The Tobacco Business Act amendment, which includes synthetic nicotine used in e-cigarettes in the scope of regulation and taxation, passed The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 26th. However, some say it needs to be supplemented, drawing attention to whether it will pass the National Assembly plenary session.
According to related industries on the 27th, the committee held a general meeting the previous day and passed the Tobacco Business Act amendment, which had been put on hold on the 12th, in a revised version presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Liquid e-cigarettes, made with synthetic nicotine (nicotine produced from chemicals rather than tobacco leaves), are not defined as tobacco under current law and have been distributed without regulations. This also allows sales online and through unmanned vending machines, which critics say negatively affects youth smoking. Discussions on regulating synthetic nicotine began in 2016. Progress has been slow, however, as some e-cigarette companies pushed back, citing harm to small business owners.
The amendment expands the definition of tobacco from the existing "tobacco leaf," the raw material of natural nicotine, to "tobacco or nicotine." As a result, e-cigarettes are also included in the scope of regulation and taxation. The amendment is seen as likely to pass the plenary session of the regular National Assembly on Dec. 9.
However, at the general meeting of the committee held on the 12th, some members argued that not only synthetic nicotine but also similar nicotine requires toxicity verification and called for renewed discussion. Similar nicotine has a chemical structure similar to nicotine but is not legally classified as nicotine. There is controversy over its harm to the human body. People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won said, "If tobacco is defined by whether it contains nicotine, it becomes difficult to regulate similar nicotine, and it is also difficult to regulate liquid mixtures with narcotics that exploit this, so the rules need to be revamped."
There were also challenges raised about the grace period. Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Ki-pyo said, "Nicotine and additives have no expiration date, so if manufacturers mass-produce and ship products during the six-month grace period between the promulgation of the amendment and its effective date, it will be a serious problem."
The government supplemented this by shortening the grace period to four months after promulgation and adding a provision to conduct harm assessments even after the law takes effect. At the general meeting of the committee, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol said, "We reduced the grace period to four months to prevent inventory from piling up. Similar nicotine falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Bills to regulate similar nicotine, such as the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, have already been submitted to the National Assembly."
Korean Society for Smoking Cessation and Health President Kim Hyun-suk said, "It is fortunate that the bill passed the committee, but issues such as similar nicotine remain. Once the amendment is implemented, similar nicotine intended to evade regulation and taxation will certainly be distributed more widely," adding, "A renewed discussion is needed as soon as possible." A staffer at the office of a lawmaker on the committee said, "We warned that supplements were urgently needed regarding the grace-period shipping issue and regulation of similar nicotine, but there was a sense that handling this amendment itself was more urgent, so it passed first." The staffer added, "But I still think this legislation is insufficient. We will continue to press the government to address side effects and deficiencies."