Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is proposing age verification for tobacco purchases, allowing retailers to ask customers who appear under 18 to show an identity card, passport, or verify their age through the VNeID national digital identification app. Dr. Duong Huy Luong, deputy director of the ministry’s Department of Medical Services Administration, said at an Aug. 26 seminar that the measure is reasonable and should be supported by effective enforcement and communication. He also called for the revised tobacco-control law to cover emerging nicotine products based on their characteristics rather than specific product names or technologies, while Hoang Duc Nam of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union said controls should extend to online sales and social media marketing, where young people increasingly encounter nicotine products.
Tag: age identification
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Atlas IoT Gets USPTO Grant for Age-Restricted Vape Technology
Atlas IoT announced that it secured a patent grant from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an age-restricted device and system designed for electronic nicotine delivery systems, positioning the technology as a potential pathway to strengthen regulatory compliance and support broader adult-focused flavor approvals. The company’s standalone system uses AI-powered age verification to confirm users are 21 or older without requiring app downloads or storing personal data, followed by a one-time thumbprint enrollment that serves as the device’s unlocking mechanism. A secondary bioimpedance sensor embedded in the mouthpiece is designed to prevent use by minors, creating a dual-verification process intended to block unauthorized access.
Atlas IoT said it has requested a Q-Submission meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss a Component Premarket Tobacco Product Application covering the device’s core technology, with plans to partner with e-liquid manufacturers that would file their own PMTAs for compliant flavored pods. The company also emphasized domestic manufacturing and FDA-registered filling operations for its replaceable pods, contrasting its compliance-focused model with the illicit disposable vape market. Atlas IoT said that, if authorized, its platform could establish a new standard for age-restricted ENDS products in the regulated U.S. market.