The Cook Islands is set to ban imitation tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and will raise the smoking age from 18 to 21.
Importing and distributing imitation tobacco products could result in a NZD$100,000 ($61,000) fine or up to three months in prison for an individual.
While businesses caught doing the same face a $1,000,000 fine, additionally, non-compliant businesses will incur a daily penalty of $100,000 for each day the violation continues.
The Tobacco Control Amendment Bill 2024 passed its third reading in Parliament last week, with most members of parliament supporting it, according to media reports.
Visitors over 21 will be exempt from the new rules and can bring one imitation tobacco device containing up to 30 milliliters of liquid.
Other restrictions include the prohibition of displaying tobacco products for sale and the ban on smoking in public places, with limited exceptions.
Businesses selling tobacco products will also need a license to do so.
Nick Dun, the manager of South Seas, a store in Rarotonga that sells e-cigarette products, said he thought vaping provided a better alternative to tobacco products.
“It means some people will unfortunately fall back into tobacco smoking, which may be harder to give up in the future and will impact them financially,” Dun said.
He said his business felt there was a need for alternatives to tobacco products.
“For a lot of people, they believed that they actually felt better, and when they started vaping [they] didn’t want to go back to tobacco smoking.
“For a percentage of our customers, vaping was basically them trying to give up smoking and kind of the stepping stone to giving up.”