emergency motion with the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC as it prepares an appeal against the FDA’s decision. In its petition for the stay Juul said the “FDA cannot credibly argue that there is a critical and urgent public interest in removing [Juul Labs’] products from the market right now, rather than after this Court reviews FDA’s action”.
US - federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it has issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to Juul Labs for all of its products currently on sale in the US and that the company must stop selling and distributing them. In addition, those already in the market must be removed, or risk enforcement action.
Ireland: Senators have urged stricter regulation of e-cigarettes, press reports. In discussions on the Nicotine Inhaling Products Bill, senator Diarmuid Wilson of the Fianna Fáil party said: “We must try to strike a balance between the potential benefits of e-cigarettes for adult smokers trying to quit and the risks that more non-smokers, particularly children and especially young children, will start vaping.” Senator Micheál Carrigy of Fine Gael called for further retail restrictions, including a retail licensing system.
France: The National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (Anses) has published an updated list of notified e-cigarettes, which includes 79,341 products.
South Korea: E-cigarette health warnings remain unchanged following a decision by the National Health Promotion Policy Deliberative Committee to change pictorial warnings on tobacco products.
Kazakhstan: The Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament, has approves a bill to introduce changes to the Tax Code, media reports. It would increase the tax rate on nicotine e-liquids to KZT53 ($0.12) per ml from 1st January 2023 and to KZT55 from 1st January 2024. The bill will now go to president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for signature. The recent call for a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes has not led so far to any legislative moves.
EU: The European Commission yesterday launched an initiative to review the Council’s 2009 Recommendation on smoke-free environments. The initiative seeks to extend the recommendation’s coverage to include emerging products and to incorporate additional outdoor spaces. The feedback period is open until 20th July.
Kazakhstan: The concept of harm reduction, as well as the regulation of new nicotine products, has been discussed at the first Eurasian nicotine forum in the capital, Nur-Sultan, media reports. The forum was attended by scientists, doctors, representatives of leading tobacco firms and interest groups.
Brazil: The National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) meeting scheduled for today, 22nd June, to discuss the regulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco has been cancelled. The subject will be deliberated in due course at the discretion of the Agency, further delaying a final decision.
Iceland: The final text of the bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills, approved, as we previously reported on, by the Althingi (Iceland parliament) on 16th June, has been made public on the Althingi website today, 22nd June. The final approved text includes a mandatory licence to sell vaping products issued by the Housing and Civil Engineering Institute and an explicit prohibition to advertise e-cigarettes on social media. The bill initially included a flavouring ban, but the provision has been deleted in the final text following the Welfare Committee’s recommendations.
UK: The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has reported that IP infringement related to e-cigarette products was reported by more than 30% of local Trading Standards Authorities in 2021-2022, far more than in previous years. “This indicates that the market for counterfeit vaping products has transformed during the last four years from a relatively small scale, niche, area of criminal activity into a more significant one,” the IPO said.
Sweden: The Riksdag (parliament) has approved a bill on Stricter rules for new nicotine products, strengthening the restrictions on advertising and marketing e-cigarettes and refills. However, a proposal to ban non-tobacco flavours in e-liquids was rejected, as recommended by the Social Affairs Committee.
US - New Jersey: Assembly Bill 4316 has been introduced, which would prohibit the use of e-cigarettes and tobacco products by drivers engaged in delivery of food.
France: Following president Emmanuel Macron’s loss of a majority in the National Assembly, with the left-wing alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon taking 131 seats and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National 89 seats, against the 245 held by Macron’s Ensemble! coalition, it will be difficult for the re-elected president to pursue his agenda – which included no proposed change in policy on vaping products. During his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Mélenchon proposed getting tougher on tobacco smuggling, but neither candidate’s manifesto mentioned new nicotine products.
Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has updated the list of websites that do not comply with restrictions on advertising and long-distance sales of vapour products. Websites that are still non-compliant on 23rd June will be blocked by the ADM.
New Zealand: Associate health minister Ayesha Verall has introduced a bill setting new requirements for entry into the combustible tobacco and vaping products retail markets. The bill is part of the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Plan and is aimed primarily at reducing the number of retailers who can sell smoking products. Among the measures is a ban on the sale of smoking products to anyone born on or after 1st January 2009.
Canada: The government has proposed changes to the Vaping Products Reporting Regulations, requiring manufacturers of vaping products with and without nicotine to provide Health Canada with information on ingredients and sales data. Retailers would not be required to report information unless they also manufacture vaping products. Reports on ingredients of products sold in Canada would be required a month after the first complete quarter of the year after the coming into force of the proposed regulation for each brand of vaping product or kit sold in Canada. Ingredients reports for new vaping products would have to be made on or before the day they are first sold in Canada.
Mexico: The company Tabacos Desvenados has filed an appeal trial (amparo) against the presidential decree that prohibits the sale of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products in the country, press reports. One of the administrative courts in Mexico City has allowed the processing of the appeal. The court has set the constitutional hearing for 22nd July, when it will decide whether or not to grant the “amparo”.
US - Michigan: House Bill (HB) 6108 has passed the House and is now in the Senate. This bill would amend state law to raise the legal age to purchase a tobacco product, vapour product or an alternative nicotine product from 18 to 21, in accordance with federal law.
Bulgaria: The bill to amend the Budget Law 2022, which proposes to introduce an excise tax for e-liquids, passed the first reading. Vaping products would be taxed at BGN0.18 (€0.092) per ml starting 1st July 2022, BGN0.19 (€0.097) in 2023, BGN0.20 (€0.10) in 2024, and BGN0.21 (€0.11) in 2025.
Iceland: Yesterday, 16th June, the Althingi (Icelandic Parliament) approved the bill amending Law 87/2018 on electronic cigarettes and refills that we previously reported on. The bill envisages a mandatory permit to sell vaping products, and a prohibition to vape in facilities where activities for children and young people take place. The bill's approval has come unexpectedly, as it has been passed in a second and third reading within two days (15th and 16th June), following a three-month period of debate in the Welfare Committee. The Welfare Committee proposed deleting an article that previously set out a flavour ban, but the final text has not yet been circulated and so it is unclear whether or not the parliament has followed the Committee's recommendation.
Israel: The Ministry of Finance has signed a new order imposing a tax on e-liquids. This comes right after the order introduced in November 2021 establishing a tax for e-liquids and disposable e-cigarettes expired without being approved by the Knesset (Israeli unicameral legislature). The new order establishes a tax on e-liquids of 182% of the common wholesale price, plus ILS5.51 ($1.49) per ml, though the total tax amount must not exceed ILS10.56 ($3.05) per ml. The previous tax on e-liquids amounted to 243% of the common wholesale price, plus ILS7.34 ($2.12), as long as the total amount did not exceed ILS14.08 ($4.07). Disposable e-cigarettes will be subject to the same tax they were previously subject to – 270% of the common wholesale price, plus ILS8.16 ($2.36) per ml, as long as the total amount does not exceed ILS15.64 ($4.52). The order, which has already entered into force, will have to be approved by the Knesset.
Australia: Fiona Patten, a member of parliament (MP) of the State of Victoria, has shown her support for vaping products through her Twitter account. Patten has criticised the current legal framework, which subjects those products to medical prescription, and has highlighted the potential of vaping devices as smoking cessation tools. Patten is the leader of the liberal Reason Party, which holds 1 out of 40 seats in the Victoria parliament.
Sweden: The Riksdag (parliament) Social Affairs Committee has published a report on the bill Stricter rules for new nicotine products supporting the proposed toughening of restrictions on the marketing and advertising of e-cigarette products but rejecting a ban on non-tobacco flavoured e-liquids. The bill will be debated in the Riksdag before a vote on 22nd June.
US - general: A jury at the federal US District Court in Virginia has awarded Philip Morris International (PMI) $10.7m in a patent case against RJ Reynolds Vapor Company, finding that both Vuse Alto and Vuse Solo G2 e-cigarettes infringe PMI patents.
Germany: The Alliance for Tobacco-Free Enjoyment, an association of small and medium-sized companies, has filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) to prevent future increases in e-cigarette tax, press reports. This follows a tobacco tax reform, adopted in 2021, which introduced a tax on e-liquids with or without nicotine from 1st July 2022, increasingly annually until 2026.
EU: Tomorrow, 17th June, is the last day to submit comments on the European Commission initiative to review the current tobacco legislative framework, the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD). The initiative covers product regulation, advertising, promotion and sponsorship. It aims to assess how far the framework has fulfilled its goals and whether it can support a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040, as announced by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA).
Denmark: A possible ban on nicotine products is among the topics for discussion today at the Folkemødet (People’s meeting), an open forum for political parties to engage with the public. The discussion, led by the Danish Cancer Society, will feature MP Per Larsen of the opposition Conservative People’s Party. In April, health minister Magnus Heunicke said it would not be possible to implement a proposed ban on access to tobacco and nicotine for those born in or after 2010 due to the terms of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).
Brazil: The National Public Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) will discuss the regulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco at its next meeting, on 22nd June, when it will consider information and comments received during a public consultation, which closed on 10th June. No final decision is expected yet. In its preliminary report, published in April, the agency suggested that the existing ban should be maintained.
Norway: The Health Directorate has updated its online page on e-cigarettes, which now says the ban on nicotine-containing vapour products is likely to be lifted in 2023.
US - Michigan: House Bill 6108 has been referred to a second reading. The bill would amend state law to raise the legal age to purchase a vapour, tobacco or alternative nicotine product from 18 to 21, in accordance with federal law.
Hungary: The Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH) published an announcement today about a new, un-notified brand of flavoured disposable e-cigarettes whose usage is widespread among minors – despite flavoured e-cigarettes being banned in Hungary. The SZTFH says it is cracking down and that in recent weeks it has seized HUF135m ($354,000) worth of Elf Bars.
Netherlands: Market data notification on sales volumes of products in the previous year is required in the Netherlands by 15th June each year.
UK: MP Andrew Gwynne asked health secretary Sajid Javid yesterday whether tobacco lobbyists would have any influence on the government’s overdue tobacco control plan, prevention strategy or planned response to the Khan review? Javid replied that the government was committed to a smoke-free 2030, which was why he commissioned the independent review. “I welcome its findings and we are carefully considering them,” he said.
South Africa: The Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that the regulations banning the sale of tobacco products during the Covid-19 lockdown were invalid and unconstitutional. This comes after the minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs imposed a series of regulations to contain Covid-19, including a ban on the sale of heated tobacco and e-cigarettes.
China: The national Unified e-cigarette trading platform was launched today. As explained in our report on Chinese regulation, the platform will hold information on licensed operators and all products sold domestically, as well as those intended for export after they are reviewed by the tobacco administration.
Canada: An industry pilot project on recycling of cannabis vape products to tackle consumer waste has ended due to a lack of participation, media reports. The programme, which began in December 2020, aimed to equip over 200 stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario with countertop collection boxes, which would then be managed by Quantum Lifecycle Partners, specialists in recycling electronic goods.
Austria: Today, 15th June, is the deadline for the submission of e-cigarette notification fees, which should be calculated by the manufacturer or importer and sent electronically to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).
Israel: An order introduced in November 2021, establishing a tax on e-liquids, has expired without being approved by the Knesset (parliament), meaning no such tax will be imposed, press reports. The full Knesset yesterday rejected the Finance Committee’s proposal to reduce the proposed excise duty by 10% to 243% of the common wholesale price.
Kazakhstan: An online petition against a possible ban on the sale and use of e-cigarettes has so far been signed by 6,772 people, with 5,990 in support. The rapidly-growing petition comes in response to a proposal by the leader of the National Coalition for a smoke-free Kazakhstan that a ban on e-cig sales should be added to the Health Code.
Sweden: A report will be published on Thursday, 16th June, after the Social Affairs Committee met today to discuss a bill on Stricter rules for new nicotine products. The bill would ban non-tobacco-flavoured e-liquids and strengthen the restrictions on marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Parliament will vote on the proposal on 21st June.
EU: The EU Early Warning System, operated by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) today published its report on New psychoactive substances: 25 years of early warning and responses in Europe. The report, which provides an update on synthetic cannabinoids, warns of an “increase [in some parts of Europe] in reports of the vaping of synthetic cannabinoids using electronic cigarettes”. It adds that “in some cases, individuals are unaware they are using synthetic cannabinoids as the products are mis-sold as containing THC or CBD”.
Philippines: The Supreme Court has upheld a ruling recognising the regulatory authority of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over tobacco products. The Philippine Tobacco Institute had argued that tobacco regulation should be in the hands of the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco). The FDA and DOH are the current regulatory authorities for heated tobacco and e-cigarettes.
Switzerland: The Federal Office of Public Health has announced a smoking and vaping prevention campaign aimed at childen and young people under the title “Free. Fair. Futures”.
US - Federal: The FDA has issued both authorisation and denial orders to various Njoy disposable e-cigarettes. Marketing Granted Orders were issued for the company’s Daily Rich Tobacco 4.5% and Daily Extra Rich Tobacco 6%". Meanwhile, a number of denial orders were handed out for other Daily products, the FDA stating that “retailers should contact NJOY with any questions about products in their inventory”. Applications for two menthol-flavoured Daily products remain under FDA review.
UK: E-cigarette retailer VPZ has initiated a petition calling on the British government to impose an outright ban on the sale of cigarettes and smoking, and to develop a strategy to help more people switch to vaping. An identical petition has also been submitted in Scotland.
France: The results of yesterday’s first round of voting in the National Assembly elections suggest the second round on 19th June will be a close contest between the left-wing alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and president Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble! coalition, which risks losing its present majority. During his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Mélenchon proposed getting tougher on tobacco smuggling and aiming for a “zero tobacco” youth. Neither candidate’s manifesto mentioned vaping products.
Uzbekistan: The Senate has rejected a bill to restrict distribution and use of alcohol and tobacco products, saying it needs to be clarified and improved, press reports. The bill, which covers all tobacco and nicotine products, including vaping and heat-not-burn (HnB) products, will be presented again at the next full session of the Senate after the lower house, the Legislative Chamber, considers the shortcomings pinpointed by senators.
US - Michigan: House Bill (HB) 6108 has been scheduled for a hearing on 14th June, in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would amend state law to raise the legal age to purchase a tobacco product, a vapour product or an alternative nicotine product from 18 to 21, in accordance with federal law.
Russia: The bill on regulating the production and circulation of tobacco products has been submitted to the Russian government, media reports. Reportedly, the document would provide for licensing activities in the production and import of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, among other things. However, no further details have been circulated.
Brazil: Today (10th June) is the deadline for sending technical and scientific information about e-cigarettes and heated tobacco to the National Public Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). The agency is currently analysing the impact of regulation and published a report in April suggesting that the current prohibition should be maintained.
UK: Today, the Independent review into smoke-free 2030 policies led by Javed Khan was published. The document lays out proposals for England to achieve a smoking rate of 5% by 2030. The report calls for making e-cigarettes more accessible to those who want to stop smoking, decreasing the VAT rate comparable to those for nicotine products, and addressing the high cost of licensing vape products with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It also states that there is a need to strike a balance between allowing the retailers to promote vaping for smoking cessation and giving free samples to school children.
US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the launch of the “Next Legends” Youth E-cigarette Prevention Campaign, which "will educate American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, ages 12-17, about the harms of vaping through unique branding and tailored messaging created to inspire a new generation to live Native strong and vape-free".
Philippines: Following the call from medical groups for president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation bill, health secretary Francisco Duque III said that the end goal is that the bill will not be enacted into law. “We will just have to wait what happens next, but I doubt that the President will even sign that bill,” he said in a forum held yesterday (8th June). The bill was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in January but has not yet been sent to the president's office.
Kazakhstan: The Mazhilis (lower chamber) of the Parliament adopted a bill in the second reading to introduce changes to the Tax Code, media reports. The bill aims to increase the tax rate for nicotine liquid in cartridges, reservoirs and other containers for use in e-cigarettes to KZT53 ($0.12) per ml as of 1st January 2023 and to KZT55 ($0.13) as of 1st January 2024. The bill is now to be sent to the Senate for further procedure. In addition, the leader of the national coalition "For a smoke-free Kazakhstan" Jamila Sadykova has proposed introducing a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to the Health Code, media reports. However, no legislative moves have been made.
UK: At today's meeting of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, the state secretary for environment, food and rural affairs – George Eustice – said that vaping helped people in smoking cessation when discussing consumers' changes in behaviour.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are "new tobacco products" without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
Mexico: Yesterday, 7th June, the government published in the bulletin of the state the decree prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids nationwide. The decree is now in force. This comes after a ruling from the Supreme Court in October 2021 declared unconstitutional a similar decree issued by the president in 2020, which prohibited the sale of those products. The sale is also forbidden by Article 16 of the Tobacco Law, although the industry has been able to obtain individual court injunctions (amparos) to sell these products. The government had also previously prohibited their import through a decree. ECigIntelligence believes there is a high chance that this new decree will also be brought in front of the Supreme Court.
Philippines: Several medical groups renewed their call for president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Bill, press reports. The bill was approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives in January and, as of 8th June 2022, has not yet reached the president’s office, according to the information provided to ECigIntelligence by a spokesperson for the president. Duterte’s term ends on 30th June.
Italy: The Ministry of Health issued a decree that introduces fees for the notification of e-liquids and devices which amount to €327.85 for every new notification and to €108.23 for every substantial modification. Additionally, importers and manufacturers will have to pay an annual fee of €293.53 for the market data notification. The decree also imposes a retroactive collection of fees for all notified products from 20th November 2016; importers and manufacturers must pay those by the end of July 2022. We could expect to see appeals of the decree to the Administrative Tribunal of Lazio (TAR Lazio).
Lithuania: The Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD) informed ECigIntelligence that manufacturers and importers will have to remove non-tobacco e-liquids from the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) portal starting 1st July 2022.
Russia: Vape union SPINI applied to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with a proposal to include nicotine-free liquids in the experiment on the labelling of such products with a traceability marking, media reports. According to the government decree, the experiment on the labelling of nicotine e-liquids, cartridges as well as closed e-cigarette systems with traceability markings started on 15th February 2022 in Russia and will last until 28th February 2023. Participation in the experiment is voluntary.
Bulgaria: The Ministry of Finance presented to the National Assembly a bill to amend the Budget Law 2022, which aims to introduce an excise tax for e-liquids. Vaping products would be taxed at BGN0.18 (€0.092) per ml starting 1st July 2022, BGN0.19 (€0.097) in 2023, BGN0.20 (€0.10) in 2024 and BGN0.21 (€0.11) in 2025.
US - Texas: Rule 34 TAC (Texas Administrative Code) 1.21 has been recently published and will be effective as of 8th June 2022. This rule establishes that a permit holder receiving a written notice of a violation of §161.0901 of the Health and Safety Code (establishes penalties related to youth access laws) may file a written request for a hearing on or before the 20th day after the date on the written notice of violation.
Hungary: Government Decree 197/2022 was published in the Official Gazette on 4th June. The Decree sets out a new applicable excise duty for all e-liquids, regardless of the nicotine content, of HUF31.50 (€0.081) per ml from 1st July 2022 until 31st December 2022. From 1st January 2023, the excise duty will be HUF33 (€0.085) per ml.
Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) enacted a circular stating that VAT does not have to be paid by manufacturers and importers upon purchasing excise stamps from the ADM.
China: Today, 3rd June, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration published a Q&A about the implementation of the new rules. It states that the licensing of different operators in the vaping sector is going smoothly and that the national platform for e-cigarette management will be launched on 15th June. It reiterated that e-cigarettes with flavours other than tobacco won't pass a technical review and that the relevant state departments are advancing in their research of possible vaping tax policies.
Lithuania: The Ministry of Health told ECigIntelligence that the ban on non-tobacco flavours will cover both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-liquids. The ban will enter into force on 1st July 2022.
EU: Yesterday was the last day of the public consultation to submit evidence "on the review of EU rules restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS Directive)", which is one of the means to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. However, the European Commission has decided to extend it until 16th June.
US - California: The Los Angeles City Council voted an overwhelming 12 to 0 to pass an ordinance to prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco in the city, including all flavours except tobacco – with an exception for shisha tobacco at hookah lounges. The ordinance moves to the mayor’s desk for consideration to be signed into law and would become effective on 1st January 2023. The interim president, Mitch O'Farrell, made a heart-felt speech about tobacco policies after the voting, stating that everyone listening surely had someone who had been affected by tobacco or nicotine. He emphasised that the bill doesn't ban the possession or use of flavoured tobacco for people over 21, as their aim is to protect the youth from such policies.
Romania: The government is planning to increase the excise duty on nicotine-containing e-liquids by 12.3%, press reports. From July 2022, the excise duty will increase from RON0.57 (€0.12) to RON0.64 (€0.13).
Sweden: The Ministry of Finance has presented to the parliament Bill 2021/22:245, which aims to increase e-liquid excise duties by 1% starting in 2024. Therefore, highly concentrated e-liquids (from 15 to 20 mg/ml) would be taxed at SEK4,040 (€385) per l, and other e-liquids at SEK2,020 (€193) per l.
Israel: The Knesset (parliament) has given the final approval to the Bill on Restriction on Advertising and Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products. This new regulation will progressively restrict the only permitted forms of advertising e-cigarettes: written advertisements. In the first stage, over the next three years, print media adverts will have to carry a bigger health warning, doubling the size of the ad itself. Once this three-year period comes to an end, the maximum advert size will be reduced by 25% each year over the following four years. Once the four-year period is over (which would be seven years from now), printed advertisements for those products will be completely banned.
Israel: The deadline for submitting the advertising expenses report and the ingredients report to the general manager of the Ministry of Health has expired. By 1st June every year, manufacturers and importers of tobacco products are required to send a report listing all expenses for allowed forms of advertising incurred in the previous year. Also, they must send a separate report listing the ingredients in the product and their quantities and purposes.
Estonia: The Health Board has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which contains 39,953 vapour products.
Portugal: Ordinance 154/2022, published today (2nd June), set new rules for smoking rooms. Only restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other establishments that occupy at least 100 sq m and have a ceiling height of at least 3 m will be allowed to have smoking areas. The spaces must not exceed 20% of the area dedicated to customers. The requirements include the use of vaping and heated tobacco. The ordinance comes into force on 1st January 2023.
EU: Today, 2nd June, is the last day of the public consultation to submit evidence “on the review of EU rules restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS Directive)” in order to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal.
US - Tennessee: Senate Bill (SB) 2219 was signed into law by the governor yesterday, 1st June. This bill would authorise local governments to regulate smoking and vaping, including the prohibition of smoking and the use of vapour products in age-restricted venues.
United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday, 1st June, the application of Law 15/2009 on Tobacco Control and its executive regulations on e-cigarettes, as previously noted in our latest regulatory report. The ministry further stressed the prohibition to vape in offices and closed public spaces, and said that it is working, in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, to crack down on websites that promote and sell e-cigarettes to under-18s.
Israel: The Finance Committee of the Knesset (parliament) has approved a reduction in the excise duty on e-liquids. The new order establishes that e-liquids will be subject to a purchase tax of 243% of the usual wholesale price plus ILS7.34 ($2.20) per ml, which in any case will not be less than ILS14.08 ($4.20) per ml. With the previous order, e-liquids were subject to an excise duty amounting to 270% of the wholesale price plus ILS8.16 ($2.45) per ml. There will be no changes for disposable e-cigarettes.
Indonesia: The deputy minister of health said on 31st May, in the context of World No Tobacco Day: “E-cigarette smoking is as dangerous as conventional smoking. There is no difference in the risks of conventional smoking and e-cigarettes, both of which are equally dangerous.” The deputy minister also released the results of the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which show an increase in Indonesia’s vaping population from 0.3% in 2011 to 3% in 2021.
Slovenia: The National Institute of Public Health yesterday (31st May) published an article in the context of the World No Tobacco Day, also celebrated yesterday. In it, electronic cigarettes are addressed as products “designed to attract young people in particular, mainly due to attractive aromas, new technologies, greater social acceptance, intensive promotion in various media and social networks, erroneous beliefs about the safety of use, etc”. The article also alerts on the increasing prevalence of usage of these products, calling this prevalence “worrying data”.
UK - Guernsey: Guernsey’s health commission is calling for increased control of e-cigarette sales aligning the local framework with the UK one, press reports. Grace Lindsay, Guernsey’s tobacco harm reduction officer, pointed out that they have no control over the products sold on the island. “If we don’t have regulations in place, it means we have no way of knowing what products are in what is being sold,” she said.
UK - Scotland: Several organisations – ASH Scotland, the Marine Conservation Society, Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Water, and Keep Scotland Beautiful – have raised the issue of the environmental (polluting) impact of vaping and smoking, press reports. For World No Tobacco Day, which was yesterday (31st May), the organisations urged Scots to properly dispose of cigarettes, vaping paraphernalia and packaging after use. Sheila Duffy from ASH Scotland said: “We are also increasingly concerned about the noticeable escalation of littering and pollution risks caused by discarded single-use disposable vaping products that contain single-use plastics as well as toxic chemicals and battery components.”
US - Wyoming: In communications with the Wyoming Department of Revenue, ECigIntelligence has been made aware that nicotine pouches do not currently fit the definition of “nicotine product” within the state and are considered tangible personal property; thus, no specific excise tax applies to nicotine pouches. However, the department added a reminder that sales of nicotine pouches as well as nicotine products to retail customers are subject to sales tax in the state. E-cigarettes and vapour material are included within the definition of nicotine products in Wyoming.
Spain: The National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT) has urged the government to implement the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025 and the consequent amendment of the Tobacco Law, press reports. The committee believes that e-cigarettes should be equated to tobacco products. The president of the committee said that their objective is to achieve a tobacco- and nicotine-free generation by 2040.
Mexico: The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has signed a decree prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids nationwide. This comes after a ruling from the Supreme Court in October 2021 declared unconstitutional a similar decree issued by the president in 2020, which prohibited the sale of those products. The sale is also forbidden by Article 16 of the Tobacco Law, although the industry has been able to obtain individual court injunctions (amparos) to sell these products. The government had also previously prohibited their import through a decree. In the view of ECigIntelligence, there is a high chance that this new decree will also be brought in front of the Supreme Court.
France: Public Health France has launched a platform called “Employers for Health”, which provides employers with data and tools for smoking prevention and health promotion in the workplace. The platform will allow employers to implement a smoking-prevention policy and improve employees’ health and well-being.
Paraguay: The director of the ministry of health’s National Program for the Control of Smoking and Chronic Respiratory Diseases urged the legislature yesterday, 31st May, for the enactment of a law that regulates the sales and usage of vaping products, press reports. The director alerted on widespread usage among teenagers and the large availability of these products, despite the ban to sell them to under-18s and their sale being allowed exclusively in retail points authorised by the National Health Surveillance Authority (DINAVISA).
Malaysia: The deputy minister of health said yesterday, 31st May, that the bill banning the sales of vaping products to anyone born after 2005, which we previously reported on, has been brought to state lawyers for approval before it is tabled in the parliament in July, press reports. The deputy minister asked for unanimous support for the bill from all MPs when it is tabled.
Spain: The Council of Ministers has not yet approved the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, reducing the chances of the plan being enforced during this legislature, press reports. The government failed to fulfil its promise to make a decision on this plan at the Council of Ministers on International Tobacco Day, which was yesterday, 31st May. The chances of enforcing the plan, which would require amending the tobacco law and other regulations, are reduced with every passing week, as the 2023 elections approach. If approved, the plan would impose further restrictions on e-cigarettes, and they would be subject to an excise tax duty. Also, plain packaging restrictions are envisaged.
Lithuania: The National Agenda on Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control, Prevention of Drug Use and Drug-Related Harm Until 2035 – drafted by the Ministry of Health and the Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD) – was presented to the parliament for approval. The plan aims to reduce tobacco and tobacco-related product supply by implementing coherent and consistent policies based on scientific studies, improving excise duty policies, raising awareness of the negative consequence of tax leakage due to smuggling on the public budget, and regulating emerging products promptly and strengthening advertising restrictions. The NTAKD confirmed that the Agenda will be voted by the parliament during the spring session, which ends on 30th June.
Italy: The Higher Institute of Health (ISS) published a report on tobacco consumption for World No Tobacco Day 2022. The report found that the smoking and vaping population has increased since 2019, with traditional cigarette usage increasing to 24.2%, e-cigarettes to 2.4% and heated tobacco to 3.3%. Silvio Brusaferro, president of the ISS, said that the increase in the smoking population detected by the report raises concern. He also added that it is important to activate prevention measures starting with the youth to ensure a longer life, with less disability and better quality.
Denmark: Today, the Danish Safety Technology Authority (DSTA) called on retailers to ensure they follow the rules when selling e-cigarettes. In 2022, the authority reported 33 retailers to the police for non-compliance with the registration and retail requirements. The number of violations is much higher than last year. "We perform both physical and online inspections, as a large part of the trade in e-cigarettes takes place online. It is of course the same for all dealers that they must live up to the requirements for registration, both of companies and of products," says Søren Assenholt Muff from the DSTA.
US - Alaska: Senate Bill 45, which passed both the Senate and the House, is still awaiting transmittal to the governor. This bill would raise the legal age to purchase, sell, exchange, or possess tobacco, a product containing nicotine, or an electronic smoking product from 19 to 21. It would further levy a tax as follows: 35 % of the wholesale price of "(A) a closed-system electronic smoking product; (B) a vapor product sold as part of an open-system electronic smoking product; (C) a vapor product sold separately from a closed- or open system electronic smoking product".
Mexico: Hugo López-Gatell, the undersecretary of prevention and health promotion, has announced that the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices will be maintained, press reports. He said that the government is working on regulation to ensure that no new tobacco products are introduced in the country.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 262,404 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
EU: Today, coinciding with World No Tobacco Day, marks the end of the European Week Against Cancer with a focus on tobacco control. This year, the group MEPs Against Cancer released a message saying "@MAC_MEPs are committed to accelerating the implementation of #EUCancerPlan, ensuring the Plan works well for #cancer patients, survivors, caregivers & EU citizens". On the subject of tobacco, MEP Trillet Lenoir – the European Parliament's BECA Plan rapporteur – issued the following message: "We need to build on the momentum provided by #EUCancerPlan to build a #tobacco-free generation & focus on #cancerprevention".
World: Today, 31st May, is World No Tobacco Day, as decided by the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) 35 years ago. This year's campaign is focused on warning against the environmental costs of using tobacco and vaping products ('Tobacco: Threat to our environment'). A full report investigating the issue has been released, and according to the WHO it shows how "every year the tobacco industry costs the world more than 8 million human lives, 600 million trees, 200 000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2", and that “tobacco products are the most littered item on the planet". It also says that "products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes also add to the build-up of plastic pollution". The WHO is calling for the "Polluter Pays Principle" to be extended to the tobacco industry and make it responsible for clearing up the pollution it creates. Thus, the "WHO calls on policy-makers to treat cigarette filters, as what they are, single use plastics, and consider banning cigarette filters to protect public health and the environment".
Austria: Today, 31st May, is the deadline for the submission of market data notifications for manufacturers and importers via EU-CEG.
Czech Republic: Market data notification for e-cigarettes is required by 31st May each year in the Czech Republic.
Austria: Health minister Johannes Rauch told the press that a National Tobacco and Nicotine Strategy will be presented in the autumn. Although e-cigarettes were not mentioned, he said that the strategy will be very broad, including all new products in addition to conventional tobacco. Further details about the strategy weren't presented.
Spain: The Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has warned that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not safe and are not effective as a harm reduction method, press reports. SEPAR has referred to the risks associated with those products in a paper, and in the conclusions it affirms that harm reduction strategies are not useful tobacco control methods. It also concluded that despite having less harmful ingredients than conventional tobacco, heated tobacco and e-cigarettes do not necessarily cause less harm.
France: Senator Francoise Ferat, from the Centrist Alliance, submitted a written parliamentary question to the minister for ecological transition and territorial cohesion about disposable e-cigarettes. She asked whether the government is considering a ban on the sale of such products since, according to the senator, they encourage consumption and increase the volume of waste in the environment.
China: On 27th May, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Notice on Regulating the Inspection and Testing of Electronic Cigarettes, media reports. The document regulates that the labs undertaking e-cigarette testing must have certification for inspection and testing institutions. The accreditation is organised and implemented by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the market supervision department in the province/city.
EU: New rules that "increase protection for EU consumers in several areas such as purchases through online marketplaces, transparency of price personalisation and ranking of online offers and consumer rights when using ‘free’ online services" will apply from tomorrow, 28th May 2022.
Portugal: Parliament has voted positively on the new State Budget 2022, which increases nicotine e-liquid taxes from €0.32/ml to €0.323/ml.
US - Tennessee: Willson County School resource officers (SROs) are confiscating vape pens at an alarming rate, local media reports. Captain Scott Moore with the Sheriff's Office stated that they started keeping a record three years ago, and that he "would call it more of an explosion than a rise".
World: The World Health Organization (WHO) published on 24th May a fact sheet on tobacco calling for the non-promotion of both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes as smoking-cessation aids “until adequate evidence is available and the public health community can agree upon the effectiveness of these products”. Additionally, a Q&A on e-cigarettes published on 25th May sets out several objectives when regulating these products, such as restricting advertising and flavours that may appeal to children, regulating product characteristics, prohibiting e-cigarette usage in indoor spaces, and preventing unproven health claims. The Q&A finds the current evidence of e-cigarettes as a smoking-cessation method “inconclusive”.
Georgia: Solomon Pavliashvili, the deputy minister of environment and agriculture, has held a large-scale meeting with manufacturers and importers of batteries and electronic equipment, discussing the deadline for the implementation of technical government regulations adopted on 25th May 2020, on waste management of electrical and electronic equipment and waste management of batteries and accumulators, which is to be 1st June this year, media reports. We believe these regulations may potentially influence the heated tobacco and e-cigarette devices sectors.
China: The Tobacco Monopoly Bureau in Tianjin, one of the largest cities in China, has banned e-cigarette sales in places that are likely to attract minors, including, but not limited to children’s stores, toy stores, playgrounds, child-care institutions, social welfare institutions, museums, galleries, public sports venues, off-campus training institutions, etc. Moreover, e-cigarettes may not be sold in shops that are not directly or indirectly related to these products, including, but not limited to stores selling electronics, medical and beauty products, clothing, jewellery, instruments, building materials, pet products, etc.
Philippines: Yesterday (25th May), several measures from the Republic Act 11467/20 and Executive Order 106/20 regarding vaping activities entered into force. Flavoured liquid refill solutions other than plain tobacco or menthol will no longer be allowed, and all vaping industry activities, including online sales, will require a licence to operate.
Kazakhstan: Yesterday (25th May), during the plenary session of the Mazhilis (lower chamber) of the Parliament, the minister of national economy, Alibek Kuantirov, presented a bill to introduce changes to the tax code, media reports. The bill aims to increase the tax rate for nicotine liquid in cartridges, reservoirs and other containers for use in e-cigarettes to KZT53 ($0.12) per ml as of 1st January 2023 and to KZT55 ($0.13) as of 1st January 2024. Reportedly, the bill has passed the first reading in parliament.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong Customs has announced results of a special enforcement operation against alternative smoking products. The authority cracked down on 46 cases involving heated tobacco and vapour products at Hong Kong International Airport, Shenzhen Bay Control Point, and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Control Point. About 360,000 suspected products with an estimated market value of more than $10m were seized by Customs officers. The maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for six months.
US - Michigan: House Bill 6108 has been recently introduced and referred to the Committee on Judiciary. The bill would amend state law to raise the legal age to purchase a tobacco product, vapour product or an alternative nicotine product from 18 to 21, in accordance with federal law.
UK: Javed Khan, who has been tasked by the government to to head an independent review into tobacco control, has tweeted that the presentation of the review to the government, originally scheduled for yesterday, 25th May, has been postponed until June.
US - Federal: The FDA has come in for some strong criticism after its first court-ordered update revealed the agency did not expect to finish reviewing the remaining PMTA applications until at least June 2023.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued several new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are considered “new tobacco products” without the required FDA authorisation to remain on the market.
Spain: More than 85% of Spaniards would be in favour of more restrictive regulation of tobacco products and 72% would ban smoking on restaurant and bar terraces, press reports. The survey was conducted by the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC). Susana Morena, coordinator of the Smoke-free week (a campaign organised by semFYC) said the restrictions on smoking should be extended to e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating devices. She said there was a false perception among young people that such products were less dangerous.
Russia: Members of the parliamentary cross-party working group on protecting the health of citizens from alcohol, drug and tobacco are planning to submit a bill to prohibit the sale of nicotine-containing products to people born after 2010, media reports. The current legal framework includes heated tobacco products and nicotine-containing liquids under the definition of nicotine-containing products.
Australia: A change of government, following the weekend’s election, could have a direct impact on nicotine and innovative tobacco products in the country. The Australian Labor Party, which has promised to crack down on “unhealthy products”, now has 75 seats in the House of Representatives (out of 151) and 26 in the Senate (out of 76). This approach, together with the existing 2030 National Tobacco Strategy, which will be focused on reducing tobacco lobbying and holding public campaigns warning of the dangers of tobacco products, is sure to play a big role in future regulation.
US - Federal: Brian King, regarded as the man who coined the term “e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury” (EVALI), is to be the new head of the US FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). He will take over the position on 3rd July after spending more than a decade at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the appointment has been met with dismay among the vaping industry, FDA commissioner Robert Califf emphasised that King has detailed knowledge of premarket review pathways and tobacco product applications.
New Jersey: Senate Bill S 2667 has been introduced. It would prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and the sale or distribution of e-cigarettes and related products in all flavours but for tobacco.
Colombia: The Ministry of Health reports that between 2016 and 2021, smoking prevalence fell from 8.3% to 5.6%, a drop of 1m in the number of smokers. The ministry has not revealed figures for the number of users of e-cigarettes or heated tobacco.
Australia: Western Australia’s Department of Health has reported that it seized 950 nicotine-containing e-cigarettes which were being sold without a doctor’s prescription, which has been illegal in Australia since 1st October 2021. Western Australia does not differentiate between nicotine-containing and nicotine-free vaping products, prohibiting non-prescription sales of either.
Russia: State Duma member Sultan Khamzaev, head of the federal Sober Russia project, has proposed banning QR codes, web addresses and promotion of corporate social media accounts from the packaging of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, media reports. Advertising of tobacco and nicotine-containing products is prohibited in Russia.
EU: The European Commission published on Friday, 20th May, an initiative to evaluate the EU’s legislative framework for tobacco, covering product regulation, advertising, promotion and sponsorship. It aims to assess how far the framework has fulfilled its goals and whether it can support a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040, as announced by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA). The initiative, which will help the Commission decide whether the EU approach should continue or be amended, is now open for feedback until 17th June.
Mexico: The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) and the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) have issued an alert about electronic cigarettes. According to Cofepris, these products contain carcinogens and toxic substances that pose a serious risk to health. In particular, they identified vitamin E acetate to be a toxic substance that can cause acute respiratory illnesses and even death.
Ireland: The Health Service Executive (HSE) has issued an alert against certain disposable products. The alert recalls disposable e-cigarettes from the Aroma King brand that are non-compliant with EU tobacco legislation. The list of the products recalled can be found on the HSE's website. The products were found to contain more than the permitted amount of nicotine (20 mg/ml or 2%).
US - California: The Scotts Valley City Council passed an ordinance on Wednesday 18th May with a favourable vote of 5-0, local media reports. The ordinance would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products in the city, and also prohibit smoking or vaping in any designated seating areas of restaurants or outdoor eating establishments. We see yet another locality enact a flavour ban, while the referendum at state level to enact the state-wide flavour ban is still pending. Scotts Valley City is within the Santa Cruz county and has a population of around 12,000.
New Zealand: The government announced through an official newsletter that a Smoke-free Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill is expected to be presented in Parliament in late June 2022. This bill aims to reduce retail availability, change the age limits for sale of smoked tobacco products (cigarettes) and reduce their appeal. Despite not affecting heated tobacco and e-cigarettes so far, it shows the government commitment to banning conventional cigarettes and its support for vaping and heated tobacco products.
Netherlands: The Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Sports recently told ECigIntelligence that legislation prohibiting e-cigarette flavours is currently being prepared. The ministry also noted that the publication of this legislation for internet consultation is anticipated for this summer, and it is then expected to come into effect in early 2023. The ministry wants to allow 23 flavours for e-cigarettes that taste like tobacco. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has investigated whether these 23 flavourings are harmful to health and the research showed that seven could have harmful health effects, so the RIVM is proposing to ban them. According to the RIVM, there is not enough information for the other 16 flavourings to assess the health effects. It has suggested two options: either those 16 substances could also be banned, or they will be allowed because they would help smokers to quit smoking.
EU: On behalf of the European Commission (EC), Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for health and food safety, answered a parliamentary question – submitted by Sara Skyttedal – on the role of new nicotine products in reducing cigarette consumption and on snus’ legal status. The commissioner said that the EC is determined to follow up on the most robust scientific evidence in establishing a regulatory approach fully reflecting the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. She said that the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER)’s scientific opinion on e-cigarettes found supporting evidence for the harmful consequences of e-cig consumption and weak evidence for their effectiveness in helping smokers to quit. She also added that smokeless and emerging tobacco and related products containing nicotine prolong nicotine addiction and that the Commission does not envisage any change to snus status.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued several new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are "new tobacco products" without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
EU: The EU Commission regularly reviews the list of hazardous substances restricted in electrical and electronic equipment. Following a technical assessment, an EU initiative "proposes adding tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBP-A) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs)"– which are used as flame retardants in electronic devices – "to the list of restricted substances", following feedback on the draft act recently published. The Commission expects to publish a final proposal in Q4 2022.
South Africa: The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has announced the establishment of a National Technical Committee to develop South African National Standards to guide the use of vaping products. The goal is to establish standards that guide the quality of the products and provide consumers with some assurance that the electronic devices and products are safe to use. Vaping products are not regulated in the country and a draft law is currently under discussion.
Russia: A bill prepared by the the Ministry of Finance proposes that from 1st January 2023, the illegal import of tobacco and alcohol products from Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) should be punished by criminal sanctions (up to five years imprisonment), media reports. The ministry notes that the customs authorities record the facts of the import of tobacco and alcohol from the EAEU under the guise of transportation through Russian territory to other countries. The draft bill is supposed to be sent to the Russian government by July 2022. However, it is still unclear if it would be applicable to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
EU: This morning, the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) of the European Commission held a stakeholder event on tobacco taxation to receive feedback on the upcoming impact assessment for the review of the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED). Officers stated that the Commission will adopt a proposal in “the first part of Q4 2022” and the impact assessment will be presented “soon”. In addition, they reiterated that the revision is triggered by the “the emergence of new products, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and new addictive products that reveal the limits of the current legal framework”, as well as the EU’s market fragmentation, illicit trade and low cigarette taxes. Officers also stated that the review intends to be guided by the need to preserve the integrity of the internal market and citizens' health.
US - California: The San Diego Council passed an ordinance (the SAAFE Act) yesterday, which will ban the sale of all flavoured tobacco products (including menthol) in the city starting 1st January 2023, local media reports. The ordinance does not apply to the sale of shisha, premium cigars or loose-leaf tobacco and unflavoured or tobacco-flavoured e-cigarettes. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cessation devices will also be exempt from the ban.
US - California: Assembly Bill (AB) 1690 has been ordered to the inactive file, meaning that the bill is ready to be heard on the floor but for some reason is dormant; an author of the bill may move it off the inactive file at a later date. AB 1690 would prohibit a person or entity from selling, giving, or furnishing to another person of any age in this state a cigarette utilising a single-use filter made of any material, a single-use plastic device meant to facilitate manual manipulation or filtration of a cigar, a single-use e-cigarette, or a single-use integrated cannabis vaporiser.
Spain: ECigIntelligence has been given access to the draft bill on the tobacco market that the Council of Ministers approved last week. In this draft, the government proposes that e-cigarettes will be sold only at tobacco shops in five years. The draft will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the following months. If the draft is eventually approved, retail shops that want to continue selling e-cigarettes in the next five years will have to notify the Commissioner for the Tobacco Market within six months after the bill enters into force.
UK: The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has called for more control over e-cigarette sales in order to clamp down on selling to under-age consumers. According to UKVIA, retail licences should be required, a fine for selling to under-18s raised to £10,000, and enforcement increased. The call comes following reports of under-age sales of disposable vape products in Scotland.
US - Rhode Island: Senate Bill 2117, which would provide for penalties for selling flavoured electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or for operating without a dealer’s licence, is scheduled to be heard tomorrow, 17th May, in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
EU: The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, a legislative EU development aimed at changing the way products are designed and manufactured, is entering a decisive phase known as the trialogue. In this phase, the EU Council will start negotiations among the 27 member states’ ministers of industry, as well as the EU parliament and European Commission. Environmental organisations, however, are demanding that the negotiations be carried out by ministers of the environment instead, saying that otherwise “the primary environmental goal of the regulation will not be properly prioritised”. These regulations will likely affect all electronic devices and will focus on “product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability” as well as requirements such as a digital product passport, bans on certain substances, and a requirement to use a proportion of recycled materials.
EU: The Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) has scheduled a meeting, “Stakeholder event on tobacco taxation”, for 18th May to “give interested parties the opportunity to present their views on the latest developments in the area”. In addition, on 13th May the EU’s transparency portal updated its list of documents related to the Indirect Tax Expert Group (E00956), releasing the agenda of the meeting held on 4th May. ECigIntelligence is in the process of obtaining more information about what was discussed during the meeting.
Australia: The New South Wales Ministry of Health has seized illegal e-cigarettes and nicotine-containing liquids amounting to a value of AUD1m ($690,000) since January 2022. The ministry frequently carries out investigations in order to withdraw illegal products from the market and protect young people. Individuals involved in selling illegal e-cigarettes face sanctions of up to AUD11,000 ($7,600), while corporations may be sanctioned up to AUD55,000 ($38,000).
World: A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) states that new problems have emerged as more and more tobacco companies have started producing nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The report states that the electronic waste is set to exacerbate the industry’s huge ecological impact. “These products will not only keep consumers addicted to nicotine, they also will create a whole new ecological crisis, from mining for battery components, to the manufacturing of plastics, to the disposal of 'vaping pods,' and electronic devices, some of which of course also need electricity to function,” the WHO said.
US - reminder: 14th May is the deadline for submitting premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for all synthetic nicotine products that were placed on the market on or before 14th April. Companies not planning to use the online portal and wanting to physically submit the PMTA should do so by today, 13th May, at 4pm.
Slovenia: Today, the minister of health officially presented via press conference the adopted Strategy for Reducing the Consequences of Tobacco Use - For Slovenia without Tobacco 2022–2030. As we previously reported, the policy paper calls for the urgent enactment of legislation that extends plain packaging to e-cigarettes, raises the minimum age for the purchase of e-cigarettes to 21, and bans flavoured vapour products, among others.
Spain: The Council of Ministers has approved the draft law on the tobacco market and related products. This regulation aims to fight the illicit trade of tobacco products and guarantee the safety of consumers. It aims to progressively equate e-cigarettes with conventional cigarettes and it states that within five years e-cigarettes will only be sold at tobacconists. The draft has not yet been made public.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised six new tobacco products through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway. It issued marketing granted orders to R.J. Reynolds for the company’s Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro e-cigarette brands, including e-cigarette devices and tobacco-flavoured closed e-liquid pods. While the FDA determined the potential benefit to adult smokers who switch would outweigh the risk to youth, this authorisation imposes strict marketing restrictions on the company to greatly reduce the potential for youth exposure to tobacco advertising for these products. The FDA also issued the company with marketing denials for multiple other Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro e-cigarette products.
US - Colorado: The City of Boulder is preparing an ordinance that would exclude nicotine-free or tobacco-free products from the city's 40% sales tax on e-cigarettes, local media reports. “From my perspective as a tax administrator, the problem is we have a code that is causing confusion,” tax and special projects manager Joel Wagner said. “The language in the code that says that an electronic smoking device is something that simulates smoking of nicotine or any other substance opens that tax up to interpretation.”
Lithuania: The Seimas (Lithuanian parliament) has rejected a bill that aimed to postpone the entry into force of a flavour ban to 1st July 2023. Therefore, starting 1st July 2022, non-tobacco-flavoured vaping products will be prohibited on the market.
UK: Javed Khan, who has been tasked by the government to head an independent tobacco review, stated that he will present his recommendations to the government on 25th May 2022 at 3pm.
US - Colorado: House Bill 22-1064 failed to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee, which rejected it yesterday by a 5-2 vote, local media reports. The bill would have banned the sale of flavoured cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products. The senators also explained the bill's failure by saying that the ban would just lead to tobacco and nicotine users buying flavoured products online or out of state, describing youth tobacco use as inevitable but improving.
Philippines: The first set of graphic health warning templates for electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco enters into force today. The templates are valid for a period of two years.
New Zealand: From today, all manufacturers and importers of vaping products must ensure that their products conform to the new packaging rules, including health warnings and new prohibited features.
Philippines: Candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is on the cusp of winning the presidential election, has previously opposed tobacco taxes, claiming they would slow down activities for producers, manufacturers and sellers. His sister, senator Imee Marcos, also opposed taxing e-cigs and heated tobacco in 2019. Official vote counting started today and is expected to go on for a few days, despite already showing Marcos with a commanding vote margin.
US - Colorado: House Bill 22-1064 has passed the Senate Committee on Finance after amendments and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations. This bill would prohibit the distribution of flavoured cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products, and would amend the definition of cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product to include products containing synthetic nicotine.
Sweden: The Social Affairs Committee will discuss tomorrow the bill "Stricter rules for new nicotine products" (2021/22: 200), which proposes to ban non-tobacco-flavoured e-liquids and strengthen the restrictions on e-cigarette and refill container marketing and advertising. This bill was proposed by the government following a public consultation on the regulation of tobacco, e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine products conducted between February 2020 and March 2021.
Belgium: Last week, the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to ban smoking – including e-cigarettes – on station platforms, starting 1st January 2023.
US - California: The El Dorado County Office of Education recently hosted a student training day for the Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Program, which included students from El Dorado, Independence, Union Mine, and Black Oak Mine Unified School District, local media reports. The purpose of the TUPE Program is to reduce youth usage of tobacco products through tobacco-specific educational instruction and activities that build knowledge as well as social skills and youth development assets. Melissa Kistler, director of District and Program Support and TUPE liaison emphasised the fact that the “training is unique because it is the first time we have cross collaboration between school districts in this county”.
US-Connecticut: A flavour ban fails to win passage in Connecticut for the third year in a row, local media reports. The bill, which came out of the Public Health Committee in a divided vote in March, aimed to reduce youth vaping by prohibiting the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems and vapour products that are flavoured or that have a nicotine content that is greater than 35 mg/ml. Senator John Fonfara, a co-chair of the Finance Committee, explained the bill's failure by saying that the ban would create a flourishing “underground” market for vaping products which would become even more attractive to minors.
Brazil: In response to industry member requests, the National Public Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has extended the deadline for receiving technical and scientific contributions about e-cigarettes and heated tobacco until 10th June. Previously, the agency published a report suggesting the current prohibition should be maintained, but any firm decisions will come later.
Italy: On 31st May, the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) will hold the first Italian conference on tobacco harm reduction, called "Risks and benefits of smokeless products". The aim of the conference is to analyse all published research in the field of tobacco harm reduction in order to produce a single document that can become an authoritative reference for the definition of effective public health policies to help smokers quit.
France: The National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) has published an updated list of notified e-cigarettes, which includes 78,167 products.
Georgia: Before 1st September 2022, the parliament is planning to amend the Law on Tobacco Control. It intends to introduce health warnings on packs and notification requirements for tobacco products, media reports. As nicotine-containing e-cigarette products and heated tobacco products fall under the definition of tobacco products in Georgia, we believe that such requirements would be applicable to them.
US - New Mexico: The New Mexico Department of Health has launched Live Vape Free, a text-based programme to help addicted teens stop using e-cigs. The programme is designed to help teens aged between 13 and 17 to quit e-cigarettes, and it provides adults with the tools they need to support teens as they quit. “New Mexico is one of only five states to launch both the youth and adult components of the program, out of the just 13 states using the Live Vape Free program,” local media reports.
Mongolia: Deputy finance minister Sanjaa Mungunchimeg has said a draft law to impose a tax on e-cigarettes is ready, press reports. She added that the bill would be submitted to Parliament and the government separately from the budget amendment that is currently under discussion.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong police have arrested two people for violating the ban on selling alternative smoking products. Officers seized 94 boxes of suspected nicotine-containing e-cigarette cartridges and 74 “smoking devices” during the operation in Mong Kok, press reports. They were reportedly the first arrests under the ban, which came into effect on Saturday.
US - Colorado: House Bill 22-1064 was approved by the state House yesterday and sent to the Senate for consideration, local media reports. The bill would prohibit the distribution of flavoured cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine products, including those containing synthetic nicotine. Since its introduction, the bill has been changed to exempt hookahs, premium cigars and pipe tobacco.
US - Federal: New warning letters have been issued by the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to a number of manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are “new tobacco products” without the required marketing authorisation.
Sweden: The right-wing Sweden Democrats, the Centre Party and the Left Party have all presented motions against the government’s proposed Stricter rules for new nicotine products (Proposition 2021/22: 200), questioning the suggested ban on non-tobacco-flavoured e-liquids. The parties say banning flavours would make it harder for people to switch from smoking to a less harmful alternative and that a market study on the consequences of such a ban should be undertaken.
Sweden: The Public Health Agency has updated the publicly available list of notified e-cigarettes and refill containers, which contains 11,909 vapour products.
US - Hawaii: House Bill 1570 passed its final reading yesterday on a 36-15 vote. The bill to ban the sale of all flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, combustible menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars, has now been passed by both chambers of the Legislature and requires only the signature of governor David Ige to become law.
US - Maryland: Anne Arundel Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in Maryland, is bringing a suit against Juul Labs, alleging its products are marketed to students and claiming gross negligence by the company, media reports. ”You’ve created this whole generation of young people who are now addicted to nicotine because it delivers four to five times the nicotine of a cigarette,” Anne Arundel Schools attorney Phil Federico said.
Thailand: Digital economy and society minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn has submitted a petition to the National Tobacco Products Control Committee calling on it to legalise e-cigarettes, press reports. Chaiwut said e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to traditional tobacco and should be regulated as cigarettes. He also highlighted that legalising them would bring in added tax revenue.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong Customs reports a major operation to combat illicit heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, with products with an estimated market value of $15m seized in the past month. The Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 came into effect on Saturday, 30th April, banning production, import, sales and promotion of heat-not-burn (HnB) and vaping products, subject to a fine of up to $50,000 and up to six months’ jail.
US - Hawaii: Many bills are currently sitting in the legislative process that would ban flavoured tobacco products. Among them, House Bill 1570 has passed both the House and the Senate, but the House seems to disagree with some amendments and so it may still take a while. The ban of flavoured tobacco products is a current political debate: representatives supporting the bill state they are only banning flavours and not vaping, whereas shop owners state that flavours are 99.9% of the business.
Lithuania: In accordance with the amendments introduced by the Law XIV-295 of 13 May 2021 to the Law on Tobacco Control of Tobacco, Tobacco Products and Related Products, the definition of an e-cigarette has changed as of 1st May 2022 and nicotine-free e-cigarettes are equated to those with nicotine. This means that nicotine-free e-cigarettes are now subject to the same requirements and restrictions as e-cigarettes with nicotine.
Estonia: The Health Board has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which contains 42,965 vapour products.
China: The Administrative Measures for Electronic Cigarettes – which requires licensing of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, and imposes a flavour ban on all flavours other than tobacco – entered into force on 1st May 2022.
Philippines: The Department of Health (DOH) reiterated its call for president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the proposed Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulations Act, press report. According to the authority, the approval of the bill is contrary to the president's position to protect the public from the effects of smoking and goes against the already existing laws. The bill was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in January and is now waiting for the president’s signature.
US - Federal: The first report on the status of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) is expected today (29th April) following an order from a federal judge. More information can be found in our news briefing.
Germany: The second and final day of the seminar “Opportunities and risks of e-cigarettes" from The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) was today. Among other things, the debate was held on the risk assessment and the banning of flavours, in which the BfR stated that it is currently assessing the toxicity of e-cig flavours.
US - Federal: Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced two proposed product standards: one to prohibit menthol as a characterising flavour in cigarettes and one to prohibit all characterising flavours (other than tobacco) in cigars; e-cigarettes are not included in either of the proposed rules. The reason behind proposing these rules is to reduce the appeal of those products to youth. The FDA has emphasised that enforcement against individual consumers for possession of menthol cigarettes or flavoured cigars will not be pursued.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 257,600 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
UK (Scotland): The government consultation about restricting the advertising of e-cigarettes closed yesterday. The consultation revolved around imposing a ban on advertising on billboards and bus shelters, free-sampling, sponsorship and brand sharing – where the logos and/or colours of a particular product are used on an unrelated product for promotional purposes.
Czech Republic: The Ministry of Health has updated the publicly available list of notified herbal products for smoking, e-cigarettes and refill containers.
UK: Yesterday, 26th April 2022, a Westminster Hall debate on the progress of the government's Smokefree 2030 ambition took place. The MPs expressed concern about vaping among young people, but also raised the importance of providing information to smokers about its reduced harm compared with traditional tobacco. Maggie Throup, junior health secretary, said: "It remains the Government’s goal to maximise the public health opportunities presented by vapes while ensuring that such products are not appealing to young people and non-smokers."
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised the marketing of four new tobacco products by Njoy LLC, including its Ace closed e-cigarette device and three accompanying tobacco-flavoured e-liquid pods. The FDA also issued marketing denial orders to Njoy for multiple other Ace e-cigarette products. Applications for two menthol-flavoured Ace e-liquid pods remain under FDA review.
Canada: Health Canada’s consultation on the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act ends tomorrow, 27th April. The government has outlined five objectives for vaping products – restricting access to e-cigarettes, preventing misconceptions about the health hazards of vaping, enhancing public awareness of those hazards, preventing initiation into vaping, and protecting people from exposure to vaping. Final submissions can be sent to legislativereviewtvpa.revisionlegislativeltpv@hc-sc.gc.ca.
EU: EU officials have told ECigIntelligence that at present there are no planned or proposed measures to phase out non-rechargeable portable batteries. However, a possible ban on single-use batteries under the revision of EU rules on batteries and waste – which would affect disposable products such as pods – is expected to be examined by 31st December 2027, when the Commission assesses the feasibility of such a measure and submits a recommendation to the European Parliament and Council.
UK: In response to a parliamentary question, junior environment minister Jo Churchill said no specific assessment had been made of the number of vape pens that go to landfill. She reiterated that the government plans to consult on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations later this year.
California: San Diego City Council voted 7-2 at a special meeting yesterday to approve the SAAFE (Stop Adolescent Addiction to Flavored E-cigarettes) Act, which would prohibit the sale of all flavoured tobacco and e-cigarette products in the city, local media reports. The issue will come before the council again in 30 days.
Brazil: National Public Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) director Cristiane Jourdan has told media there is not yet enough evidence for the efficacy and safety of e-cigarettes or heated tobacco for them to be approved for use. However, she added that studies were at an early stage and that potential additional measures mentioned in the regulatory report published earlier this month, such as an advertising ban, were awaiting a final decision. ANVISA is taking technical and scientific evidence about the products until 11th May.
Thailand: Health minister and deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul has told the Thai Health Promotion Foundation that he will not support the legalisation of e-cigarettes, press reports. The minister has established a tobacco control panel under the Department of Disease Control to review the current regulations, in the belief that e-cigs have become popular with young people in Thailand.
Malaysia: Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin reportedly said last week that the 15% import duty on nicotine gum products, to be imposed from 1st June, should either reduced or cancelled, describing them as a good smoking cessation tool. This liberal policy towards nicotine gum would be in contrast to the legal framework for nicotine-containing vaping products, marketing of which is currently subject to a pharmaceutical licence. The government is planning to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and tobacco products to anyone born after 2005.
US - California: On today’s agenda for San Diego City Council was Item 600, the approval of the SAAFE (Stop Adolescent Addiction to Flavored E-cigarettes) Act, which would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products in the city. If passed, the ban will include all flavours but for tobacco from 1st January 2023.
UK: A Westminster Hall debate will be held tomorrow, 26th April, on the progress towards the government’s smokefree 2030 ambition.
Netherlands: The Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Sport has confirmed to ECigIntelligence that legislation to prohibit e-cigarette flavours other than tobacco flavour is being prepared and should be published for consultation this summer. The new law, expected to come into effect in early 2023, will allow a limited list of taste-determining additives.
US - General: Horry County Schools has filed a federal lawsuit this week against Juul, alleging that its "products have created a public health crisis in local schools", according to local news. Horry County is the fourth most populous county in South Carolina, with a population of around 290,000 inhabitants.
US - Connecticut: Senate Bill 367 has been advancing through the legislative process since its introduction on 8th March 2022, and it's meant to be heard today by the Senate Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. This bill would prohibit the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems and vapour products that are flavoured or that have a nicotine content that is greater than 35 mg per ml.
South Africa: The National Treasury workshop on taxation of ENDS/ENNDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems/electronic non-nicotine delivery systems) took place today, gathering all comments from January's consultation and allowing industry members to deliberate on the tax proposal. The authority will now consider the comments and present a draft legislation around June/July, when industry members will have the opportunity to provide written comments.
US - Maine: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has issued a public statement praising Brunswick Town Council after it passed an ordinance on Tuesday prohibiting the sale of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 1st June. The pressure group is urging the state legislature to enact a state-wide flavour ban by passing bill LD 1550.
US - New York: Assembly Bill 9879 has been introduced, which would make it illegal for anyone under 21 to possess vaping or tobacco products. Their sale to under-21s is already prohibited.
UK: Health secretary Sajid Javid has told Parliament that the independent review of tobacco control, headed by Javed Khan, should be published in May.
Germany: The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) will hold a seminar on “Chances and risks of e-cigarettes” in Berlin and online on 28th and 29th April. The event aims to discuss the current state of knowledge on e-cigarettes, including flavouring and consumer protection.
US - federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be required to give premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) status reports every 90 days according to a revised judicial order, media reports. The revised order, signed on Friday by judge Paul Grimm of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, requires the FDA to “forecast the percentages of such products for which it expects to have taken ‘action’ by June 2022 and quarterly thereafter”.
US - General: A settlement has been reached between Juul Labs and the state of Washington, by which Juul has agreed to pay $22.5m. The lawsuit claimed Juul broke the law by marketing its products to appeal to minors and also deceived consumers over the addictiveness of the product. Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson said Juul would not only have to pay, but also ”stop its unlawful conduct and implement a slate of reforms, including: Stopping all its advertising that appeals to youth; Stopping most social media promotion; Accurately marketing the content and effects of the nicotine in its products; Strict practices to confirm the age of consumers who purchase Juul products”.
US - federal: Today, April 14th, is the first deadline in the new federal legislation on synthetic nicotine. Fropm today, new synthetic nicotine products may not enter the market without first obtaining a PMTA. Further, synthetic nicotine versions of tobacco-derived nicotine products whose PMTAs have been denied may not be be marketed.
Chile: The Public Health Institute (ISP) has warned against the use of e-cigarettes, with a reminder that those containing nicotine are illegal in Chile as the ISP has not granted the required pharmaceutical status to any such product. The institute also says nicotine-free vaping products pose multiple health risks.
Finland: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has confirmed to ECigIntelligence that an amendment to the Tobacco Act was yesterday approved by president Sauli Niinistö. The amendment introduces uniform packaging for e-cigarettes from 1st May 2023 and extends smoke-free and vape-free environments from 1st May 2022.
Netherlands: The e-cigarette flavour ban that was to be introduced on 1st July has been put back six months, the trade association Esigbond reports. The ban will only allow sales of tobacco-flavoured vaping products. Its postponement comes after the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) drew up a list of approved flavourings, which Esigbond says included two – isophorone and pyridine – that are known to be carcinogenic.
Portugal: Following the rejection by Parliament of the first State Budget, prime minister António Costa’s new government today presented a new Budget, with a proposed 1% increase in tax on nicotine e-liquids, from from €0.32 to €0.323 per ml still intact. Parliament still needs to approve the new budget, which is expected to happen by the end of May.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued several new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are “new tobacco products” without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
Italy: The Council of State will hold a hearing on 21st June on the fate of e-liquids without tax stamps that remain unsold, media reports. In January, following a lawsuit filed by e-cigarette manufacturer Smooke France in July 2021, the Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) of Lazio overturned a Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) circular from March 2021 which ordered the disposal of all e-liquids without tax stamps from 1st January 2022; the ADM then appealed against that decision to the Council of State, Italy's highest administrative court.
Netherlands: The vape stores’ trade association Esigbond has complained about sales of illegal disposable e-cigarettes in non-specialist shops, markets and online, media reports. It warns that these products are unregistered, often have too high nicotine levels, and lack Dutch health warnings on the packaging. It says the products are being promoted on social media and calls for their sale to be stopped immediately.
UK: Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police have seized 4,500 disposables with excessive nicotine levels and 420 counterfeit e-cigarettes from a souvenir shop in London’s Oxford Street, press reports.
China: The State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standardisation Administration today published the approved mandatory national standard on e-cigarettes, which will be implemented from 1st October. Along the lines of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), the standard will impose a nicotine cap of 20 mg and limit the size of refills to 20 ml.
US - Arkansas: Senate Bill 45 is advancing through the legislative process. It would raise from 19 to 21 the legal age to purchase, sell, exchange, or possess tobacco, nicotine products or any “electronic smoking product”, and ban their online sale. It would also levy a tax on all nicotine-containing electronic smoking products at 75% of their wholesale price.
Russia: Members of the State Duma have proposed a moratorium on mandatory traceability labelling of goods until 1st January 2028, media reports. If adopted, this would affect the traceability labelling of heated tobacco consumables, which become mandatory on 1st March. It might also delay the future mandatory labelling of e-liquids, cartridges and closed e-cigarette systems, which are currently subject to a voluntary traceability labelling experiment that is supposed to run until 28th February 2023.
US - Federal: The FDA has issued Marketing Denial Orders (MDO) to Fontem for several e-cigarette products in the company’s Myblu line, saying their applications lacked sufficient evidence to show that permitting the marketing of them would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. Specifically, the agency did not find the benefits significantly outweighed the risk to youth. Aside from the MDOs to products listed in the publicly available Deemed New Tobacco Product Application List, the FDA has also issued MDOs to additional Myblu products that do not appear in the list, because it will only publicly name products that are confirmed as being currently on the market.
Canada: According to the Federal Budget 2022, e-liquid with or without nicotine will be taxed at a rate of CAD1 ($0.79) per 2 ml, or fraction thereof for the first 10 ml of vaping substance, and CAD1 ($0.79) per 10 ml, or fraction thereof, for volumes beyond that. If a province or territory decides to participate in a coordinated vaping taxation regime administered by the federal government the rates would double, meaning the proposed combined rate would be CAD2 ($1.58) per 2 ml, or fraction thereof, for the first 10 ml of vaping substance, and CAD2 ($1.58) per 10 ml, or fraction thereof, for volumes beyond that. More information can be found in our latest news briefing.
US - Tennessee: Senate Bill 2219 has passed the Senate and is ready for transmission to the House. This bill would authorise local governments to regulate, including the prohibition of, smoking and the use of vapour products in age-restricted venues.
UK: The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said that while there has been much interest from companies that wish to achieve regulatory approval, no new licence applications for e-cigarettes have been submitted, media reports. In October, the authority announced its intention to encourage the licensing of e-cigarettes as medicines and to support companies to submit marketing authorisation applications. E-cigarettes regulated as medicines may contain higher nicotine levels (more than 20 mg/ml) and e-liquid volume (more than 2 ml for single-use cartridges/disposables, and more than 10 ml for refills).
Spain: The Spanish parliament has passed the "waste and contaminated soils" bill. The bill imposes restrictions on plastic packaging that may affect the e-cigarette industry. For example, single-use plastics (in which pods and e-liquid containers could be included, although the bill does not mention them specifically) will have to be marked as such on their packaging. The bill also intends to reduce the sale of single-use plastics by 50% in weight by 2026 and 70% by 2030. The act will enter into force once it is published in the state Official Bulletin.
Myanmar: From 10th April standardised packaging will be mandatory for almost all tobacco products. The regulation requires the outer surfaces of product packages to be presented in a standardised dull brown colour, and health warnings need to be printed on 75% of the front and back surfaces. Companies will have a 90-day transitional period. It is still not clear if harm-reduction products will have to comply or not with the new requirements.
UK: A plastic packaging tax that applies, among other things, to plastic protective film around a box, has entered into effect. A tax rate of £200 per metric tonne applies to plastic packaging that is manufactured or imported and does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued several new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are "new tobacco products" without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
Taiwan: About 97% of parents who responded to a survey conducted by the National Alliance of Parents Organisations would like all novel tobacco products to be banned, along with e-cigarettes, press reports. The organisation estimated that 73,000 teenagers in Taiwan use e-cigarettes and "similar products". A bill to explicitly ban e-cigarettes and regulate heated tobacco is currently at the final enactment stage.
Brazil: The National Public Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) will be receiving technical and scientific evidence about e-cigarettes and heated tobacco from 11th April to 11th May to help it analyse the impact of regulation. Any interested party can offer evidence. The agency has also published a report suggesting the current prohibition should be maintained, and that educational campaigns should be implemented, aimed particularly at young people. Any firm decisions will come later.
Mexico: The Senate has approved a decree amending the Customs Duty Act in order to prohibit the importation of e-cigarettes, both with and without nicotine. The decree has been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for further approval.
France: The National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) has published an updated list of notified e-cigarettes, which includes 76,309 products.
US - federal: Senate majority leader Dick Durbin has revealed that he spoke yesterday with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf about what he called “the agency’s delay in comprehensively regulating the e-cigarette marketplace to protect public health”. Durbin said he urged the FDA to conclude the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) review for e-cigarettes, now past the seven-month court-ordered deadline.
Malaysia: A bill banning sales of vaping products to anyone born after 2005 will be discussed tomorrow by a parliamentary Special Committee on Health, Science and Innovation before it is introduced to Parliament in July, press reports. Tomorrow's discussion will be the first of a series of committee proceedings to review the wording of the bill and its implementation plans, while taking into account the different views from all relevant parties.
US - Colorado: The Finance Committee held a hearing yesterday on House Bill 22-1064, which would prohibit the distribution of flavoured cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products, including those containing synthetic nicotine. Opponents of the bill, which was introduced early this year, argue that the pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program would take a big funding hit as it is currently supported by the state nicotine tax, following a 2020 ballot vote. Democrat representative Kyle Mullica said: “We always run that risk when we want to fund these important programs off of taxes like this that are vices. I think hopefully we start maybe getting away from that because I don’t think that’s probably the most appropriate way to fund these programs.”
Malaysia: The Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs today issued an order on Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of Electronic Cigarette Device). The order, which will come into force on 3rd August, requires manufacturers and importers of e-cigarette devices and their components to apply to the testing and inspections agency SIRIM QAS International for a certificate of compliance with the Malaysian standard before placing them on the market. Each compliant product will then be marked as such. The order does not apply to e-liquids.
Bulgaria: The Council of Ministers has agreed to introduce an excise duty for vaping products in order to cut usage, media reports. The exact figures have not yet been released, but the new tax is planned to come into force in July.
Pennsylvania: House Bill 2466 has been introduced, which would include “electronic smoking devices” – “An electronic device that contains or delivers nicotine or another substance to an individual inhaling from the device” – within the definition of “smoking” for purposes of the Clean Indoor Air Act. This legislation would also give all localities the right to enact smoke-free ordinances that are more protective than current state law.
Italy: The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has issued a circular listing the new excise duty rates on e-liquids that apply until the end of the year. As of 1st April, nicotine-containing liquids will be subject to duty of €0.131303 per ml, while the rate for those without nicotine is €0.087535 per ml.
Canada - New Brunswick: Yesterday, the Court of Queen's Bench of Fredericton rejected a motion filed by a group of vape stores to suspend the province's ban on flavoured e-cigarettes introduced in September 2021, local media reports. The plaintiffs were also seeking to halt a requirement for vape stores to obtain a licence, which enters into force today.
Belarus: The resolution of the Council of Ministers introduces a mandatory conformity assessment by the National System of Conformity for nicotine-containing e-liquids and e-cigarettes with liquids as of today. The resolution imposes limits on nicotine concentration of 20 mg/ml, tank size volume of 2 ml and on refill volume of 10 ml. It also introduces mandatory labelling.
US - Texas: During a meeting on 30th March, Houston City Council unanimously approved an ordinance banning the use of electronic smoking devices in public spaces, local media reports. The original ordinance, passed in 2006, bans smoking in enclosed public places, within 25 ft of a public building’s entrance or exit, and other public areas, including outdoor seating areas and covered public transport facilities. Now those rules are extended to electronic smoking devices, which include e-cigarettes and cigars, vapes and any other device that uses vapour or aerosol liquids.
Finland: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has told ECigIntelligence that the amendment to the Tobacco Act, which was recently approved in the second reading in the parliament, is currently waiting for the president's approval. The amendment aims, among other things, to introduce standard packaging for e-cigarettes and seeks to extend smoke-free environments. If approved, it envisages different dates for its entering into force.
US - Hawaii: House Bill 1570 will be included in the public consultation that both the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection will hold tomorrow. This bill would ban (1) the sale of flavoured tobacco products and (2) mislabelling as nicotine-free any e-liquid product that contains nicotine.
US - Federal: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are "new tobacco products" without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
US: Michele Mital, deputy director of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) since 2018, is to become acting director of the CTP following the retirement of Mitch Zeller in April, an FDA spokesperson confirmed to ECigIntelligence today.
UK: Junior health minister Maggie Throup told MPs during a debate on “Smoke-free England” that the government’s tobacco control plan would be published later this year. She added: “The new plan will set out a comprehensive package of new policy proposals and regulatory change.”
Lithuania: The Ministry of Health, along with the Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD), has presented a draft National Agenda on drug, tobacco and alcohol control, prevention of drug sse and drug-related harm up tol 2035 to the Seimas (parliament) Committee for Addiction Prevention. The plan aims to reduce the supply of tobacco and related products through policies based on scientific studies, improving excise duties, raising awareness of the effects of smuggling on the public budget, regulating emerging products promptly, and strengthening advertising restrictions.
South Africa: The libertarian think think the Free Market Foundation is reportedly concerned that the government’s plans for regulating vaping products will push more people back toward smoking and to buying from the black market. The South African Treasury’s director for economic tax analysis, Chris Axelson, told press that a flat tax rate based on e-liquid volume, regardless of nicotine concentration, had been agreed in principle. He said the Treasury would draft a bill aiming to have a tax in force from 1st January 2023.
Spain: The Ministry of Health has told the press that a draft amendment to the tobacco control law will shortly be finalised. Although the exact content of the proposal is not yet known, it is expected to include a ban on the use of tobacco products, including heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, in places such as outdoor terraces, beaches, and in private cars. It is also reported that plain packaging is to be introduced, although it is unclear for which products. It remains uncertain what other restrictions might be applied to heat-not-burn (HnB) products and e-cigarettes and whether nicotine pouches are to be included. Lastly, the press reports that prices will be raised, however, it is again unclear which products will be affected.
US - Maine: There is still an ongoing dispute between proponents and opponents of Legislature bill LD 1550, which was introduced last year, local media reports. The bill would ban the sale and distribution of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, in any flavour other than tobacco.
Canada - New Brunswick: A judge will give a decision tomorrow, 31st March, on a bid by a group of vape stores to suspend the province’s ban on flavoured e-cigarettes, introduced in September 2021, local media reports. The plaintiffs are also seeking to halt a requirement for vape stores to obtain a licence, due to come into force on Friday, 1st April.
US - Texas: Houston City Council will today consider a proposal that would add vaping to the city’s existing ban on smoking in public spaces, local media reports. Quality of Life Committee chairman Robert Gallegos yesterday urged his colleagues to support the proposal. The original ordinance, passed in 2006, bans smoking in enclosed public places, within 25 ft of a public building’s entrance or exit, and other public areas, including outdoor seating areas and covered public transport facilities.
EU: The European Commission has launched an initiative to evaluate the progress made under Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment, which applies to e-cigarette devices. The Commission’s recommendations are planned for adoption in the third quarter of 2023.
Switzerland: Stakeholders have until tomorrow to comment on the Federal Council consultation on a partial revision of the Tobacco Tax Act, which would set a tax on e-liquids 77% lower than that on combustible cigarettes. The Federal Department of Finance told ECigIntelligence it would revise the preliminary draft based on the results of the consultation. The draft will then be discussed in Parliament. The changes are not expected to come into force before mid/late 2023.
Germany: The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has updated the list of notified e-cigarette products, which now contains 254,020 vapour products. Only products notified at least six months ago are listed.
Thailand: The National Tobacco Products Control Commission has decided that the current ban on the import and sale of e-cigarettes will not be lifted, saying this is in order to protect the lives of Thai people. According to the authority’s statement, the National Statistical Office’s 2021 Tobacco Consumption Survey found that 78,742 people over the age of 15 vape. The survey broke that down to show that there are 71,486 male vapers and 7,256 female vapers, most of whom live in Bangkok.
Bahrain: The Council of Representatives has recommended the approval of the ban on import, distribution, sales and manufacturing of electronic cigarettes, press reports.
US - Federal: Yesterday, 28th March, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is requesting “a total budget of $8.4 billion as part of the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget – a nearly 34% ($2.1 billion) increase over the agency’s FY 2022 appropriated funding level”. FDA commissioner Robert Califf stated: “The FDA has focused our budget request on some of today’s most urgent needs such as human and animal food safety, medical device security and e-cigarette oversight.” Specifically, it requested a $100m increase in user fees to support the FDA’s mission to reduce the use and harm of tobacco, including funding on e-cigarette oversight, “which remains a high priority and is critical to the agency’s public health mission, especially, to protecting kids from the dangers of nicotine addiction and other harmful health consequences”.
EU: The European Commission is scheduled to launch the EU’s “Sustainable products initiative” tomorrow, 30th March, as Commission adoption is planned for the first quarter of 2022. This initiative potentially affects electronics used in nicotine and tobacco products. It “aims to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable [...], durable, reusable, repairable, recyclable, and energy-efficient”. Among its main aims is to make companies focus on extending the products’ life cycle and to demand that companies disclose and report certain information.
US: Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has confirmed to ECigIntelligence its decision to stop selling tobacco products in a number of its stores. The company did not say how many of its 5,000 US stores would be affected. Walmart announced in 2019 that it would no longer sell vaping products.
UK: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its eagerly awaited Post-Implementation Review of Tobacco Legislation. It says the government will consider changes to the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations as part of its plans towards meeting its Smokefree 2030 ambition, but recommends, on the basis of the evidence reviewed, that the current regulations should remain in force. The consultation responses on one side suggested amendments to e-cigarette packaging to promote them as less harmful than smoking, along with increases in allowed e-liquid bottle and tank sizes, and nicotine strength. On the other side, some respondents wanted stronger packaging designs and colours to deter youth use. The new Tobacco Control Plan is yet to be published, but following this no major changes to the vaping framework can be expected.
Belgium: The Federal Public Health Service (FPS) for Health, Food Chain Safety and the Environment has told ECigIntelligence that the draft 2022-2028 Interfederal Strategy for a Tobacco-Free Generation presented last week at the Interministerial Conference on Public Health (CIM Santé) will be supplemented by a series of operational objectives and the goal is to have a complete strategy adopted in autumn.
US: VPR Brands has announced the settlement of a patent infringement case against three companies, which have agreed to pay $155,000 for a fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use VPR’s e-cigarette technology, patented in 2009. This is the third such case brought by VPR, which agreed settlements of $275,000 and $85,000 with other companies in December 2021 and claims to have identified over 50 more that it says are using its Auto Draw Technology. Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based VPR said: “Additional lawsuits will continue to be filed as necessary to protect the company’s Intellectual Property rights.”
Canada - Northwest Territories: E-liquids of any flavour other than tobacco are now banned, as of 25th March, under amendments to the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Regulations.
US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken action on additional e-cigarette products: it has authorised several tobacco-flavoured products from Logic Technology Development, and has also issued marketing denial orders to Logic for multiple other electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products. The agency said it is close to making further decisions on applications for “popular ENDS products that account for a large part of the market”. Read more in our latest news story.
UK: Trading Standards Sandwell have seized more than 1,600 illegal disposable vapes from two shops. Non-compliant products exceeded the maximum volume of 2 ml and instead contained between 4.5 ml and 9 ml of e-liquid. The Sandwell Council warned: “Look out for products that don’t meet legal requirements such as Vapeman, who have not been authorised for sale in the UK. Retailers should remove these products from sale and return them to the supplier.”
Spain: The government’s delegate for the National Plan on Drugs, Joan Ramón Villalbí, has expressed some concern over e-cigarette use among teenagers, press reports. The National Plan on Drugs is an initiative from the Ministry of Health aimed at coordinating and promoting drug policies carried out by the different public administrations in Spain. Villalbí said that, according to a survey on the use of drugs among secondary school students, almost half of Spanish teenagers have tried vaping at least once. “It is possible that many of those teenagers who tried vaping did so because they borrowed an electronic cigarette from a friend,” he added, “but this still makes us think.”
Finland: On 16th March, the parliament approved the content of the amendment to the Tobacco Act. The second reading of the bill has ended. The amendment aims to introduce standard packaging for e-cigarettes and seeks to extend smoke-free environments, among other things. If adopted, it envisages different dates for its entering into force.
UK: Lancashire County Council reported yesterday that Trading Standards had carried out inspections of vape shops in response to a huge increase in the number of complaints relating to under-age sales. One shop owner was fined £166 by a court and ordered to pay £275 in costs after two volunteers, aged 15 and 16, were able to make successful test purchases. The shop assistant who sold the products was also fined. Similar actions have been carried out recently in other parts of the country.
Belgium: The General Drug Policy Unit (CGPD) yesterday presented the draft of the 2022-2028 Strategy for a Tobacco-Free Generation during an interministerial conference on public health. The plan, which includes vaping, sets several objectives, such as: removing tobacco industry interference from the preparation and implementation of public health policies, improving health promotion policies, a ban on vending machines, tightening restrictions on long-distance sales and advertising, and improving the make-up of vapour products.
US - Connecticut: Senate Bill 367 was heard yesterday in the Senate Public health Committee, where it received a favourable vote 20-11. The bill would prohibit the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems and vapour products that are flavoured or that have a nicotine content above 35 mg/ml.
Netherlands: The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has confirmed to ECigIntelligence that in general it is still allowed to print the names of flavours on the packaging of e-liquids and pods. However, it offered a reminder that flavours will soon be banned in the Netherlands.
Mongolia: The government has decided to submit changes to the Law on Tobacco Control by June and propose an e-cigarette tax, press reports.
UK: Conservative MP Bob Blackman today called on the government to raise the purchasing age for tobacco products from 18 to 21 and introduce a “polluter pays” levy on Big Tobacco in order to achieve the smoke-free 2030 targets and to raise funds for smoking cessation services. Prime minister Boris Johnson agreed that smoking was a number one cause of preventable deaths and said that Javed Khan, who is currently reviewing tobacco policy, would take Blackman’s proposals into account.
Iceland: A bill amending Law 87/2018 on e-cigarettes and refills, which we have reported on, has been approved at its first reading in the Althingi (parliament). In addition to banning “flavours that may appeal to children, such as sweet and fruit flavours”, the bill includes a mandatory licence to sell vaping products, issued by the Housing and Civil Engineering Institute, and a ban on vaping on education premises. The bill now moves on to the Welfare Committee, which could propose amendments.
US: New warning letters have been issued by the FDA to manufacturers and distributors of e-liquid products that are “new tobacco products” without the required FDA marketing authorisation to remain in the market.
US - Idaho: Senate Bill 1285 has been delivered to governor Brad Little for signature. This bill denies local government authorities the right to adopt or enforce requirements for the regulation, marketing, or sale of tobacco products or e-cigarettes that are more restrictive than state law. It would also prevent them from imposing or enforcing a tax or fee on tobacco products or e-cigarettes.
Australia: The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday published the results of its 2020/21 smoking and vaping prevalence survey. They show that almost 9.3% of adults have tried vaping at least once and 2.2% vape regularly, including 4.8% of those aged 18-24. In all, 21.7% of 18-24s had tried vaping at least once. Strikingly, the survey also shows that among current smokers, 23.8% were former users of vaping products.
Paraguay: The government is currently discussing with the Senate the immediate enactment of a bill that would increase the tax on e-liquids from 20% (in force since February) to 22%, press reports. The tax rise is in response to the government’s plan to subsidise oil in order to keep its price stable.
Russia: Dmitry Davydov, author of the non-profit project "20 Ideas for the Development of Russia", recommends increasing the purchasing age for nicotine-containing products – including e-liquids and heated tobacco consumables – media reports. Referring to the experience of other countries, Davydov proposes a gradual transition, raising the age limit in the first year from 18 to 19, in the second year from 19 to 20, and in the third year to 21.
Australia: Doctors and public health experts are reportedly urging the government to ban the sale of nicotine-free vaping products that may seem appealing to children. While nicotine-containing e-cigarettes have been subject to prescription since last October, the import and sale of nicotine-free products are not subject to the same requirement. Since the nicotine-containing vaping products import restrictions came into force, the Border Force has seized 248 shipments of such products.
US - California: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against RJ Reynolds’ case against Los Angeles County’s flavour ban, which includes menthol cigarettes and other flavoured tobacco products. Reynolds argued that, under the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), states and local jurisdictions could not ban the sale of tobacco products. However, the federal judge said the TCA included a preemption clause with an exception (“requirements relating to the sale, distribution, possession, information reporting to the State, exposure to, access to, the advertising and promotion of, or use of, tobacco products”), a broad preservation of state and local authority which the ban would fit.
Russia: The Association of Internet Trade Companies has called on prime minister Mikhail Mishustin to lift the ban on online sales of alcohol, tobacco products and prescription drugs until the end of 2023 in order to support industry, media reports. It is unclear whether the request includes online sales of e-liquids.
Philippines: The Department of Education has backed the Department of Health in appealing to president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the proposed Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act. According to the department, the bill weakens the existing laws on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, especially when lowering the restriction age from 21 to 18. The bill was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in January and is now waiting for the president’s signature.
US: Zanoprima Lifesciences Ltd. filed a complaint for patent infringement against Hangsen International Group Ltd. in the US District Court in the Western District of Texas, on 12th March. Per a Zanoprima Lifesciences press release, Hangsen has violated Zanoprima’s patent entitled “Process for Making (S)-Nicotine” (US Patent No. 10,913,962) through Hangsen’s manufacture and importation into the US market of products containing synthetic nicotine. In addition to seeking damages for infringement, Zanoprima’s complaint seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent Hangsen from continuing its infringing actions.
Spain: The association Nofumadores.org (non-smokers.org) has asked the government to prohibit the sale of tobacco and electronic cigarettes to anyone born after 2007 so that once they turn 18 they cannot buy those products and become addicted, press reports. More than 20 associations support this measure. Nofumadores.org has also accused the Ministry of Health of not being harsh enough with the tobacco industry.
UK: David Jones, Conservative MP from Clwyd West in Wales, asked the health secretary what steps the department is taking to help ensure small convenience stores adhere to age-verification standards for the sale of e-cigarettes and what assessments have been made of the effectiveness of the enforcement measures. Maggie Throup, Conservative parliamentary under-secretary for health, said that the government provides funding to local authorities who allocate them to local service, including for combating the under-age sale of e-cigarettes. She pointed out that the department also commissioned the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to publish annual tobacco control surveys on trading standards activities. Throup said: “We believe that the current enforcement measures are proportionate. However, we will continue to monitor the evidence regarding under-age or illegal sales.”
Sweden: The public consultation on a proposal to increase excise duties on e-liquids ends today, 18th March. The Ministry of Finance proposed an increase of 1% on e-liquids excise duties from 2024; therefore, highly concentrated e-liquids (from 15 to 20 mg per ml) would be taxed at SEK4,040 (€387) per l, while other e-liquids at SEK2,020 (€194) per l.
UK: Trading standards for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) has announced results of inspections of under-age sales of e-cigarettes, revealing that more than half of the shops visited by trading standards are illegally selling vaping products to minors. Two 14-year-old volunteers were sold disposable vape in three out of five premises across BCP without being asked for any proof of age during the undercover operation in February. Officers also found that none of the e-cigarettes sold to the children complied with the legal requirements, and one of the products is suspected to be counterfeit.
Costa Rica: The Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund asked the National Assembly to approve the bill that imposes neutral packaging for tobacco products, including e-cigs with or without nicotine, press reports. The bill also eliminates advertising and increases the size of health warnings from 50% to 80% of the package area. The bill has been under discussion in the Social Committee since September 2021.