Belarus plans to tighten licensing for the trade of electronic cigarettes and related mixtures at the legislative level. The draft law was considered at a meeting of the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, with the leadership of the Council of Ministers, a BELTA correspondent reports.
"Medical professionals are sounding the alarm due to the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes, especially among our youth – students and schoolchildren. Calls to restrict and even completely ban their production and circulation are increasingly heard," noted Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The President, however, also drew attention to another aspect of the issue: "Will we not form some kind of underground trade? I remember when we introduced these electronic (smoking devices. – Ed. BELTA), the question arose that this scourge already exists in Russia. We have no borders. We might not introduce it. But who will we be doing a favour? They will import it from there. They have already imported as much as they wanted and as much as was needed. Well, we decided to level the situation. Or not? And suddenly this topic appears (a new draft law. – Ed. BELTA). As I understand it, we must make a decision today – to be or not to be."
"I don't really understand smoking well, just like alcohol. Therefore, I would like specialists who either smoke or have delved into this topic to explain what it is. They say it's worse than tobacco. We will listen and make an appropriate decision," said Aleksandr Lukashenko. "The most important thing is that I am a staunch opponent of both alcohol and smoking. But smoking is a horror. Well, you had 100 grams... Who doesn't drink? People drink. But smoking is ruining your health, when medical professionals already know for sure that lung cancer's primary cause is smoking."
"Let's try to find a balance. Let's discuss and make, as I have already said, an appropriate decision," the President noted at the beginning of the meeting.
Following the meeting, the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, Artur Karpovich, stated that two options were discussed during the preparation of the document. These were either a complete ban on electronic smoking systems or legislative restrictions and measures to regulate this area.
The second path was chosen. It was concluded that it is necessary to retain, as much as possible, all entities engaged in the retail trade of nicotine-containing electronic smoking systems today. At the same time, licensing requirements for retail trade will be tightened so that each business entity understands its zone of responsibility for offenses committed in this area.
The Head of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) drew attention to the fact that, as health authorities state, smoking of relevant mixtures is harmful to health. Therefore, the state must create conditions to preserve the health of the population to the maximum extent.
"The list of business entities authorized to produce electronic smoking systems, import them into the country, and engage in wholesale trade is shrinking. At the same time, the President supported the government's proposal to maintain a broad list of business entities authorized for retail sale. This means we are implementing a strict filter at the stage of importing the product into the country. We are prohibiting a wide range of entities from engaging in wholesale trade of these products. Simultaneously, we are preserving jobs to the maximum extent and tightening licensing requirements," the Head of MART shared the details.
The provisions of the law will apply not only to nicotine-containing mixtures but also to the electronic smoking systems themselves.
Artur Karpovich clarified that this process is still under discussion – specifically, which requirements will be tightened regarding retail sales. "Today, it is no secret that we have problems in this area. There are numerous outlets (points of sale in trading places. – BELTA Note). It is often very difficult to combat them. Over the past year alone, MART has monitored about five hundred such outlets. 70% sell goods of inadequate quality, often exceeding norms and standards," the minister noted.
At the same time, the Head of MART observed that the liability measures applied to business entities for identified violations are not sufficiently stringent, and they can literally return to their previous activities within a couple of days.
The developer of the draft law with innovations in this area is the Belgospishcheprom concern. Artur Karpovich expects that this document will be submitted to the parliament in the first half of 2026, taking into account the already identified specific areas that need further development.