Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo has signed legislation banning the sale of vapor products, reports Vaping360. The country had already prohibited e-cigarette sales in 2014 by executive decree.
The new law prohibits not only sales and imports of e-cigarettes, but also bans consumption in any place where smoking is not allowed. The ban includes internet purchases and authorizes customs officials to inspect and seize shipments. Resellers are still allowed to import vapor products intended for export to third countries.
Consumer vaping advocates have warned that restrictions on vaping products will push vapers to illegal products of questionable quality.
Panama joins more than a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries with vape bans. On May 31, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree outlawing the sale of e-cigarettes.
Panama will host the 1oth Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2023.