Market & legal data of the tobacco alternatives sector in Emirates

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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