Brazil's Consumer Agency Fines Facebook For Illegal E-cigarette Ads

Brazil's consumer agency fines Facebook for illegal e-cigarette ads

Facebook was punished by the Brazilian Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Procon Goiás) for posting advertisements on its platform for the illegal sale of e-cigarette devices, and was required to stop all displays and promotions of e-cigarette devices and related accessories.

On December 11, the official website of the Goiás State Government of Brazil announced that Facebook was punished by the Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Procon Goiás) for posting advertisements on its platform for the illegal sale of e-cigarette devices.

Since 2009, Brazil has banned the manufacture, marketing, import, distribution, transportation and advertising of all types of e-cigarette devices in accordance with the regulations of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

Through monitoring, the Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Procon Goiás) found that there was a large amount of e-cigarette advertising information on the platform.

Facebook was therefore required to stop all displays and promotions of e-cigarette devices and related accessories in Goiás. The company was punished for allowing products that were harmful to health and did not comply with relevant national regulations to enter the consumer market.

The head of the agency, Marco Palmerston, pointed out that e-cigarette advertisements have a strong appeal, especially to young people. Despite the relevant laws, it is not difficult to find advertisements for the sale of these products.

"You don't need to do a lot of searching, just stay on these apps for 30 seconds and the ads will attract attention, some of which are even sponsored ads."

The Consumer Protection Supervisory Authority (Procon Goiás) said that enforcement teams regularly carry out inspections of tobacco shops and businesses that sell e-cigarettes. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2024, a total of 61 premises were inspected, 48 violation notices were issued, and nearly 13,000 items were seized, including e-cigarettes, e-cigarette equipment, accessories, e-liquids and cartridges, with a total weight of more than 650 kilograms.