E-cigarette companies band together to fight ban

Five electronic cigarette companies operating in Hong Kong have formed the Asian Vape Association to oppose the government’s plan to ban electronic-cigarette sales, according to a story in the South China Morning Post relayed by the TMA.

Nav Lalji, one of the founders of the association, was quoted as saying the government should regulate rather than ban these products if it is concerned about product ingredients.

He questioned why the government was not banning combustible tobacco products firstly if it was worried about public health.

Lalji, who is the founder and manufacturer of the electronic cigarette brand Mist, said the association included major players in the electronic cigarette industry that accounted for about 70 percent of the local market.

He rejected claims made by some health officials that the companies were targeting young people and selling the devices as ‘trendy products’.

Electronic cigarettes were sold to adults at hotels, restaurants and bars, he said; and while the devices contained nicotine, they complied with the international safety standards set by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Currently, there are no age restrictions on the sale in Hong Kong of electronic cigarettes that don’t contain nicotine.

Electronic cigarettes with more than 0.1 percent of nicotine need to be registered as a pharmacy product with the health department.

The undersecretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, said many vaporizers contained substances that were “addictive and hazardous to health.”

But Chan said the association could negotiate with the government over the proposed city-wide ban on electronic cigarette sales, which is expected to be presented to the Legislative Council later this year.