Tag: macau

  • Macau Blanket Ban on Vaping Takes Effect Monday

    Macau Blanket Ban on Vaping Takes Effect Monday

    Credit: Sean Hsu

    Health authorities in Macau on Thursday sent warnings that any private entity caught breaching the upcoming law that prevents people from carrying e-cigarettes across the border could face a fine of between MOP20,000 ($2,505) and MOP200,000. The new rules go into effect on Dec. 5.

    The law, passed by lawmakers in August this yea, is aimed at stamping out vaping among the younger generation. The new law bans all activities associated with the production, selling, distribution, import and export of e-cigarettes, according to media reports.

    Violators are liable to a penalty of MOP4,000, with organizations found to have breached the law facing a hefty fine that ranges between MOP20,000 and MOP200,000.

    The authorities said that they would beef up education to deter underage people from getting their hands on e-cigarettes.

  • Macau Approves Law Against E-Cigarettes, Full Ban Possible

    Macau Approves Law Against E-Cigarettes, Full Ban Possible

    The Macau parliament approved an amendment to the law on smoking prevention and control that prohibits the manufacture, distribution, import, export and transport of vaping products in and out of the region.

    The law provides for penalties of MOP4,000 ($500) for individuals, with a fine of between MOP20,000 and MOP200,000 for companies.

    Although the proposal was unanimously approved, during the debate in the Legislative Assembly, several members said that the government should go further, and impose a total ban on e-cigarettes, reports Macau Business.

    Leong Sun Lok expressed concern that the new legislation might increase the smuggling or sale of e-cigarettes through the Internet or lead to an increase in the number of conventional cigarette users.

    The Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China’s secretary for social affairs and culture confirmed that they are considering a later ban on e-cigarettes after giving “some time” to smokers who may “still have some in stock.”

    Elsie Ao Ieong U also promised to review, within three years, the tax on all tobacco products, which in Macau is around 60 percent of the final price.

    Ron Lam U Tou advocated increasing the tax, noting that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a value of 75 percent.

    The only Portuguese member in the parliament, José Pereira Coutinho, warned that the legislative revision could harm tourists who are only “passing through,” namely to mainland China, where e-cigarettes are allowed.

    The legislative amendment will come into force three months after it is published in the Official Bulletin of the Chinese special administrative region.

    The sale, advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes have been prohibited in Macau since 2018.

    The government justified the changes to the law with “the strong evidence that this type of tobacco product is harmful to health, and can endanger the safety of people,” recalling that the consumption of e-cigarettes has increased, especially among young people.

    The government stressed that e-cigarettes are banned in the neighboring region of Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Taiwanese parliament is also discussing a proposed ban.

  • Macau Mulls More E-Cig Restrictions, Considers Ban

    Macau Mulls More E-Cig Restrictions, Considers Ban

    Credit: Jakarta Travel

    Macau’s executive council wants to ban the production, sale, distribution, import, export and transport of vapor products in the special administrative region (SAR), reports Macau Business. 

    Under changes proposed to the tobacco control law, violators would risk fines of MOP4,000 ($500).

    The current law defines an e-cigarette as any product, or component thereof, that can be used to inhale vapor, with or without nicotine, by means of a mouthpiece, including a cartridge, a reservoir, as well as the device without a cartridge or reservoir. 

    The sale of electronic cigarettes in the city has been restricted since 2017; the recently proposed amendment expands the scope of the restrictions. 

    Still, Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo said the measure was intended to protect public health. “The use of electronic cigarettes is harmful to health, namely, it causes harmful effects to pregnant women, children and adolescents, and also exposing non-smokers to nicotine and other harmful chemicals,” Lo said.

    Following years of antismoking campaigns, consumption of traditional cigarettes among people over the age of 15 in Macau dropped to 10.7 percent in 2019.

  • Macau Health Authorities Say Smoking Rules Apply to Vaping

    Macau Health Authorities Say Smoking Rules Apply to Vaping

    Vaping devices and e-cigarettes are included and treated the same as combustible cigarettes in accordance with Macau’s local smoking control laws, according to Macau health authorities. Vaporizers or e-cigarette devices have become growingly popular in the city, and although their use outside designated areas is not forbidden, sales of vaping products are not allowed in Macau.

    man in china chair vaping
    Credit: Timothy S. Donahue

    The Health Bureau (SS) noted that some 2,368 smoking law infractions were recorded last year, with 21 cases referring to the use of electronic cigarettes in prohibited areas. The SS has called on the public to stay away from all tobacco products and all types of electronic cigarettes, to comply with and not violate the smoking law.

    Some 92.5 percent of infractions were committed by men, with 40 percent of the total comprising of tourists. Most infractions were reported in parks/gardens and leisure areas, restaurants or commercial establishments.

    Last year 409 inspections were also carried out in casinos, with 165 people indicted for smoking in prohibited places. Smoking is banned on the main floors of casinos, but is permitted in closed-off ventilated smoking areas, which are located on the casino floors. Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

    Macau health officials have claimed that e-cigarettes are no safer than smoking traditional cigarettes.

  • Macau Health Bureau defends proposed ban on e-cig sales

    Macau’s Health Bureau has defended its proposed ban on local sales of e-cigarettes as part of the amendment of the tobacco control regime, saying that it does not agree with a survey suggesting that most smokers want the ability to switch to less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes, such as e-cigarettes.

    In a statement released on Oct. 30, the Health Bureau stated that e-cigarettes are not less harmful than traditional cigarettes, and that e-cigarettes should not be considered as an alternative to conventional tobacco products, according to a story in the Macau Business Daily.

    “To ensure public health, the government has clearly suggested regulating e-cigarettes as a tobacco product as written in the delivered bill on the amendment of the tobacco control regime, and this has already gone through the first reading in the Legislative Assembly,” the Health Bureau stated.

    The bill, which is now being reviewed by the second permanent committee of the Assembly, suggests a blanket ban on e-cigarette sales. The same bill also proposed a universal smoking ban in the city’s casinos.

    The Health Bureau’s statement followed the briefing of two Hong Kong-based consumer advocacy groups—Fact Asia and the Asian Vape Association—calling for the government and legislature to give adults the opportunity to choose e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to smoking.