India: No Legal Basis To Ban E-Cigarette Imports: Trade Ministry

Source from:  Inc42 Media 04/17/2019

The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has said it sees no legal basis to ban imports of electronic cigarettes, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

The development comes after a February order issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on the ban of sale, manufacture, distribution, trade, import and advertisement of e-cigarettes and vapes. The Ministry of Health had also advised states and government agencies to step up efforts to halt sales and imports, warning vaping devices pose a “great health risk.”

Widely known as ENDS, which stands for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, these devices include various types of e-cigarettes and vapes, some of these work on the basis of ‘heat not burn’, where tobacco or nicotine solutions are heated to temperatures lower than cigarettes.

They are usually battery-operated devices that emit doses of vaporized nicotine, or non-nicotine solutions, for the user to inhale. It aims to provide a similar sensation to inhaling tobacco smoke, without the tar and other harmful byproducts that are present in cigarette smoke.  Enditem