Affected by martial law, new regulations on synthetic nicotine in South Korea may be postponed until next year

Affected by martial law, new regulations on synthetic nicotine in South Korea may be postponed until next year

Due to the martial law and the tax rate of synthetic nicotine, the South Korean National Assembly has once again postponed the discussion on the revision of the relevant tobacco bill, and the new regulation of synthetic nicotine is expected to be postponed until next year.

According to ET News on December 4, the new regulation of synthetic nicotine tobacco in South Korea is expected to be postponed until next year. It is reported that the discussion of the National Assembly on the amendment of relevant laws has been postponed to after the public hearing. It is expected that the National Assembly and the government will be in chaos due to the responsibility issue of the martial law incident, and the discussion of livelihood issues will be shelved.

According to industry and National Assembly news, the Economic and Finance Subcommittee of the Planning and Finance Committee has not yet determined the public hearing schedule for the "Tobacco Business Law Amendment" on the regulation of synthetic nicotine tobacco. At the first meeting of the Economic and Finance Subcommittee held on November 27, 10 amendments to the "Tobacco Business Law" were discussed, but due to differences of opinion between members of the ruling and opposition parties, it failed to pass. It was decided to hold a public hearing to listen to the opinions of stakeholders, but progress was slow.

At present, the core issue about the amendment is whether synthetic nicotine tobacco should be included in the tobacco category in law. Synthetic nicotine is considered an industrial product rather than tobacco in the existing Tobacco Business Act and is therefore not subject to relevant laws.

The South Korean government recently stated that synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes are as harmful as ordinary tobacco and must be regulated in accordance with the Tobacco Business Act. However, due to the progress of the National Assembly and the fact that the tax rate of synthetic nicotine tobacco has not yet been determined, this new legislation has not made substantial progress.

In addition, due to the martial law incident, issues such as synthetic nicotine tobacco regulation are expected to be postponed, and the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act is unlikely to be passed this year.

An industry insider said,

"The harm of synthetic nicotine tobacco has been revealed, and youth groups and others have advocated the establishment of emergency regulatory measures. The specific timing of implementation will depend on the discussion schedule of the National Assembly."