Uzbekistan's Senate Approves Law to Ban Circulation of E-Cigarettes and E-Liquids

Key points:

The Senate of Uzbekistan has passed a new law to further tighten control over tobacco products and e-cigarette devices.

Illegal transactions will be subject to administrative and criminal penalties, but voluntarily surrendering can exempt one from liability.

This law emphasizes protecting citizens' health and the environment from the impact of nicotine products.

According to a report by Anhor on April 30th, the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved a law during a plenary session aimed at strengthening restrictions on the circulation of certain types of tobacco products, tobacco, and nicotine use devices.

This document stipulates the ban on electronic nicotine delivery systems (including e-cigarettes and e-liquids) from being circulated within the territory of Uzbekistan (including production, manufacturing, storage, transportation or shipment, import and export).

In addition, responsibilities relating to illegal circulation of non-smoking tobacco products, nicotine consumption devices (including e-cigarettes) have also been stipulated.

According to the law, individuals can be exempt from liability if they voluntarily confess to the authorities and surrender products that are banned from circulation.

The Chair of the Senate Tanzila Narbayeva stated that the law is aimed at protecting public health, especially that of teenagers, and should help protect future generations and the environment.

"The ban on e-cigarettes could lead to the emergence of a black market. This issue also needs to be addressed," she said. "In the past four years, our country has imported 5.4 million e-cigarettes from abroad, worth $28.5 million, which is 80 times more than the previous years."

According to statistics, over 32,000 young people in Uzbekistan, aged 18 to 29, are using nicotine delivery devices (including e-cigarettes), which is nearly five times the number of adults. It is noted that school-aged children are showing a great interest in these products.

So far, among the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have both enacted laws banning e-cigarette products.