The UAE Vaping Market Is Booming

Although e-cigarettes and vaping are banned in United Arab Emirates, these continue to be sold to no one's land, with many online stores peddling vaping equipment to United Arab Emirates residents.   The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes continues. Any kind of vaping gear that was brought into the country was seized at the airport. United Arab Emirates supports not approving e-cigarettes because it believes that without conclusive medical research, vaping, which was launched in 2006, will not have harmful effects on health.   Dr Wedad Al Maidour, head of the tobacco control program at the Ministry of Health, told Gulf News: E-cigarettes are banned in the United Arab Emirates and vaping is illegal. We are not allowed to do anything to anyone that can find these things here.& ldquo; Last year, when there were discussions on easing the rules for selling e-cigarettes, the United Arab Emirates Standardization and Meteorology Authority (Esma Hotel) sent a draft technical law to explain this step to the World Trade Organization.   However, Dr. Maidour insisted on her position: there was a document from the Esma Hotel, pointing out that the law banning the sale of cigarettes had been relaxed without signing by the ministry. A draft law is not a law that if vaping websites are free of online advertising and sales materials for United Arab Emirates residents, the Telecommunications Authority (TRA) needs to explain how they got a license for their website and allowed to have such online advertising and trade in banned substances. In a Gulf News statement, a spokesperson for the TRA said: The TRA follows on access to the Internet, which includes a list of approved prohibited content categories, which is authorized by both parties, United Arab Emirates Telecom and Du, which apply a clear policy of blocking access to websites and pages containing substances that fall within the prohibited scope of these categories. Blocking is based on determining prohibited content categories falling under automated filtering systems and blocking websites. In addition, website interception is also based on reports from the efforts of the public and government entities, as well as Taiwan Railway and licensed individuals.   “We would like to clarify that TRA's role is to coordinate website blocking between the licensee and relevant government entities in cases where a website is in violation of national laws and jurisdiction. In this regard, TRA ensures ongoing coordination with government entities to establish mechanisms to report such websites and take appropriate action against them. ldquo;   The vaping website is exploiting loopholes because it clearly means TRA will have the authority to take action only when the Ministry of Health and Prevention registers a formal complaint. Meanwhile, Dubai residents continue to happily vape.   Vaping website   Gulf News came across the so-called Dubai source as Status.net (DV), a booming online vaping site, describing itself as the first official online store vape Dubai. Based on Beirut, the site, with more than 9000 registered users, is booming in the vaping juice and gear business. All people need to be self-certified by being over 21 years old to place an order. The equipment is delivered anywhere in United Arab Emirates within one day. The gallery on the website is tempting, exotic vaping appliances and the public claims behind it, and so far, DV has entered 18,000 orders!   When asked about the illegal status of vaping, a spokesperson who went by Hara's name wrote Gulf News: Is Vaping illegal in the United Arab Emirates, and there is also a crime for the perpetrators for Status.net or vaping, as there are no clear United Arab Emirates legal crimes to begin with. We operate from Beirut, Lebanon, catering to the entire Middle East, including Dubai.   When asked about making illegal financial transactions in exchange for prohibited supplies in United Arab Emirates, Hara said: All our goods are shipped by international express delivery, and if anything is illegal, United Arab Emirates customs will stop before reaching the end customer.   What is vaping   Vaping is the act of inhaling and operating an electronic cigarette by providing liquid nicotine vapor exhaled through a personal vaporizer, when a person blows it. Those who support vaping believe it can help thousands of smokers 'nicotine addiction because it can help them keep out of cigarette smoke and other inhaling harmful chemicals such as ash, carbon monoxide, and smoking cigratttes.   A 2014 survey of 19,441 e-cigarette users around the world showed that they had the least adverse impact on their health. The study was conducted by Dr. Konstantin Farsalionos, MD, a researcher from the Onassis Heart Surgery Center, Athens, from the University of Patras, Greece, and was published last year in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.   #p#Pagination Title #e#

By Suchitra Bajpai Chowdhury Senior Journalist 

[Original as follows]

Saturday, Aug 13, 2016

Dubai: While electronic cigarettes and vaping are banned in the UAE, these continue to be sold unhindered, with many online stores peddling vaping paraphernalia to UAE residents.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention has reiterated that the ban on sale of e-cigarettes continues. Any kind of vaping gear that is brought into the country is seized at the airport. The UAE supports the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) stance which does not endorse e-cigarettes as it feels there is no conclusive medical research to prove that vaping, which was introduced in 2006, does not have a harmful impact on health.

Dr Wedad Al Maidour, head of the Tobacco Control Programme at the ministry, told Gulf News: “E-cigarettes are banned in the UAE and vaping is illegal. We have not given permission to anyone to make this stuff available here.”

Last year, there was some discussion on the easing of rules on sale of e-cigarettes when the Emirates Standardisation and Meterology Authority (Esma) sent a draft technical law to the World Trade Organisation indicating this step.

However, Dr Maidour stuck to her stance: ”There is no signed document from Esma to the ministry that says that the law banning the sale of cigarettes has been relaxed. A draft law is not a law and if vaping websites are freely advertising online and selling material to UAE residents, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) needs to explain how they got a licence for their website and allowed to have online advertising and trade of this banned substance.”

In a statement to Gulf News, a TRA spokesperson said: “The TRA follows a clear policy with regard to access to the internet, which includes an approved list of prohibited content categories and it is applied by both licensees, etisalat and du, where they block access to websites and pages that contain substances that fall within these prohibited categories. The blocking is based on automated filtration systems that identify and block websites that fall under the prohibited content categories. Moreover, website blocking is also based on reports from the public and governmental entities as well as the TRA and licensees’ personal effort.

“We would like to clarify that the TRA role is to coordinate the blocking of websites between the licensees and concerned governmental entities in cases where a website is in violation of their laws and jurisdiction. In this regard, the TRA ensures continuous coordination with governmental entities to establish mechanisms to report such websites and take proper action against them.”

The vaping websites are taking advantage of the loophole as it clearly means only if the Ministry of Health and Prevention registers a formal complaint to the TRA will it be empowered to act. In the meanwhile, Dubai residents continue to happily vape on.

Vaping website

Gulf News came across a thriving online vaping website called Dubai Vapers (DV), describing itself as the “first official” online vape store for Dubai. The Beiruit-based website, with more than 9000 registered users, is doing brisk business in vaping juice and gear. All one needs is a self-certification of being over 21 years of age to place orders. The devices are delivered anywhere in the UAE within a day. The gallery on the website is enticing, with exotic vaping paraphernalia and those behind it have openly declared that so far DV has attended to 18,000 orders!# p#pagination title #e#

When questioned about the illegal status of vaping, a spokesperson who went by the first name of Hala, wrote to Gulf News: “Vaping in the UAE is not illegal and there is no clear UAE law that criminalises vapers or vaping activity as there is nothing criminal to begin with. We operate from Beirut, Lebanon and cater to the whole of the Middle East, including Dubai.”

When questioned about making illegal financial transactions in exchange for supplies that are banned in the UAE, Hala commented: “All our shipments are shipped via international couriers and if there was anything illegal in it, UAE customs would have stopped it before reaching the end customers.”

What is vaping

Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling vapours of liquid nicotine through a personal vaporiser that is delivered through a battery operated e-cigarette when an individual blows on it. Those who support vaping argue that it can help thousands of smokers in nicotine deaddiction as it helps them stay off cigarettes and smoke and from inhaling other harmful chemicals such as ash, and carbon monoxide that smoking cigratttes does.

A 2014 survey of 19,441 e-cigarette users worldwide indicated that they had the minimal adverse effect on their health. The research of this study was conducted by Dr Konstantinos Farsalionos, MD, researcher from the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre, Athens, and from the University of Patra, Greece, and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health last year.

By Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary Senior Reporter