Fruit and Sweet Flavors to Be Banned? Russia’s Flavor Ban May Take Effect Next March

According to Russian media reports on August 22, Russia’s Ministry of Health announced plans to ban the sale of e-cigarettes containing a wide range of additives. The decision is expected to officially take effect on March 1, 2024.
According to the ministry’s regulations, the ban covers various food flavorings, including fruit and vegetable flavors, as well as botanical flavor additives and their derivatives, such as vanilla, spices, ginger, and cinnamon. It also includes certain sweeteners such as syrup, honey, stevia, maple syrup, and agave syrup.
In addition to food additives, the law also covers other popular additives such as caffeine, guarana, and taurine. These additives are often believed to boost energy and work performance, but they have also sparked debate over their health effects.
Related reports indicate that this ban did not come out of nowhere, but is a further development based on legislation introduced by the Russian government at the end of April this year to strictly limit e-cigarette sales. That law allows the government to draw up a list of additives that may not be used in e-cigarettes.
Regarding changes to Russia’s vaping regulatory policy, Gewu Consumer previously provided an in-depth analysis in the article “Understanding Russia’s New E-Cigarette Policy: Products Without the ‘Honest Label’ Cannot Be Sold, But What About Fruit Flavors?” In that article, we noted:
The bill related to the flavor ban was signed by the Russian president in May this year and was scheduled to take effect in September. The bill states: in order to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to minors, the manufacture and sale of nicotine products using flavorings and additives will be prohibited.
However, because the current additive whitelist has not yet been published, a true “flavor ban” does not yet effectively exist. Therefore, “at this stage, e-cigarette products can continue to be sold as long as they obtain the ‘Honest Label,’ and whether they can successfully obtain the label has nothing to do with whether the product is tobacco-flavored, because Russia’s ‘national standard flavors’ have still not been finalized.”
This latest announcement from Russia’s Ministry of Health may therefore largely signal that Russia will move forward with a flavor ban, prohibiting the vast majority of flavored e-cigarettes, and that Russia’s “national standard flavors” may soon be established.