South Korea's Presidential Impeachment Delays Synthetic Nicotine Regulation Bill, Legislative Vacancies May Continue

South Korea's Presidential Impeachment Delays Synthetic Nicotine Regulation Bill, Legislative Vacancies May Continue

Due to the impeachment of the South Korean president, the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act has been postponed, and the regulatory gap of synthetic nicotine has caused concerns. The industry called for synthetic nicotine to be classified as tobacco management to avoid tax losses and youth smoking problems.

According to N.News on December 18, due to the recent "South Korean President Impeachment" incident, the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act to treat synthetic nicotine and cigarettes equally and regulate it is expected to be postponed to next year. The suspension of discussions on this amendment may lead to more serious regulatory gaps.

The current Tobacco Business Act does not include e-cigarettes with synthetic nicotine in tobacco management. Industry insiders have been calling for synthetic nicotine to be classified as tobacco management. They believe that synthetic nicotine is as harmful to the human body as traditional tobacco, so the same regulation should be applied to maintain fairness.

According to a study released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea on November 27, there are 45 items of harmful substances (such as carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, etc.) detected in synthetic nicotine concentrate, which exceeds the 41 items of natural nicotine concentrate of the same capacity. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has conveyed its position to the Ministry of Planning and Finance that it is appropriate to include synthetic nicotine in the regulation of the Tobacco Business Act.

In 2020, Park Sung-hoon (박성훈), a member of the People's Power Party, proposed a draft amendment to the Tobacco Business Act; in 2023, the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee also discussed the regulatory reform of synthetic nicotine. Currently, 10 amendments to the Tobacco Business Act are pending for review in the 22nd National Assembly.

On November 27, the Economic and Finance Subcommittee of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee held a meeting to discuss the amendment and planned to hold a public hearing. However, due to the impact of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment, the National Assembly was actually paralyzed, and the public hearing on the Tobacco Business Act originally scheduled for the beginning of this month has been postponed indefinitely.

The delay in the passage of the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act is expected to lead to long-term social consequences under the legislative vacuum. Since synthetic nicotine is not taxed, it is cheaper than cigarettes and there are almost no restrictions on sales methods, making it easily accessible to teenagers. According to data from the Korean Disease Control Department, about 70% of adolescent smokers start smoking from e-cigarettes.

In addition, synthetic nicotine is not taxed, resulting in its 30 ml refill e-liquid online price of less than 10,000 won (about 7 US dollars).

In addition, tax losses and abuses caused by regulatory loopholes continue to emerge. The Korean Electronic Cigarette Oil Safety Association estimates that synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes evade taxes of about 1.6 trillion won (1.1 billion US dollars) each year. In order to save taxes, some importers and sellers falsely report natural nicotine as synthetic nicotine. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from November 2022 to July 2023, there were 110 cases of false declarations.

A tobacco industry official said,

"Among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, South Korea is the only country that does not classify synthetic nicotine as tobacco management. There is a gap with international standards and it is urgent to improve. Considering youth protection, tax guarantees and industry fairness, it is urgent to take legislative measures quickly."