Turkey bans import of e-cigarette products

ANKARA

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Turkey on Feb. 25 banned the import of e-cigarettes and related products, announcing the decision in the country’s Official Gazette.

The ban covers all kinds of products used for electronic smoking, including e-cigarette devices, accessories, spare parts and solutions.

It also applies to e-cigarette products that use heating or incineration, including electronic hookahs, regardless of nicotine content.

In 2019, a total of 17.6 million smuggled cigarette packages and 140,000 electronic cigarettes were seized at the border gates, the trade minister said on Feb. 25.

“We will not give passage to illegal trafficking of cigarette and electronic cigarette,” said Ruhsar Pekcan on her Twitter account.

“I wish the best for our country with this serious measure for the good health of our fellow citizens,” she said.

The Turkish Health Ministry had banned the sale of electronic cigarette products in recent months.

New estimates from the Tobacco Atlas, a leading resource on tobacco use and its impact on world health, indicate that about 14.5 million adults and 252,000 children in Turkey use tobacco every day.

About 83,100 people die from tobacco-caused diseases in Turkey each year, according to the Tobacco Atlas, an initiative supported by the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation.