On March 14, the Upper House of Parliament requested revisions to the draft law that aims to prohibit the import, production, and distribution of vape devices, returning it to the Lower House for further consideration, QazMonitor reports.
Proposed revisions:
Administrative liability: The Senate suggested excluding provisions governing liability for the sale, use, and sponsorship of vapes and e-liquids from the Code of Administrative Offenses. This measure aims to prevent redundancy, given the introduction of criminal liability for the turnover of e-cigarettes.
Advertisement ban: Another amendment aims to ban the advertising of goods, works, or services using elements of the trademark and the name of smokeless tobacco products and e-cigarettes. The ban extends to events such as prize drawings and lotteries aimed at stimulating demand and interest in these products.
Background: In January of this year, the Lower House deputies passed a draft law to ban the import, production, and distribution of vape devices in Kazakhstan. The proposed law includes criminal penalties for selling vape products – up to fifty days of arrest for sales, up to two years of imprisonment for importing and distributing, and up to five years of imprisonment for repeated offenses or large-scale activities by criminal groups.