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  • China Calls for Full-Crackdown on Illicit Tobacco Products

    China Calls for Full-Crackdown on Illicit Tobacco Products

    China’s State Council has issued new policy guidance aimed at cracking down on tobacco-related illegal activities across the entire supply chain, seeking to address persistent problems such as counterfeiting, smuggling, and intellectual property infringement. The document, titled Opinions on Combating Tobacco-related Illegal Activities in the Whole Chain, outlines targeted measures to clean up the tobacco market and protect national interests and consumer rights.

    The Opinions call for intensified action against overseas counterfeiting and the smuggling of tobacco into China, including stronger law enforcement cooperation with other countries, tighter sea and land border controls, and stricter oversight of ports, transit trade, and cross-border logistics. Authorities are also instructed to strengthen risk control over international transport and parcels, and to curb smuggling through cross-border e-commerce and transportation personnel.

    Domestically, the policy mandates a high-pressure crackdown on illegal production, storage, transport, and sale of tobacco products, including counterfeit cigarettes and unapproved nicotine products. It also tightens supervision of e-cigarettes and bans the unauthorized manufacture and sale of tobacco-like products and simple cigarette-making equipment. The State Council stressed the need for stronger inter-agency coordination, professionalized enforcement teams, and strict, standardized law enforcement, urging local governments and departments to fully assume responsibility for implementing the measures.

  • Türkiye Working to Cut Smoking Rate

    Türkiye Working to Cut Smoking Rate

    Türkiye’s Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said that smoking remains one of the country’s most serious public health challenges, with nearly one in three people using tobacco. Speaking in Ankara, he called for urgent action to reduce smoking rates and said Türkiye should no longer rank among Europe’s heaviest-smoking nations.

    Memişoğlu said Türkiye is among the world’s top three countries for lung cancer cases, and stressed that most smokers want to quit and outlined expanded government efforts, including free smoking cessation services, mobile clinics in public spaces, and counseling and medication offered through family health and healthy life centers.

    The minister also highlighted broader investments in preventive healthcare, including the expansion of family health centers and healthy life centers focused on early diagnosis, screenings, and lifestyle guidance.

  • EU to Tighten Cross-Border Tobacco, Alcohol Limits?

    EU to Tighten Cross-Border Tobacco, Alcohol Limits?

    Several EU member states have proposed tightening single-market rules on the personal import of tobacco products, as part of discussions on revising the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED), according to Euractiv. Denmark, which holds the EU Council presidency, floated the idea in early December, suggesting stricter limits on cross-border tobacco imports under Article 32 of the Excise Duty Directive, alongside more moderate tax increases. The move aims to curb cross-border shopping that undermines high-tax anti-smoking policies in countries such as France.

    Currently, individuals can import up to 800 cigarettes for personal use. A number of countries, including France, Germany, Finland, and Estonia, have expressed openness to lowering this threshold, with some also supporting limits on alternative tobacco products like heated tobacco.

    The European Commission has been cautious, indicating that changes to Article 32 may fall outside the scope of the TED. Some member states have also noted that the rules apply to alcohol as well, prompting calls from countries such as Finland, Estonia, and Germany to extend any revisions to alcoholic beverages.

  • Ireland Moving Toward Single-Use Vape Ban

    Ireland Moving Toward Single-Use Vape Ban

    Ireland’s Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, on behalf of the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, will today (December 17) begin the passage of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 through the Oireachtas. The Bill, introduced at Second Stage in Dáil Éireann, proposes a ban on the sale of single-use vapes. The measure aims to reduce smoking and vaping rates and to prevent children and young people from starting to use nicotine.

    The Government has highlighted the rapid growth of single-use vapes in Ireland, rising youth vaping rates, and concerns that their low cost, ease of use, and appealing designs target young people. The legislation also addresses environmental impacts, citing the waste and damage caused by disposable vaping products. O’Connor described the legislation as a preventative step to curb nicotine addiction among young people and prevent long-term dependence.

  • Illicit Tobacco Cost S. Africa $2.4B Over Last Five Years

    Illicit Tobacco Cost S. Africa $2.4B Over Last Five Years

    South Africa’s Revenue Service (Sars) estimates it lost R40 billion ($2.4 billion) in excise revenue between 2020 and 2025 due to the illicit tobacco trade, a problem that worsened during the Covid-19 ban on cigarette and tobacco sales, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said. Responding to a parliamentary question, Godongwana said the National Treasury has adopted a differentiated approach to excise duty increases, taking into account market dynamics, illicit trade, and fiscal needs.

    Tobacco producers have suggested that high excise duties have pushed consumers toward cheaper illegal cigarettes, deepening black-market activity; however, Godongwana counters that excise duties on cigarettes have not been raised above inflation since the 2023 budget, helping cigarette and tobacco excise revenue recover 8.7% to R9bn ($540 million) in 2024/25, though still below pre-pandemic levels.

    To curb illicit trade, Sars has stepped up enforcement, recording 576 seizures worth R265 million ($15.9 million) in 2024/25 and 233 seizures worth R135.5 million ($8.1 million) so far in 2025. Measures include audits, license suspensions, and CCTV monitoring at manufacturing sites.

  • Vape Reps Appeal Mississippi Law to 5th Circ.

    Vape Reps Appeal Mississippi Law to 5th Circ.

    A coalition of businesses that sell vape products containing synthetic nicotine appealed a U.S. federal court’s refusal to block a Mississippi law restricting the sale of those products. The groups are taking the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi denied their request for a temporary injunction.

    The contested state law, House Bill 916, which took effect in July 2025, bans the sale of e-cigarette products containing synthetic nicotine in Mississippi. Enforcement, including penalties and product confiscations, began later in the year.

    The plaintiffs, including industry groups such as the Vapor Technology Association and several retailers, argue the law is preempted by federal authority under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, asserting that it effectively conditions sales on FDA marketing authorization—a domain they say belongs exclusively to the federal government.

    Mississippi’s Department of Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham is named as the defendant in the appeal.

  • Azerbaijan Sets New Vape Laws

    Azerbaijan Sets New Vape Laws

    Azerbaijan plans to set fines and enforcement mechanisms for the use of electronic cigarettes through secondary legal acts following the adoption of a new law, MP Soltan Mammadov, a member of parliament’s Health Committee, said. Mammadov said the bill seeks to clearly classify traditional tobacco, heated tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes, and is informed by international regulatory practices. He cited World Health Organization data indicating that e-cigarette use is significantly higher among minors than adults.

    The proposed legislation “aims to restrict tobacco and e-cigarette products containing harmful or carcinogenic substances and address the rising use of e-cigarettes among schoolchildren.” Details on penalties and enforcement measures will be defined after the law is enacted.

  • Two More Arrested in Hong Kong, Smuggling 60K Vapes

    Two More Arrested in Hong Kong, Smuggling 60K Vapes

    Hong Kong authorities sentenced two men to six months in prison after 60,000 alternative smoking products were found in their luggage upon arrival from Japan, the Department of Health (DH) said. The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) made the arrest after it was notified by Hong Kong Customs on December 15.

    Since amended tobacco control legislation took effect on September 19, granting arrest powers to TACO inspectors, 14 importation cases involving alternative smoking products have been prosecuted. Sixteen people have been convicted, receiving prison sentences of two to six months.

    Under Hong Kong law, importing alternative smoking products—including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and herbal cigarettes—can result in fines of up to HK$2 million ($260,000) and imprisonment of up to seven years.

  • Indonesia Sounds Alarm on Drug-Laced Vapes

    Indonesia Sounds Alarm on Drug-Laced Vapes

    On December 16, Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency (BNN) warned of the growing circulation of drug-laced vape cartridges containing the anesthetic etomidate, following a major seizure at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Authorities intercepted 8,500 illicit vape refill cartridges smuggled through air cargo routes on November 12 and arrested a distributor in a joint operation by BNN and the National Police.

    BNN said etomidate, now classified as a Schedule II narcotic, poses serious health risks when inhaled through vaping due to the lack of dosage control. Officials warned that repeated use can lead to dependency. BNN cited national data showing 1.73% of Indonesia’s population (about 3.3 million people) have been exposed to drugs, and claimed that the country’s estimated 70 million smokers increase vulnerability to drug-laced vape products.

  • South Korea to Define All Nicotine Products as ‘Cigarettes’

    South Korea to Define All Nicotine Products as ‘Cigarettes’

    South Korea’s Cabinet moved to close regulatory and taxation gaps surrounding liquid e-cigarettes, including those using synthetic or nicotine-substitute substances, amid what is says are growing safety concerns. At a Cabinet meeting today (December 16) chaired by President Lee Jae-myung, the government approved the promulgation of amendments to the Tobacco Business Act that legally classify liquid e-cigarettes as tobacco products. The revised law expands the definition of cigarettes from products made from tobacco leaves to all products containing tobacco or nicotine, bringing synthetic-nicotine liquid e-cigarettes under formal regulation.

    President Lee highlighted concerns that nicotine substitutes have been distributed without adequate safety verification and called for stronger institutional oversight. Reports of suspected lung damage linked to liquid e-cigarettes were also raised during the meeting.

    Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol said products released four months after the law takes effect will be regulated and taxed as cigarettes. However, he noted regulatory limits regarding so-called “nicotine-free” products manufactured before the law’s implementation, stressing the need for separate management and hazard assessments.

    The revision aims to eliminate regulatory and taxation blind spots while gradually strengthening safety management for nicotine substitutes.