Brazil Considers Ban on E-cigarettes: Anvisa Decision Coming Soon

According to a report from O Globo on April 17th, the board of the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, Anvisa) held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss a draft bill to continue the ban on e-cigarettes.

This Wednesday (17th), Dicol will vote on the proposal, and if approved, the bill will replace the 2009 version. "Any 'tobacco product' that mimics smoking behavior using electricity, batteries, or other non-fuel power sources will not be allowed." According to the proposal, manufacturing, importing, selling, distributing, storing, carrying, and advertising for electronic smoking devices will still be prohibited in Brazil.

The proposal is more detailed than the 2009 version, further elaborating on the e-cigarette ban. The proposal clearly defines e-cigarette products to include not only e-liquid, but also all accessories, parts, components, and power supplies. It also states that any form of privately owned devices and their use in enclosed public places are strictly prohibited. Violating the ban will constitute a public health violation, resulting in fines and confiscation of products.

The Brazilian Medical Association (AMB) and the Brazilian Society of Respiratory Diseases and Tuberculosis (SBPT) support the implementation of the ban, while opponents argue that since e-cigarettes are already widely circulated in Brazil, with most of them coming from smuggling, this demonstrates the ineffectiveness of Anvisa's current regulations. They believe that if e-cigarettes were to be legalized and regulated properly, it could at least impose a standard on health conditions.

However, the proposals to regulate and allow the sale of e-cigarettes in Brazil by Anvisa, as well as the proposals to ban the legalization of e-cigarettes, have not yet been voted on in parliament.

According to a survey, the use of e-cigarettes is on the rise in Brazil. A study by the research and consulting intelligence company Inteligência em Pesquisa e Consultoria (Ipec) in 2022 found that 2.2 million adults in Brazil use e-cigarettes, compared to less than 500,000 in 2018. According to the National Student Health Survey (PeNSE) conducted by IBGE in 2019, 16.8% of adolescents aged 13 to 17 have tried e-cigarettes.