Russia Proposes Ban on Online E-Cigarette Sales

On April 11th, the Russian State Duma passed a proposal to modify certain legislative regulations in the country with over 90% approval. The proposal includes banning the online sale of e-cigarettes and prohibiting the public display and showcase of e-cigarettes for offline sales. The bill now awaits review by the Federal Assembly of Russia and the signature of the President.

After the proposal was released, what impact will it have on online platforms and e-cigarette retailers? What is the significance of this? These questions have received significant attention. In response, Liang Jiasen, a market researcher for 2FIRSTS in Russia, provided a professional interpretation of the proposal.

In summary, this content change primarily involves two aspects:

The retail display of electronic cigarette products will be banned, as well as online sales of e-cigarettes. This proposal will go into effect on June 1, 2023.

The following is a detailed analysis:

Bill Content:

Retail sales of tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, and water pipe equipment are conducted in shops and exhibition halls. As per this provision, a shop is defined as a building or a part of it equipped specifically for the sale of goods and the provision of services to customers, with commercial, auxiliary, administrative, and living facilities, as well as space for receiving, storing, and preparing goods for sale. An exhibition hall is defined as a building with sales areas and designed for one or more workstations.

Change: Add "and devices used to consume nicotine-containing products" after "hookah".

Analysis of 2FIRSTS:

In Russia, tobacco products are primarily sold at compliance points called TABAK, which are subject to the standards set by the Russian Federation's N15-FZ law on protecting citizens from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, consumption, or nicotine-containing products. A recent amendment to this law includes "devices for consuming nicotine-containing products," which effectively covers most vape devices available on the market. Furthermore, the sale of these products at exhibition centers is also subject to legal regulation.

Currently, electronic cigarette sales in Russia are mostly carried out through vape shops, large retail chains, online stores, and street vendors, making regulation difficult with high mobility. This law amendment will extend the management standards of cigarette retail outlets to the e-cigarette industry, establishing a unified quantitative standard to facilitate government regulation.

Bill content:

If there are no shops or exhibition halls in the area, it is permitted to trade tobacco products or nicotine-containing products, as well as hookahs, in other commercial facilities or engage in delivery transactions for such products.

Change: Add "and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products" after "hookah.

2FIRSTS Analysis:

This article primarily covers the sale of tobacco products in non-official tobacco retail stores and exhibitions, which allows for the sale of tobacco products through other legal means such as mobile transactions and pay-on-delivery services. The newly added provision in the bill also includes the sale of electronic nicotine products and devices.

Bill contents:

It is prohibited to sell tobacco products, nicotine-containing products and shisha through mobile sales, remote sales, vending machines, and other means in commercial venues, markets, and exhibitions that are not defined in sections 1 and 2. Except as stipulated in section 2, retail transactions of these products are not permitted.

Revision: Add "and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products" after "hookah".

2FIRSTS interpretation:

The content includes 1-2 regulated modes of trade circulation. The new addition includes devices and products containing nicotine. Additionally, the bill specifically prohibits any actions of selling nicotine products outside of the regulated 1-2 modes of trade, including illegal online sales, illegal wholesale distribution, and other illegal retail activities.

The amendment is primarily aimed at limiting the rampant illegal distribution of electronic cigarettes in the current market by including e-cigarette sales within the scope of the Federal Tobacco Control Act. This will provide a legal basis for law enforcement agencies to crack down on the illegal e-cigarette market in the future.

Bill contents:

It is prohibited to display and exhibit tobacco products or those containing nicotine in retail and commercial establishments selling such products, except for cases specified in Section 5 of this regulation.

Change: Add "hookah and devices used for consuming nicotine products" after the phrase "products containing nicotine," and add "hookah and devices used for consuming products containing nicotine" after the phrase "nicotine-containing products.

2FIRSTS Analysis:

This article discusses the requirements for the sale of tobacco and nicotine products as stated in the Russian N15-FZ federal law, which prohibits the public display and exhibition of such products. Amendments to the law have included waterpipes and nicotine consumption devices, which means that the future sale of e-cigarettes and waterpipes will also be prohibited from public display and exhibition.

Currently, the main consumer group for electronic cigarettes is young people, who are attracted to the innovative designs and bright colors of these products.

The serious problem of Russian teenagers using electronic cigarettes is compounded by the large-scale illegal market for e-cigarettes in Russia. Many non-compliant products containing excessive additives are available to consumers, posing significant health risks.

Since February of this year, Russia has experienced several incidents of teenagers dying or being seriously injured from using electronic cigarettes. This has sparked widespread outrage among the Russian public and has garnered strong support from most lawmakers for the proposal.

The contents of the bill:

When selling tobacco or nicotine-containing products, as well as shisha, retailers must comply with the regulations outlined in Russia's Federal Law on Consumer Rights Protection. This includes listing the products for sale in the sales area of commercial premises, in black font on a white background, in alphabetical order, indicating the price of each product, and without the use of any images or pictures. Once customers have familiarized themselves with the list of tobacco or nicotine-containing products, and provided they meet the requirements set out in Article 20 of the federal law, they may request to view the products within the commercial premises.

Update: Add "and devices used to consume nicotine products" after the term "hookah" and "devices used to consume nicotine products" after the term "shisha" to provide more accuracy in reporting.

2FIRSTS Analysis:

This section is related to section 4 and outlines regulations on the sale of tobacco products that cannot be publicly displayed. It mandates that in the sales area of commercial premises, tobacco or nicotine-containing products should be listed in alphabetical order with their prices in black font on a white background, without the use of any images or pictures. The updated legislation now also includes "consumable nicotine products".

After visualizing the ban on e-cigarettes, a closed sales method similar to traditional cigarettes has been adopted in order to prevent e-cigarette products from attracting young people with youthful packaging.

Source: Tacc.

Expert Analysis Series:

Experts Interpretation 1: Russian Flavor Ban Involves All Electronic Cigarette Products, Specific Additive Standards Await Disclosure.

Expert analysis 2: Russia sets minimum retail prices for e-cigarette products to reduce demand for nicotine products.

Topic: Time Progression and Expert Interpretation of Russia's Ban on E-Cigarette Flavors (Click on the Image Below to Redirect)

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