According to New Zealand media newstalkzb, as of March 19th, the New Zealand government will ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes and impose harsher fines on businesses selling e-cigarettes to minors. This policy is planned to be fully implemented by the end of the year.
This is part of Deputy Health Minister Casey Costello's response to the challenge of regulating e-cigarettes, aimed at promoting e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool while minimizing underage use, amidst the government's repeal of the Labour Party's Smokefree Generation legislation.
Costello stated in a statement that she will revise the Smoke-Free Environments and Regulated Products Act to ban the production and sale of disposable e-cigarette products. She said, "Reusable e-cigarettes are the main smoking cessation devices and will continue to be allowed. However, too many adolescents are still using disposable e-cigarettes because they are cheap and easily accessible, even after the previous government's reforms. That is why these cheap disposable e-cigarette products will be completely banned."
In addition, the maximum fine for selling e-cigarettes or other regulated products to individuals under the age of 18 will increase from $10,000 to $100,000.
Despite the fact that fines of $100,000 require court approval to be imposed, retailers of this kind will immediately face financial penalties - individuals ranging from $500 to $1,000, and businesses up to $2,000.
The Cabinet has agreed to stricter restrictions on the display and staffing of e-cigarette retail stores and called for targeted discussions with lawmakers on these proposals. Additionally, the licensing and compliance regulations for e-cigarettes will also be reviewed to ensure enforcement of penalties for selling to individuals under the age of 18.
The cabinet also agreed to comply with the various regulations set by the Labour Party that will come into effect this week, including prohibiting the printing of cartoons or toy images on e-cigarette packaging, as well as restricting flavor names to generic descriptions.
Currently, the New Zealand government has postponed necessary changes related to the child safety features of reusable e-cigarettes until October 1st to ensure that there are enough options available on the market.
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