The Legislative Assembly of Macau has approved a draft bill that, if passed, will ban the sale of all e-cigarette products in the wealthy Chinese autonomous region. The proposed law would prohibit manufacturing, distribution, sales, imports, exports, and transportation in and out of Macau.
In January, the Macau Administrative Committee announced plans to propose a ban on the sale of certain products this year. On May 27th, the government submitted a draft law that includes a fine of 4,000 Macau patacas (approximately 500 US dollars) for individuals who violate the ban and fines ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 Macau patacas (2,500 to 25,000 US dollars) for companies that violate it.
The draft legislation prohibits individuals from using or possessing the product, but banning its import and transportation from China makes it impossible to obtain the product legally.
Some lawmakers also hope to ban individuals from owning.
According to the Macau Business Daily, during the debate on the bill, some legislators suggested that the government should expand the ban to include not only commercial activities but also individual assets. Other representatives expressed concern that the proposed law would inevitably encourage smuggling.
The bill will now be assigned to a legislative committee before returning to the entire legislative body for a final debate and passage.
Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of China, located on the western edge of the Pearl River Delta, about 40 miles east of Hong Kong (also a SAR of China) by plane or boat. It is a major resort city and home to one of the largest gambling industries in the world. The city has a population of 680,000 residents living in just 12.7 square miles of land.
Last October, Hong Kong, the neighboring country of Macau, passed a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes. The law took effect on April 30th, and at the time, electronic cigarette users rushed to stockpile products, while the government boasted about arrests and product seizures.
Many other Asian countries have also implemented similar comprehensive bans on electronic cigarettes. China itself has chosen to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes - the process began in November last year when control of the country's large electronic cigarette product industry was transferred to the state-owned tobacco monopoly bureau.
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