Supporting Amendment to Classify Synthetic Nicotine as Tobacco: Asia Time

According to a report by Asia Time on August 8th, the South Korean e-cigarette association stated that they support the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act and are requesting that "synthetic nicotine" be classified as cigarettes.

The e-cigarette association stated that the amendment is a "necessary law" and advocated for "quickly defining synthetic nicotine as tobacco in the Tobacco Marketing Act to eliminate regulatory blind spots. It should also be considered to adjust tax rates reasonably according to tobacco types (such as regular tobacco, HNB e-cigarette, vape) in order to increase tax revenue.

On the 15th of last month, National Power Party member Park Seong-hun proposed a bill to amend a section of the Tobacco Business Act to expand the definition of tobacco from "the whole or part of tobacco leaves" to "tobacco and nicotine.

In the Tobacco Business Law, Article 2 defines tobacco as "products made from tobacco leaves, whether in whole or in part, and suitable for smoking, chewing, smelling, or inhaling through vaporization.

According to current legislation, in order to be classified as tobacco, the main ingredient must be tobacco. Therefore, synthetic nicotine e-liquid is not considered tobacco under domestic laws. As a result, synthetic nicotine e-liquid does not need to have warning labels and graphics like traditional tobacco products, can be sold and promoted online, and is not subject to tobacco-related taxes.

Congressman Park Seong-hun pointed out that synthetic nicotine tobacco products are not subject to the restrictions on sales to minors, and can even be placed in designated education zone areas, potentially leading to minors being exposed to vape products without any guardrails.

According to the association, the import volume of synthetic nicotine e-liquid increased from 56 tons in 2020 to 119 tons in 2022, more than doubling. As of 2022, the proportion of e-cigarette e-liquid containing synthetic nicotine is 92.2%.

The association emphasized that

Countries like the United States and Sweden regulate synthetic nicotine in tobacco or nicotine products, while New Zealand has seen a significant decrease in smoking rates to 6.8% after introducing vaping as part of their anti-smoking policy. Therefore, our country should also quickly classify synthetic nicotine and related products as tobacco.