Tobacco Asia

Volume 19, Number 5

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tobaccoasia 33 meetinGiZeH As a globally leading manufacturer, GIZEH offers a various range of high quality rolling papers for ever yone´s personal taste. finest rolling papers nice to see you world tobacco middle e a s t, s ta nd : i 15 GIZEH Raucherbedarf GmbH Bunsenstr. 12 . 516 47 Gummersbach Germany . T +49 ( 0 ) 2261 - 4059 - 0 contact@gizeh-online.de gizeh-online.com with m agne t se a l well as removed language that detailed FDA's concerns regard- ing the safety of e-cigs. While both Europe and the US are redefining e-cigarettes as tobacco products, it is not necessarily the case in Asia. For example, Brunei, Singapore, and Thailand have banned e-ciga- rettes outright. In Hong Kong, the sale and possession of nico- tine-based e-cigarettes is not authorized and both are considered punishable with a fine of up to HK$100,000 and/or a prison term of two years. However, the law does not cover any non- nicotine inhalers. The governments of Hong Kong and Macau, however, are pushing to ban e-cigarettes entirely. The problem, it can be argued, lies in how e-cigarettes are categorized or defined. Ray Story, founder and c.e.o. of the To- bacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA) and the United Tobacco Vapor Group (UTVG), who has worked closely and successfully with government offices in the US and Europe on categorizing and regulating e-cigarettes correctly and is now working with governments in Asian countries, strongly believes that the first step that needs to be taken is defining the correct category for e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. "To change [the definition of tobacco products], that is not a definition that you can just change,"said Story. "It's a global definition of what a tobacco product is. The same thing goes for medicinal products, because [there is] a global definition of what a medicinal product is. So those are two categories, and then you've got the consumer products. As a consumer product you can't sell a product that is focused only on the adult population and that is also addictive like nicotine is. There's no category that allows for that in the way we have our structure, whether it's in the US, Europe, or Asia. So that has to change first, but you're not going to change that category because no one's going to assist you with that, not government, not Big Tobacco, not Big Pharma, because that would disrupt everything they know today, so that would never happen," he said. "So, then you have to work with the definitions that are there, which is on tobacco products. Any product that's derived from the stem or leaf of a tobacco plant is therefore a tobacco product. Then you have to create a category within that tobacco category that's obviously less restrictive for a product that is obviously less harmful. Most people don't see it like that. They'll say, 'well, we don't want it to be a tobacco product, there's no tobacco in it'. Well, if you read the definition, any product that's derived from the stem or leaf of a tobacco plant – and nicotine is from a tobacco plant – you're going to fall in that category." China, the largest exporter of e-cigarettes and e-liquids and one of the countries with the largest number of smokers, is also currently in the process of trying to establish e-cigarette regula- tions with members of the industry working closely with the Chinese government. Ray believes that China will also need to categorize e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. "They have to be- cause at the end of the day you have to understand, if they don't harmonize themselves with Europe and the US, they're out of business. If a product is not categorized as a tobacco product in China, then they will never be able to sell it to Europe or the US. They can't get it in. It has to be a tobacco product when it leaves the manufacturer, so that it can be harmonized as a tobacco product and then come to Europe or the US." Despite e-cigarettes' growing popularity and the progress made with the EU and the US recognizing e-cigarettes as a to-

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