Norway lifts the ban on nicotine-containing e-juices and e-cigarettes. At the same time, it introduces laws that comply with the EU regulatory framework for vejp products.
"A welcome decision" says the Norwegian vejp Association, Dampselskapet
The announcement was made at the end of the week and the new scheme will come into force in 2020, reports the organization EHTRA, a European association for harm reduction, in a press release. Norway has had a ban on the import and sale of "new tobacco and nicotine products" since 1989, including e-cigarettes and e-juice.
Nicotine for personal use
The vape shops sell hardware and nicotine-free juices, while Norway's vejpare has been able to import nicotine separately for its own use. It is now legal to bring in the equivalent of three months' consumption of nicotine. At the same time, there is a large black market for nicotine in Norway and consumers are required by law to prove that the nicotine is only for personal use and for smoking cessation.
"Making nicotine liquids legal is a welcome measure and we can only congratulate our government for the decision to approach the other EU countries on this issue " says Trond Meier from Dampselskapet, the consumer-driven vejp association in Norway, to ETHRA.
European rules
The ban is lifted as the country introduces new laws for e-cigarettes. The idea is that Norway will follow the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The proposed regulations are therefore similar to the Swedish system where products, among other things, must be registered for sale 12 weeks in advance (in Sweden it is 6 months), contain Norwegian instructions for use and may only be marketed sparingly (in Norway it is otherwise not even allowed to display nicotine products openly in stores).
Many people use e-cigs to quit
Norwegian authorities published a study earlier this year on the habits of Norwegians vejp. It was found that a large majority, almost 70 percent, of the 900 participants stated that they had managed to quit smoking within a year by switching to e-cigarettes, the organization reports Nikan on its website.
Norway's new regulatory framework for e-cigarettes will come into force sometime in 2020 and will be evaluated over a period of time, partly to check that young people do not start using e-cigs to a greater extent and partly to find out whether the vejpningen really means an improvement in public health, writes ETHRA.
