Tag: UAE

Vaporesso Authorized to Sell in the UAE

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has authorized Vaporesso, a subsidiary of Smoore International, to sell its products in the country, according to PR Newswire.
The move makes Smoore the first vaping device manufacturer licensed to sell in the UAE.
“We are thrilled by the MoIAT’s decision to grant our flagship products the marketing and sales authorization; this has boosted our confidence in obtaining the approval for [our] other seven premium products, including Luxe X and Gen PT Series, that are in the process of application,” said a spokesperson for Vaporesso’s Middle East team.
Vapor companies operating in the UAE must meet Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology standards, which set out strict quality and safety requirements for e-cigarettes and related products, before placing them on the market.
“The initial approval by the MoIAT, which allows the company to establish legal sales channels, both online and offline, for Vaporesso’s Xros Nano, Xros Mini, Xros 2 and Zero S across the UAE, is the testimony to the company’s commitment to offering market-leading vaping products with unmatched quality and functionality, allowing the global vapers to enjoy the fun and flavors unique in Vaporesso’s products,” Vaporesso wrote in a press release. “The market authorization also marks a significant step forward in its effort to further expand its presence in the Middle East.”
January 4, 2023
Making their mark
The UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has said that the sale or distribution of any ‘unmarked’ tobacco products will be prohibited across all local markets as of August 1, according to a story put out by the Emirates News Agency.
In a press statement issued yesterday, the FTA said that it was holding a series of training workshops to introduce inspectors across the UAE’s economic development departments to the objectives and implementation methods of the Marking Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme, which went into effect in January.
The FTA’s director-general, Khalid Ali Al Bustani, was quoted as saying the digital marks would be placed on tobacco packaging and registered in the FTA’s database. The marks contained data that could be read using a sophisticated device, he said.
The digital coding scheme is aimed at preventing the sale of non-tax-compliant tobacco products.
The workshops were said to be part of the Authority’s commitment to maintaining communication with all relevant government and private-sector entities.
They were aimed at keeping these entities informed about developments surrounding tax procedures, while, at the same time, taking account of their opinions and suggestions to ensure the UAE tax system was implemented easily and seamlessly.
March 19, 2019
Quitting made easier
Electronic cigarettes will not be offered as an aid to help UAE smokers quit their habit until the full health impact of these devices is determined, according to a story in thenational.ae.
This week the Government’s product regulator said that vaping products could be sold legally from mid-April, overturning the current ban.
New regulations are being introduced to ensure product standards are maintained and to help the authorities stamp out the black market in these devices.
But government doctors said the country would not go as far as some nations in promoting the devices to smokers who wanted to quit but who had failed to do so using other methods.
Dr. Mohammad El Disouky, who is in charge of Dubai Health Authority’s smoking cessation clinic, said more long-term research was needed.
“Consumers will now have full details of the chemicals contained in the products and information on how to use them,” he said.
“From a public health perspective, this is a good move as people who are using these products will know they have been legally distributed under supervision from the authorities.
“That will guarantee their content and will restrict what materials some companies are using.
“But legalising and regulating e-cigarettes does not mean they can be offered as a quitting aid for tobacco smokers.”
February 22, 2019
E-cig ban to be lifted
A ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn (HNB) devices is due to be lifted in the UAE by mid-April, according to a story in The Khaleej Times.
The lifting of the ban had been expected following an announcement on February 16 that the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) had approved new standards for electronic cigarettes and HNB devices.
And the intention to lift the ban was confirmed the next day by Abdullah Al Maeeni, director general of the ESMA. “We issued the regulation to legalize it, and it will be enforced by mid of April 2019, as the Authority is working hard through the development of technical standards and regulations,” he said.
UAE residents readily smoke electronic cigarettes in public though their sale has been illegal.
The new standards set by ESMA will reportedly regulate a range of matters, including nicotine components, technical specifications, packaging, and labeling.
They will apply to e-cigarettes and HNB devices, and to their associated products such as e-liquids and tobacco sticks.
The story said that the new ESMA standards were in line with the Government’s efforts to curb smoking and put a stop to the illegal sale of electronic cigarettes.
February 18, 2019
Metal detection
Metals linked to cancer are present in higher levels in medwakh and shisha products than in cigarettes, according to a story at thenational.ae citing a new UAE study.
Scientists in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi were said to have found that, in comparisons to cigarettes, both medwakh and shisha tobacco contain more nickel, chromium, copper and zinc.
The research follows a study earlier this year reporting much higher levels of nicotine and tar being delivered by medwakh than by cigarettes.
The researchers said this put smokers at risk of developing a range of serious medical problems, including lung cancer and coronary artery disease.
“Traditional medwakh and shisha pipes have no filters, so toxic metals can quickly enter the lungs, causing different diseases, such as lung and oral cancers, oral infections and cardiovascular diseases,” said Ayesha Mohammed, a chemistry lecturer at the University of Sharjah and the lead author of the study.
“I would never recommend dokha [medwakh] and shisha smoking because both don’t have filters, so trace elements can easily enter the human body compared to cigarettes and cause several cancers.
“Medwakh smoking is a loaded pistol and time will pull the trigger.”
Published in Oxford University Press’s Journal of Analytical Toxicology, the latest study looked at 13 medwakh tobacco products and three shisha products, analysing their properties to determine metal concentrations.
The levels were then compared with cigarette tobacco to establish which was more likely to pose health risks.
January 3, 2019
UAE on track
A system of marking tobacco products that enables them to be tracked from their place of production to their point of sale will go into effect in the UAE on January 1, according to a story in the Gulf News.
The relevant rules state that, as of May 1, 2019, it will be illegal to import designated excise goods into the UAE that do not have such markings. In addition, as of August 1, 2019, it will be illegal to supply designated excise goods in the UAE that do not have such markings.
The rules were announced by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the deputy ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance, and chairman of the Federal Tax Authority (FTA).
The rules will apply initially to cigarettes but there are plans to expand the system to take in all tobacco products.
The scheme is said to be aimed, in part, at establishing an ‘integrated, accurate and effective control framework’ that supports efforts to combat tax evasion.
Under the scheme, pack markings will be registered in the FTA’s database.
November 28, 2018
Call for smoke-free homes
In the UAE, 8.5 percent of those 12 to 14 years of age are smokers, according to a story in The National citing UAE University figures.
The story did not say how smokers were defined.
A study by the university that was presented at the International Society of Addiction Medicine conference in Abu Dhabi on Friday, was said to have shown that children in the UAE were ‘inhaling their first hit of tobacco aged nine or younger’.
This had prompted calls for households to become smoke-free, though it wasn’t clear from the story who was making these calls.
“We should focus on tobacco use at a young age,” said Dr. Syed Shah, an associate professor at the university’s Institute of Public Health. “Otherwise it will be too late.”
His study looked at 1,186 Arab pupils between the ages of 12 and 18, of which 51.4 percent were Emirati. More than a fifth of boys smoked shisha and 21.9 percent smoked cigarettes.
Meanwhile, a study of female students at Zayed University by the university found similar results in respect of underage smoking. In the anonymous survey, a ‘significant number’ of the 552 respondents were said to have tried their first cigarette or shisha at age nine or younger.
“There is a high prevalence now for shisha smoking and I think the most alarming aspect of this is the early onset,” said Dr. Heba Barazi, an assistant professor at Zayed University’s College of Natural and Health Sciences.
This early onset was consistent with the findings of a World Health Organization survey that was done between 13 and 15 years ago, she said. In other words, little had changed. “In ten years they knew this and nothing has been done about that,” she added.
October 30, 2017
UAE may ease ban on e-cigarette sales
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is introducing regulations that may ease the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes within the country.
Authorities from Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (Esma) in January sent a draft technical regulation to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which notified them of the UAE’s intention to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The document sent to the WTO states that the objective of the regulation is to protect human health by ensuring quality products are available in the market.
The sale of e-cigarettes is currently banned in the UAE, which follows the cautious position adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a story in the Khaleej Times. Regulation of the sale of e-cigarettes is believed to be based on recent recommendations from the WHO that examine the emerging evidence on the health impacts of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), of which electronic cigarettes are the most common prototype, according to the Times.
The health ministry of the UAE has banned the sale of e-cigarettes because experts have not yet determined the long-term effects of such devices on users.
“E-cigarettes are considered as harmful as tobacco and not as a smoking cessation tool,” a source from the ministry was quoted as saying in the Times story. “Currently conflicting studies are going on this matter which cannot be used as justifications to allow products into the country,” added the source.
Despite the ban on e-cigarette sales, the devices have been illegally imported and sold across throughout the UAE.
October 12, 2015