UAE working to stop illegal import of e-cigarettes

The UAE is working on regulations to stop the illegal import of e-cigarettes, as people continue to smuggle the product to the country via online orders, according to Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the National Tobacco Control Committee.

She said the organisation is working with customers to find a way to stop people from ordering e-cigarettes online or bringing them into the country.

"All the e-cigarettes currently available in the country have not been imported, since no import standards have been specified. So, they are smuggled," Al Maidoor told Khaleej Times.

The products are not standardised as per the Emirates Standardisation and Metrology Association (ESMA), and while the GCC has regulations banning their import, the UAE does not, which is why it is looking to introduce new rules.

While Al Maidoor gave no time frame for the implementation of the regulations, she said the UAE has no plans to allow the import of the products.

"No company in the UAE has a licence to import e-cigarettes and we do not have any plans to allow such. E-cigarettes do not help with quitting smoking as its promoters claim," she said.