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Belgium: The 2022-2028 Strategy for a Tobacco-Free Generation has been agreed by a joint group of federal and regional health ministers. The plan, which covers vaping, sets several objectives, including keeping the tobacco industry out of the preparation and implementation of public health policies; introducing a tax on vapour products in 2024; banning disposable e-cigarettes; improving health promotion; a ban on vending-machine sales; tighter restrictions on long-distance sales and advertising; and improving the make-up of vapour products by extending restrictions to nicotine-free vapes.
Canada - Quebec: An Update on Québec’s Economic and Financial Situation, published by the provincial Ministry of Finance, reveals the ministry’s intention of introducing a tax on vapour products in order to discourage their use. No timeline is specified for the implementation of such a tax.
US - general: A group of public health experts, together with Iowa’s attorney general Tom Miller, have published an opinion piece in the journal Addiction calling on the US Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to correct e-cigarette health misinformation – specifically that related to the Evali crisis. They say the name itself, “E-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury”, is misleading and that such misinformation is preventing a reduction in smoking due to a false belief that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as combustible cigarettes, or even more so.
Austria: Health minister Johannes Rauch is working on an amendment to the Tobacco and Non-Smoker Protection Law to extend the range of public outdoor spaces where smoking is banned, press reports. It is not yet known whether the amendment, which is expected to be reviewed at the start of 2023, will affect e-cigarettes.
Australia: The Federal Council of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has passed a motion demanding tighter regulation of nicotine-free vaping products. The AMA, the doctors’ professional body, wants rules similar to those on tobacco products, with health warnings and plain packaging. It says it will “continue to advocate...to stem the rapidly-growing uptake” of vaping products, which it claims are “clearly marketed towards children”.
Russia: From today, e-liquids, with or without nicotine, in cartridges, capsules or disposable e-cigarettes, must bear a mandatory traceability marking, by government decree.
Ukraine: The Ministry of Finance plans to increase the fee for excise stamps on e-liquids and heated tobacco products from UAH0.091 (€0.0023) to UAH0.1484 (€0.0038), media reports. If approved, the new rate is expected to come into force the day after the regulation is published.
Sweden: Bill 2021/22:245, presented in May by the previous government, has been adopted by the Riksdag (parliament) together with the 2023 Budget Bill. Starting in 2024, excise duty on e-liquids will increase by 1%: high-strength e-liquids (15-20 mg/ml nicotine) will be taxed at SEK4,040 (€372) per l, and other e-liquids at SEK2,020 (€186) per l.
Philippines: The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed a criminal complaint before the Department of Justice over alleged tax evasion by five traders accused of smuggling vaping products into the country. The five could face jail terms of between four and six years, and the BIR is also claiming PHP1.2bn ($21.5m) in fines and penalties. Last month, the authorities seized between 50,000 and 100,000 units of untaxed vapes, 175,050 pods, and 61,400 bottles of flavoured e-liquids, worth an estimated total of PHP15m ($270,000) to PHP30m ($54,000).
US - Ohio: Columbus City Council has unanimously approved an ordinance banning the sale of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and menthol tobacco. The ban will come into effect on 1st January 2024, allowing businesses a year to clear existing stock. The ordinance does not apply to the sale of flavoured shisha. Columbus is the Ohio state capital, with a population of over 900,000.
New Zealand: The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, which will set a limit on the number of e-cigarette retailers and ban the sale of smokable tobacco products to anyone born after 1st January 2009, has received royal assent; most of its provisions will come into force on 1st January. Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said that, although her party supported the bill, they were confused as to why it had not also sought to ban vaping products.
South Africa: The government has tabled the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery System Control Bill in Parliament. The latest version of the bill proposes a total ban on the use of tobacco or e-cigarettes in indoor public places and certain outdoor areas, and strengthens the rules on packaging and health warnings.
Slovakia: The government has approved the National Action Plan for the control of tobacco and related products, seeking to improve smoking prevention among young people compliance with the law on the protection of non-smokers. The Slovak Pneumology Society has praised the plan for advocating a harm reduction approach, media reports.
US - California: A motion filed by RJ Reynolds and other tobacco companies, seeking an emergency order to stop California from enforcing the flavour ban approved in the November ballot, has been denied by the US Supreme Court. The ban will come into effect next week.
UK: West Yorkshire Police has announced tthe seizure of 1,519 oversized vaping products, valued between £20,000 and £25,000, from four shops on 1st December.
US - general: Avail Vapor has lost its legal challenge to the marketing denial order (MDO) imposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 4th District found that: “Substantial evidence supports the assertion that ‘There is an epidemic of youth use of e-cigarette products, and flavored products like petitioners’ are at the center of that problem’.”
Canada: Health Canada has published its long-awaited first legislative review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA). It says youth access to vaping products raised concerns and that more restrictions may be imposed, work could be done to inform people better about the potential benefits and health hazards of vaping, a progressive enforcement approach to non-compliant products could be explored, and improving the quality and quantity of information on vaping would enhance the government’s ability to regulate vapour products effectively. The next review is due to begin in 2023.
New Zealand: Following a report that some retailers were misinterpreting the regulations, especially on maximum nicotine content, the Vaping Regulatory Authority has announced that 472 non-compliant products are being withdrawn from the market until they are compliant and have been re-notified. The authority is currently assessing another 1,083 products to ensure they comply with product safety requirements.
New Zealand: The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, which will set a limit on the number of e-cigarette retailers and ban the sale of smokable tobacco products to anyone born after 1st January 2009, was approved by Parliament at its third and final reading. The bill will now be signed by the governor-general before becoming law.
Gulf Cooperation Council: The Gulf Health Council has launched a week-long online campaign under the slogan “#companionship_without_vaping” to combat the use of e-cigarettes, particularly by young people, press reports.
Indonesia: Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party, has called on the government to reconsider its plan to increase tax on e-cigarettes by 15% over the next five years, saying it would harm “a creative industry”, press reports. The National Awakening Party is a member of the ruling coalition.
India: The Delhi High Court has directed the central government to ensure compliance with the 2019 act banning the manufacture, import, export, transportation, sale, distribution, storage and advertising of e-cigarettes, press reports. The court also asked the Delhi police to take steps to ensure e-cigarettes are not sold near schools or colleges.
Malaysia: New health minister Zaliha Mustafa has said she plans to reintroduce the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 in the first sitting of Parliament next year, press reports. The bill proposes a ban on the sale and use of vaping products to those born on or after 1st January 2007. Mustafa has also said she needs to review certain aspects of the bill, such as its implementation and timeline.
Latvia: Medical associations have urged the Saeima (parliament) to speed up approval of a bill amending the Tobacco Act, press reports. The bill, equating e-cigarettes and other tobacco substitutes with tobacco products, would ban flavoured e-liquids and e-cigarettes, and prohibit vaping in gaming halls and casinos. An online petition backing the flavour ban has gathered more than 10,000 signatures.
Slovenia: A regulation setting new excise duties on e-liquids has been published in the Official Gazette. The tax on nicotine-containing liquids will rise to €0.19 per ml from 1st January, then again to €0.21 per ml from 1st May, and to €0.2€ per ml from 1st November 2023. Duty on nicotine-free e-liquids will rise to €0.09 per ml from 1st January, then €0.10 per ml from 1st May, and to €0.11 per ml on 1st November 2023.
EU: Swedish MEP Johan Nissinen, of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, has submitted a parliamentary question, asking whether the European Commission has any plans to promote alternatives to cigarettes, such as e-cigarettes, with a view to curbing tobacco use in Europe, and whether it has considered the risk of the number of smokers in Europe increasing if the tax on e-cigarettes is increased. Nissinen also asked whether the Commission had studied developments in the UK, where “the National Health Service...has encouraged people to use e-cigarettes instead of traditional tobacco products”.
Iceland: An amendment to Regulation 992/2022 on marketing notification, licensing and ingredients of nicotine products, e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine has been published in the Official Gazette, lowering the fee for licence applications to sell vaping products from ISK72,864 (€482) to ISK27,224 (€180).
Belarus: Finance minister Yury Seliverstov has announced planned increases in 2023 in excise duties on e-liquids, to bring them level with Russian rates, media reports. It is also planned to introduce a tax on e-cigarette devices at the same rate as in Russia.
