Estonia Debates Ban on Disposable Vape Devices

Estonia’s Minister of Labor and Health, Peep Peterson, says he will install measures to ensure that fewer novel tobacco products such as disposable, flavored e-cigarettes, fall into the hands of minors.

Flavored e-liquids have been banned for purchase from outside Estonia since 2019, though initially it had not been clear whether the ban applied to flavored additives sold separately, according to ERR media reports.

Peterson (SDE) says he has no leverage on e-cigarette paraphernalia entering the country, even in the case of banned items, telling ERR’s Madis Hindre that: “It is a classic role for customs to check and control commerce at the border.”

Meanwhile Eerik Heldna, head of the Tax and Customs Board’s customs department said that the organization intercepts illicit tobacco products entering Estonia every day.

Heldna said border checks: “Certainly do not comprehensively solve the social problem. Such a situation, where customs confiscates one hundred percent of illegal goods, no matter what the goods are, does not arise anywhere in the world,” adding that demand-side measures are key.

Heldna said that the majority of illegal new tobacco products come to Estonia from another EU country, adding that for this reason, EU-level restrictions, such as those on heated tobacco products, will help.

“Any such EU-level measures, which start to diminish this market, especially among young people would be very welcome. They will alter this picture significantly more than just one or another successful procedural action,” Heldna said.

More legislation is likely to emanate from the social affairs ministry soon, to address the issue is single-use e-cigarettes, which have brought with them concern over their potential appeal to minors.

“Hypothetically, a decision to ban disposable vapes, or e-cigarettes, is on the table,” the minister said, adding that retailers have not been at fault and are good at checking the age of customers where that would be appropriate.

Measures might include retailers having to take back used-up e-cigarettes, though there are also environmental considerations regarding disposal.

The disposable e-cigarette market is also booming, ERR reports, rising from 2.5 million sales of individual flavored e-cigarettes in 2020 in Estonia, to 35 million last year.