South Korea Develops Method to Identify Synthetic Nicotine in E-Cigarettes

Nov.15.2022
South Korea Develops Method to Identify Synthetic Nicotine in E-Cigarettes
South Korea developing method to identify natural versus synthetic nicotine in e-cigarette oil to combat tax evasion.

According to the South Korean Customs Service, they are implementing a plan to combat the practice of claiming that nicotine is synthetic in order to avoid import taxes on tobacco-derived electronic cigarette products.


South Korean customs officials have announced that they have developed a high-precision analysis method that can distinguish whether the nicotine in e-cigarette liquid is extracted from natural tobacco or manufactured in a laboratory.


According to a report by The Korea Biz Wire, a sample preparation technique called derivatization has been utilized to increase the detection sensitivity of specific components in tobacco by 30 times.


In South Korea, e-cigarette liquid containing natural nicotine is classified as cigarettes under tax laws and is subject to an inland duty of 1,799 South Korean won (approximately $1.32 USD) per milliliter.


However, e-cigarette oil produced with chemical materials, based on synthetic nicotine, does not fall under tobacco cigarettes but is considered a manufactured product, and therefore exempt from cigarette consumption tax.


In certain cases, electronic cigarettes that use tobacco-derived nicotine have been falsely reported as synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes in order to avoid taxes.


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