The Thai authorities are considering legalizing e-cigarette imports, but companies have to pay a higher tariff

According to the report of the China Daily of Thailand on October 03, the Thai authorities are considering legalizing the import of e-cigarettes, but companies have to pay a higher tariff.

According to sources from the Thai Ministry of Commerce, recently, they will discuss with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports whether the e-cigarette import ban should be lifted. Officials said that they have received petitions from multiple parties (law enforcement and business circles) to legalize the import of e-cigarettes.

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Many problems have been discovered from the actual implementation of the regulations. Regardless of the illegal import and smuggling problems, there are also cases in which the law enforcement process is difficult to control. The other is whether the impact of e-cigarettes on physical health is higher than that of ordinary cigarettes, and there is no strong evidence and research evidence.

The initial solution is to cancel the e-cigarette import ban and switch to a relatively high tariff rate. Because the ban does not keep e-cigarettes out of the country, it can be easily bought even in the ordinary market or on the online shopping platform. In other words, is it more manipulative to liberalize import restrictions and effectively regulate tariffs?

Officials believe that the primary problem that the parties discuss at present is to be able to prove that the e-cigarette hazard is not as large as ordinary cigarettes. There is a big difference in the focus of disputes on who is more harmful. Cigarette companies believe that e-cigarettes will produce more harmful substances after burning, and thus are more harmful to human health. In contrast, e-cigarette supporters believe that smoking e-cigarettes is safer than regular cigarettes. But in any case, it is necessary to establish a correct cognitive feeling that smoking is harmful.

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Throughout the world, governments have different attitudes toward e-cigarettes. The number of countries in the same camp is about 30, accounting for about 15% of the world. In other words, most countries still have relatively loose regulations on e-cigarettes.

For the Department of Commerce, as long as there is sufficient evidence to prove that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, it will not be difficult for the Ministry of Commerce to lift the ban.

In addition, the cabinet adopted a decision to raise the cigarette tax on the 2nd regular meeting. That is, for every cigarette sold, the tobacco company needs to pay 2% of the tax to the social security fund.

Note: The content comes from Taihua net is for reference only.