Italian ‘tobacco industry’ wants electronic cigarettes taxed and regulated

The Italian union of tobacco operators has lodged an appeal with the regional court of Lazio in an attempt to block the sale of electronic cigarettes, according to a story by Marco Tistarelli for the Epoch Times.

The Times said the appeal was the latest in a series of steps taken by the ‘tobacco industry’, which believed the spread of electronic cigarettes was hammering a business already squeezed by the illicit trade.

‘It’s unfair competition,’ said Enzo Perrotta, president of the union of tobacco operators, in a press release.

Perrotta said electronic cigarettes should be subjected to taxation in the same way that traditional cigarettes were.

And he said their distribution should be regulated.

There are now more than 1,000 stores selling electronic cigarettes and nearly 400,000 electronic cigarette consumers in Italy, according to Anafe, the association that represents the country’s vaping industry.

A recent Doxa survey showed that out of 10.8 million tobacco users, 20 per cent were using or intended to use electronic cigarettes.

The turnover for electronic cigarettes reached €90 million last year, up 25 per cent on the previous year’s turnover, according to the Italian market researcher.

Electronic cigarettes are already being subjected to increased regulation with a national ban on sales to minors and at least one public places vaping ban.