Maldives enforces blanket ban on vapes
The ban - which was implemented on Sunday December 15 - follows recent amendments to the island country’s Tobacco Control Act. These were signed into law by President Mohamed Muizzu on November 13.
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The ban - which was implemented on Sunday December 15 - follows recent amendments to the island country’s Tobacco Control Act. These were signed into law by President Mohamed Muizzu on November 13.
The new legislation, announced by the Ministry of Health, means the “manufacture, sale, supply, and distribution of disposable vapes” will be banned from June 2025.
After coming into power in July, Sir Keir Starmer’s party moved swiftly to pass a ban on disposable vapes. This will take effect from June 1, 2025.
The Senate in Mexico yesterday voted unanimously to pass the reform, which will ban the production, distribution and sale of all types of vapes.
Northern Ireland, Wales and Jersey have confirmed they will enforce a ban on disposable vapes from June 1, 2025 in line with the rest of the UK.
The nations, led by the Netherlands, have asked the European Commission to propose a new law in the coming months that will bring vaping under the same tax legislation as tobacco.
Government data shows that this year, 318 out of 1,781 retailers checked by the authorities did not comply with the ban. This resulted in 3,273 packets being seized.
A range of pre-scripted statements and questions were reportedly sent to the party’s MPs ahead of a crucial vote on the controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill last week.
The European Commission’s recommendation that Member States ban vaping everywhere has been agreed, but only because multiple Member States added riders saying that they’ll essentially refuse to implement it.
The crux of the legal battle is whether the FDA failed to correctly consider the requests of two manufacturers - Triton Distribution and Vapetasia - to sell flavoured e-liquids, putting it in violation of a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the EU advisory body representing trade unions and other civil society, had planned to adopt an opinion on the proposal, but was instructed by the Commission to cancel it.
Disposable vapes will be banned from June 1, 2025, in an attempt to reduce the appeal of vaping to young people. Under separate proposed legislation, flavours will also be heavily restricted.