Parliament passes vape ban bill

The Parliament on Tuesday passed legislature to ban the use, import and sale of vaping devices.

The bill to amend the Tobacco Control Act in order to ban vaping devices was submitted to the Parliament in October. The government bill was sponsored by North Henveiru MP Ahmed Aifan.

The bill passed with a majority vote of 54 on Tuesday afternoon. Eight abstained.

The original bill had undergone several changes during the committee stage. They are:

Categorizing public display of a tobacco product or a product containing tobacco as advertisement.

Introducing an MVR 50,000 fine for distribution of e-cigarettes or vaping devices to a minor.

Redefining tobacco products as products that contain tobacco leaves, the stem of tobacco leaves or nicotine.

Redefining tobacco products as anything other than nicotine products used in pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation, that is chewed, smoked, inhaled, pasted or rubbed on the body to acquire the effects of tobacco.

The legislature passed on Tuesday stipulates that the import of devices used for vaping along with spare parts of such devices will be banned starting November 15. Meanwhile, the use, possession, production, sale and advertisement of devices used for vaping will be banned starting December 15.