The Ukrainian parliament has approved a draft law banning the sale of vapes and tobacco-heating devices to persons under the age of 18. If President Volodymyr Zelensky signs it into law, the new restrictions will come into force starting from Jan. 1, 2021.
Passed on Dec. 2, the draft law will make it illegal for minors to sell or buy e-cigarettes like JUUL and tobacco-heating devices like IQOS and GLO. Fines for breaking the law will range from Hr 6,800 to Hr 13,600 ($240-480).
The draft law will also introduce a ban on smoking tobacco-heating devices in public places. Puffing e-cigarettes in such spaces has been forbidden since 2012.
E-cigarettes and vapes only contain nicotine, while tobacco-heating devices contain tobacco. The producers of both vapes and tobacco-heating devices claim their products are less harmful to smokers than traditional cigarettes. However, there is little independent research available either to support or refute such a statement. The long-term health consequences of using these products are yet unknown.
“This is a big victory,” Lilia Olefir, executive director of the Life anti-tobacco nonprofit, told the Kyiv Post.
In April and May, Life co-organized an experiment that proved Philip Morris International, the producer of IQOS, sold its tobacco-heating devices to minors during the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in March. Life recorded on video how a minor can easily bypass the age check and place an order online.
In a statement sent to the Kyiv Post in May, Philip Morris International said that they “use multiple age-verification methods to ensure minors do not have access to our products.”
The company also says its products are only for adults.
The decision to impose the ban on selling vapes and tobacco-heating devices to children is long overdue, Olefir said. “But this is not enough,” she added.
In 2014, Ukraine assumed an obligation to align its laws with those of the European Union. In tobacco regulation, that is not being done. Anti-tobacco laws in the country have not been substantially updated since 2012.
If signed by Zelensky, the new law will bring some changes: It will be the first law ever to regulate tobacco-heating devices in Ukraine.
However, not allowing the sale of nicotine-containing products like IQOS, GLO and JUUL to minors is the least the parliament can do, Olefir said. The lawmakers must also impose strict regulations on advertising such devices, she believes.
“This law does not touch advertising for e-cigarettes and tobacco heating devices, the issue of sponsorship and sales stimulation,” Olefir said.
“We must do much more to abide by our duties in European integration. We must toughen regulation for warning images on the packaging, regulate e-cigarettes further and ban flavored cigarettes.”
