The UAE is developing a bill aimed at combating the smuggling of electronic cigarettes.
The UAE government is working on a legal framework to ban the smuggling of electronic cigarettes into the country. According to a statement by a senior official of the Ministry of Health, the new law will provide for liability both for those who import such goods into the Emirates, and for those who order vapes on the Internet.
Dr. Vedad Al Maidur, head of the National Committee on Tobacco Control, said: "All electronic cigarettes currently in the country were smuggled, import standards have not even been set for such goods."
Dr. Al Maidur said that today the government is preparing a corresponding law.
"All countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have already adopted regulations prohibiting the import of electronic cigarettes, the UAE remains the only conglomerate country in which this issue has not yet been resolved," Ms. Al Maidur added, emphasizing that this fact is an additional incentive for the development of legal norms.
"The Ministry of Health is working closely with customs authorities to stop the possibility of ordering electronic cigarettes on the Internet and smuggling them into the country."
The official also noted that other tobacco products in the country are certified according to the requirements of the Agency for Standardization and Metrology of the United Arab Emirates (ESMA), but vapes do not fall under these standards due to the fact that their import into the country is prohibited.
"Not a single company in the UAE has a license to import electronic cigarettes, our state has never planned to introduce such licenses," Ms. Al Maidur emphasized.
Dr. Al Maidur added that in no country in the world "smoking" electronic cigarettes is considered safer than smoking.
"Electronic cigarettes not only do not help quit smoking, but also lead to the emergence of a different addiction.
It is worth noting that the opinion of Ms. Al Maidur was also supported by other doctors in Dubai.
