Market & legal data of the tobacco alternatives sector in Emirates

22nd August 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Federal Tax Authority announced in a press release that its inspection campaigns during the first six months of 2024 resulted in the confiscation of 5.52m non-compliant tobacco packages compared to 7.92m in the first half of 2023.
26th July 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ajman Police has launched an initiative called “Your Life is Purer Without Smoking” to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and to curb the illegal trade of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco.
11th July 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has confirmed to TobaccoIntelligence that nicotine pouches are currently unregulated and that no specific or planned time has been set for the product to be regulated. This confirms our latest analysis. Our Policy Radar suggests that a potential regulation could be expected in the medium to long term.
6th June 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has issued a newsletter warning against the use and promotion of electronic smoking products, saying there’s no scientific evidence that would suggest they are less harmful than other tobacco products.
28th May 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Dubai Municipality and the Department of Planning and Development have conducted a joint inspection to verify retailers’ compliance with the standards for e-cigarettes and related products. The inspection resulted in the issue of 11 violations for non-compliant or expired products and the confiscation of 1,555 non-conforming products, press reports.
6th May 2024: United Arab Emirates: The Federal Tax Authority reported that in 2023 its control efforts resulted in the seizure and confiscation of nearly 21.29m units of tobacco products that didn’t bear the Digital Tax Stamp (DTS). Last year, it was announced that in 2022, a total of 5.5m units of tobacco products without the DTS were confiscated.
31st May 2023: UAE: The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre has launched the “Tobacco Control Awareness Programme” to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). It emphasises their association with heart attacks, strokes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and addiction, and stresses that ENDS are just as harmful as traditional tobacco products, with flavourings and nicotine levels that make them more addictive.
18th January 2023: United Arab Emirates (UAE): The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has told TobaccoIntelligence that a new fee is now being charged to issue the conformity certificates for regulated products. The fee is AED670 ($182) for the certificate and AED620 ($169) for the technical review of documents. It now takes one and a half working days to resolve an application instead of three, and applications are submitted per model type or per stock keeping unit (SKU).
25th July 2022: 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. Selling tobacco to minors in the UAE 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.
22nd July 2022: 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 it assured that it will increase efforts to control the markets and ensure the correct implementation of the excise tax. It’s worth noting that all tobacco products should bear the DTS.
2nd June 2022: United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday the application of the Law 15/2009 on Tobacco Control and its executive regulations on heated tobacco products, as previously noted in our latest regulatory report. The ministry further stressed the prohibition to consume these products 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 these products to under-18s.

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