Regulatory & market intelligence for alternative tobacco & nicotine products
From February of 2022, subscribers will be able to view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts Round-up section.
11th May 2022
10th May 2022
5th May 2022
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 the first arrests under the ban, which came into effect on Saturday.
3rd May 2022
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.
2nd May 2022
25th April 2022
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 heated tobacco products, which are deemed to be as harmful as cigarettes. The government is planning to ban the sale of such products, along with e-cigarettes, to anyone born after 2005.
22nd April 2022
8th April 2022
7th April 2022
India: A group of MPs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged the government yesterday to take steps to remove designated smoking areas from hotels, restaurants and airports, press reports. The use of heated tobacco is not prohibited by federal law, but officials sometimes treat its use as if it were smoking.
7th April 2022
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, 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.
6th April 2022
Malaysia: A bill banning sales of tobacco 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.