'Liquid E-Cigarettes Classified as Tobacco'... Synthetic Nicotine Regulation Bill Passes Plenary Session (Comprehensive)

Law Amended Nine Years After Discussions Began in 2016
50% Reduced Tax Rate on Synthetic Nicotine for Two Years

An amendment to the Tobacco Business Act that includes liquid-type e-cigarettes using synthetic nicotine as tobacco passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on December 2.

On this day, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the afternoon and passed the amendment with 247 votes in favor and 3 abstentions out of 250 members present.

On the 2nd, the partial amendment bill of the Tobacco Business Act was passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly. Yonhap News

The amendment expands the definition of tobacco from "the leaf of the tobacco plant," which is the raw material for natural nicotine, to "tobacco or nicotine." As a result, synthetic nicotine, which has been considered a loophole for youth smoking, will now be classified as tobacco, making it subject to taxation and stricter sales regulations.

The amendment to the Tobacco Business Act passed the Strategy and Finance Committee last September, nine years after legislative discussions began, but was temporarily held up at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 12th of last month. At that time, ruling and opposition committee members pointed out the need to regulate stockpiled products before the law takes effect and to verify the harmfulness of nicotine analogues other than synthetic nicotine. In response, the Ministry of Economy and Finance reduced the grace period for the law's implementation to four months and introduced supplementary measures such as requiring a safety assessment for manufactured tobacco products before sale if produced before the law comes into force.

The amendment also includes measures to protect retailers of e-cigarettes. Under the current Tobacco Business Act, only those designated as tobacco retailers are permitted to sell tobacco. Considering concerns that e-cigarette shops may face closure because they cannot obtain retailer designation due to distance restrictions between tobacco outlets, the amendment introduces a two-year grace period for the retailer distance restriction after the law is enacted.

An amendment to the Individual Consumption Tax Act also passed the plenary session on the same day. This amendment applies a 50% reduced tax rate on synthetic nicotine for two years in order to ease the initial burden on small businesses involved in the manufacture and distribution of synthetic nicotine products.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.