Tag: Estonia

Estonia Debates Ban on Disposable Vape Devices

Credit: Sharafmaksumov
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.
November 8, 2022
Estonia Suspends E-Liquid Taxation to Curb Black Market

Photo: Makalu from Pixabay
Estonia’s parliament recently voted to suspend the nation’s excise tax on e-liquid between April 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022, to reduce cross-border and illicit trade. The Estonian excise duty on e-liquid has been €0.2 ($0.24) per milliliter since 2018. The Baltic state first considered making the move in 2020.
“Suspending the collection of excise duty will make it possible to lower the price of e-liquids and thus offer consumers controlled and safe products at a lower price,” said Tarmo Kruusimae, parliament member and chairman of the parliament’s Smoke Free Estonia Support Group.
“It has the potential to become a success story if we manage to reduce both the illicit trade and cross-border trade and at the same time offer less harmful alternatives to cigarettes at a more competitive price.”
The group estimates that about 62–80 percent of the Estonian e-liquid market comprises self-mixed, cross-border and smuggled e-liquids primarily from Latvia and Russia. The e-liquid black market strengthened in 2019 when Estonia implemented a tobacco and vapor product flavor ban.
Tobacco harm reduction advocates welcomed Estonia’s decision. “Estonia’s example with over-taxation of e-liquids should definitely be an educational experience for other countries,” said Ingmar Kurg, CEO of NNA Smoke Free Estonia and a member of the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations, in a statement.
“If laboratory-tested and legal products are made too expensive for consumers, they will look for solutions in the black market, self-mixing and cross-border trade. Some people give up e-cigarettes and return to smoking, which happened in Estonia.”
April 16, 2021
Estonia Exempts E-liquids From Vapor Tax Until 2022
On Wednesday, the Riigikogu, the unicameral parliament of Estonia, passed an amendment that exempts e-liquids from its excise duty until the end of 2022. By suspending the collection of excise duty, entrepreneurs will be given the opportunity to reduce the price of e-liquid and thus create an incentive for users to purchase products from Estonian sales outlets, not from border trade or the black market, according to Estonian officials.
Credit: Crew2139
The amendments will take effect on April 1, 2021. According to the amendments, excise duty on e-cigarette liquids will be suspended until the end of 2022. Also, the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act will not apply to e-cigarette liquids during that time. During the period when e-liquids are not subject to excise duty, e-cigarette tax stamps do not give rise to an obligation to pay excise duty.
Tarmo Kruusimäe, chairman of the Riigikogu’s smoke-free Estonia support group, said the amendment will help better the health of the Estonian people.
“From June 1, 2018, an extremely high excise duty on e-cigarette liquids came into force in Estonia, as a result of which the black market and cross-border trade flourished. By suspending the collection of excise duties for two years, we are giving traders the opportunity to lower the prices of e-liquid products,” Kruusimäe said, according to an article in the err.ee.
The break in excise duty payment provides an opportunity to change the habits of consumers by redirecting them back to legal, laboratory-tested products, according to Kruusimäe. He also said that Estonia’s tobacco policy so far has been only based on scolding, without the realization that it is not easy for people to overcome an addiction.
“Estonia ranks third in Europe in tobacco deaths. Proven and less harmful alternative tobacco products are helping people quit cigarettes. By offering alternatives, we help maintain the health of the Estonian people,” he said.
Altogether 53 MPs on Wednesday voted in favor of the bill of amendment to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act initiated by Isamaa, the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) and the Center Party.
December 17, 2020
Estonia Mulls End to E-Liquid Taxes

Photo: Skypixel | Dreamstime.com
Lawmakers have submitted a bill to Estonia’s Parliament that would stop the collection of excise duty on tobacco e-liquids for two years.
The legislators hope the measure will help to control the border trade and black market.
In the draft explanation, the bill’s authors note that stopping the collection of excise duty will give entrepreneurs an opportunity to cut the price of e-liquids and encourage the sale of legal products.
If passed, the legislation will enter into force on Dec. 1, 2020.
June 8, 2020