The Maldives parliament on Tuesday passed the legislature seeking a ban on 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 last month, which was sponsored by North Henveiru MP Ahmed Aifan.
The bill was passed with a majority vote of 54 on Tuesday afternoon with eight MPs abstaining.
The original bill has seen tweaks to it during the committee stage, which include:
- Categorizing public display of tobacco product or products containing tobacco as advertisement
- Introducing an MVR 50,000 fine for distribution of e-cigarettes or vaping devices to minors
- Redefining tobacco products so as to include products that contain tobacco leaves, stems of tobacco leaves or nicotine
- Refining tobacco products so as to include 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 stipulates the import of vaping devices and spare parts thereof will be banned effective November 15th, while the use, possession, production, sale and advertisement of such devices will be fully banned effective December 15.
