Oasis of the Middle East - UAE E-cig Market and Policy

Ellesmere Zhu

According to the statistics by World Tobacco Harm Reduction Center, the adult smoking rate in the UAE is 14.7% in 2022, compared to 29% in 2015. In seven years, smoking rates in the UAE have fallen by more than half, thanks to the country's strict smoking ban and relatively lax regulation of e-cigarettes. 

As a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the UAE's anti-smoking-related laws and regulations have been relatively well established, including but not limited to the ban on smoking in public places, the ban on underage smoking, and the packaging requirements for cigarette products, while enforcement efforts have been increasing year by year, and today violations of smoking regulations may even face imprisonment. On the other hand, in 2019, the Emirates Standardization and Metrology Agency (ESMA) legalized the sale of e-cigarettes (including electronic vape products and heated tobacco products) to curb the rebound in smoking rates. ESMA also developed a national standard for the retail and wholesale of e-cigarettes, the Electronic Nicotine Products (Equivalents of Traditional Tobacco Products) , and called on all practitioners to comply.

Main contents of the standard are compiled below: 

• Vape products and Heated Tobacco products are regulated under the same framework. 
• For restrictions on flavors of e-cigarettes, the regulation refers to an Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority Code of Practice "Permitted Additives In Food", which does not include any content regarding e-cigarette. That said, vape flavors are de facto at large in the UAE. We can find proof (see screenshot below) from an online retailer where e-liquids of all kinds of flavors are sold. 

• Other product components such as filters, paper, parcels, capsules or any other related components shall not contain flavors that modify the smell or taste of the products or the emissions' intensity, nor shall they contain tobacco, tobacco extracts or nicotine.
• Following matters are prohibited from adding to e-cigarettes, cartridges, and e-liquids:  

- Vitamins or other additives that give the impression that the product has a health benefit or reduces health risks.

- Caffeine, taurine or other additives and stimulants associated with stimulating performance and vitality.

- Colored additives with emission-coloring properties.

- Carcinogens or agents of genetic mutations or producing toxins before and after use of the products.

- Substances classified as legally-prohibited substances, such as narcotics, hallucinogens, tranquilizers, etc..

- Ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, Crotone aldehyde, acetone, acetylpropionyl and diacetyl, pentane-3,2-dione and related ketones, and long chain preservatives of paraben.

- Acrylonitrile, benzene, 3,1-potadiene, isoprene, toluene.

- 4 amino-diphenyl, 1-amino-naphthalene, 2-amino-naphthalene.

- Ammonia.

- Cinnamic compounds.

- Respiratory allergens.

- Residues of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, nickel, iron, arsenic and tin.

- Multipolar hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrosamines of tobacco (e.g. NNK and NNN).

- Mineral oils, vegetable oils and fats such as (olive oil).

• The capacity of the integrated electronic liquid tank shall not exceed 10 ml.
• The capacity of the electronic liquid's refill packages shall not exceed 50 ml per package. (compared with Saudi Arabia: 2ml per tank/pod; 10ml per refill container)
• The content of nicotine in the electronic liquid shall be less than or equal to 20 milligrams per milliliter.
• The product and its accessories shall not be described or presented with labels, descriptive data, names, shapes or symbols that may lead to an erroneous, misleading or promotional impression, inside or outside the package, about their characteristics, or that may mislead consumers, and in a false or deceptive manner, or that may lead to erroneous impression about their characteristics in any way, suggest that they are less harmful than any other type of products, or indicate a reduced risk of smoking-related diseases, including, but not limited to: Low or no tar and/or nicotine; light, very light, mild, moderate, natural, organic; no additives; no (or very little) flavors; or claims about economic advantages compared to traditional cigarettes, or suggestion of therapeutic benefits in terms of weight loss, sex appeal, social status, social life, or qualities such as femininity, masculinity or elegance, or improved biological performance, or the size and appearance of the products in terms of their resemblance to food or cosmetics.
• The health warning on the package directly and any outer cover of the package, and shall be fully visible in front of the consumer on the main display interface, indelible and irremovable, this includes that it must not be partially or totally hidden or permanently covered by tax stamps, price marks, security features and wrappers, etc.
• For products which contain nicotine, the following health warning should be written in both Arabic and English on packages (Contains nicotine which causes severe addiction, increased heart rate and high blood pressure. Nicotine is harmful to the health of pregnant and nursing women, and people suffering from chronic pulmonary diseases such as asthma and pulmonary embolism.)

In addition to the above standards, the requirements for the use of e-cigarettes are no different from those for cigarettes, i.e., none can be used in public places, indoors, in private cars with children under 12 years old, etc. In the words of Redha Salman, a senior UAE health department official, "e-cigarettes are treated the same as cigarettes." The regulations restrict online and offline advertising of traditional tobacco, but do not specify for e-cigarettes. Therefore, it can be assumed that e-cigarettes can be advertised in the UAE, as shown below, where an e-cigarette company called YOYO advertises e-cigarettes on a billboard.

It is worth noting that the regulatory standards for e-cigarettes in Bahrain, another Middle East country, are identical to those of the UAE. The Bahrainian e-cigarette standards were published in 2020, a year later than that of the UAE.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the UAE and Bahrain are consistent at the level of e-cigarette regulation, and Bahrain has largely referred to the UAE's policy when formulating relevant regulations. In fact, the UAE's e-cigarette regulations provide a reference for several countries in the Middle East due to the more open and internationalized business and the maturity of the e-cigarette market. In 2016, Kuwait announced that it would allow the importation of e-cigarettes, and then the country's e-cigarette market showed a wild development; in 2020, Kuwait introduced the UAE's e-cigarette regulations and gradually began to regulate the behavior of the country's e-cigarette market. Therefore, if one understands the UAE's e-cigarette regulation, so does one understand that of Bahrain and Kuwait.

The second factor that affects the e-cigarette market is taxation. Currently, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are levying excise taxes on e-cigarettes, the tax amount is 100%. Kuwait levies a 10% to 25% excise tax on "tobacco products", and the tax base does not involve e-cigarettes.