South Korean Public Interest Groups Call for Vaping to Be Regulated as Tobacco
According to Maeil Business Newspaper, public interest groups in South Korea are urging the government to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. Current law does not classify e-cigarettes as cigarettes, meaning they are not subject to many rules that
According to Daily Economic News, public interest groups in South Korea are calling for e-cigarettes to be regulated as tobacco products.
Under current law, e-cigarettes are not classified as cigarettes, which means they are not subject to many regulations that apply to tobacco products. For example, e-cigarette companies are not required to print graphic health warnings on their products or collect tobacco excise tax from customers.
Article 2 of the Tobacco Business Act defines “cigarettes” as products suitable for smoking, sucking, inhaling, chewing, or smelling.
Calls to expand the legal definition stem from concerns over the growth of unmanned e-cigarette shops in Seoul, which are said to have insufficient age-verification procedures.
A Seoul city government survey showed that the number of unmanned e-cigarette shops has quadrupled since April.
According to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, three out of every 10 teen smokers started with e-cigarettes between 2019 and 2023. The agency said that six out of every 10 teens who started with e-cigarettes are now smoking conventional cigarettes.
A bill on e-cigarette regulation had been submitted to the 20th and 21st National Assemblies, but it failed to pass plenary review in both cases.
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