PANAMA

On July 8, the National Assembly passed in the third debate the bill 178 that prohibits the use, importation and commercialization of electronic nicotine delivery systems, electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, tobacco heaters and similar, with or without nicotine. The text will be sent to the Executive Branch for its enactment and entry into force. This could happen in the short term.

The text establishes in its article 2 that the purchase or promotion through the Internet of electronic nicotine delivery systems or other similar devices, with or without nicotine, is prohibited. Therefore, those natural or juridical persons that carry out activities of sale and promotion of these devices in the Republic of Panama will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of the Sanitary Code.

In general terms, the bill establishes a legal framework to regulate the prohibition of these systems and to disclose the harmful effects of their use. It also establishes that the prohibition of their sale is exempted in free zones for export and re-export to a third country.