Toronto, ON – November 14, 2019 - The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) welcomes several parts of Minister Dix’s announcement today that the province of British Columbia will launch a 10-point plan to update the province’s vaping regulations, some starting as early as January 1, 2020. The proposed regulations cover everything from the availability of vaping flavours, mass advertising and product labeling to taxation and funding education and social awareness youth marketing campaigns across the province.
One of the ten proposed measures, which is to define nicotine as a "public health hazard" under the Public Health Act, gives the government the power to limit the amount used in pods to 20 mg per ml. Minister Dix said that would put BC in line with the allowable limit in the UK and European Union.
“We at the CVA are cautiously encouraged by today’s announcement from Minister Dix at this time as it’s a comprehensive and multi-pronged approach focused on curbing youth access. We share the deep concerns of Canadians about the recent spike in youth uptake of vaping,” says Darryl Tempest, Executive Director, Canadian Vaping Association. “At the same time, we appreciate that Minister Dix has not called for an outright ban on flavours, but has instead proposed that flavours other than tobacco are restricted to adult-only retail environments. We look forward to furthering clarification on the flavour restrictions, to ensure their continued availability for adult smokers looking to transition from cigarettes to a less harmful alternative.”
The proposed legislation by BC Finance Minister Carole James, to increase from the provincial sales tax from seven percent to 20 percent on vaping products, is an approach to curb youth access out of convenience and cost, given this demographic’s price sensitivity. Yet, the burden will primarily fall on former smokers who rely on these products to escape the significantly more harmful, and indeed deadly, combustible tobacco. If passed, the new taxation legislation would come into effect Jan. 1, 2020, and would also increase the tobacco tax rate by two cents to 29.5 cents per cigarette.
“It is critical that we combat this crisis of youth access at a number of levels, including restricting sales and promotion of these products to age-restricted environments only, putting a concerted focus on educating the public and clarifying misinformation about vaping, as well as creating clear distinctions between vaping e-nicotine and illegal, black market THC products, which have been linked with the lung illness outbreaks across North America over the past several months,” added Tempest. “Governments just need to ensure that some measures don’t have the unintended consequence of penalizing would be and former smokers in a manner that keeps combustible tobacco a viable option.”
About the Canadian Vaping Association
The Canadian Vaping Association (thecva.org) is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 300 manufacturing, retail and online vaping businesses in Canada and has no tobacco companies, nor their affiliates, as part of their membership. The association is the primary liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of the CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education supplied bilingually to health officers, media, and elected officials.