According to New Zealand media Newstalkzb, as reported on March 19th, the New Zealand government will now prohibit the sale of disposable e-cigarettes and impose stricter fines on businesses selling e-cigarettes to minors, with the policy planned to be fully implemented by the end of the year.
This is part of Associate Health Minister Casey Costello’s response to the challenges of e-cigarette governance, aiming to promote e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool while minimizing underage e-cigarette use, alongside the government’s repeal of the Smoke-free Generation legislation.
Costello stated in a release that amendments to the Smoke-free Environments and Regulated Products Act will be made to ban the production and sale of disposable e-cigarette products. She said, “Reusable e-cigarettes are the main smoking cessation devices and will continue to be available. However, too many young people are still using disposable e-cigarettes because these products are cheap and easy to access, even after reforms by the previous government. That’s why these cheap disposable e-cigarette products will be completely banned.”
Furthermore, the maximum fine for selling e-cigarettes or other regulated products to those under 18 will increase from $10,000 to $100,000.
While the $100,000 fine requires court application, such retailers will immediately face financial penalties—$500 to $1000 for individuals and up to $2000 for businesses.
The Cabinet has agreed to stricter restrictions on e-cigarette retail displays and staffing, and has requested targeted consultations with legislators on these proposals. Meanwhile, e-cigarette licensing and compliance regimes will also be reviewed to ensure enforcement of penalties for sales to those under 18.
The Cabinet has also agreed to comply with various regulations set by the Labour Party, which came into effect this week, including banning the printing of cartoon or toy images on e-cigarette product packaging and restricting flavor names to generic descriptors.
Currently, the New Zealand government has postponed some necessary changes related to child safety features of reusable e-cigarettes until October 1st to ensure an adequate selection in the market.
