Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Asia
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Detailed legal reports outlining industry regulation, analysis of the laws, and pertinent organisations
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NEW FORMAT
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.
Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the tobacco alternatives sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Monthly Round-up section.
11th May 2022
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.10th May 2022
- 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.
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
- 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.
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
- 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.
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.
