On April 11th, at a plenary session of the Russian State Duma, the “Proposal for Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” was approved with over 90% of the votes in favor. The proposal includes prohibiting the online sale of electronic cigarettes and prohibiting the public display and exhibition of electronic cigarettes sold offline. This bill will be submitted to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for review and awaits the president’s signature.
In summary, the proposed changes mainly affect two aspects:
- Retail sale of electronic cigarette products will be prohibited from public display.
- Online sales of electronic cigarettes will be prohibited.
These changes will take effect on June 1st, 2023.
The contents of the bill are as follows:
Article 1:
Retail sale of tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, and hookah equipment is conducted in stores and exhibition halls. According to this clause, stores refer to buildings or parts of buildings equipped with commercial, auxiliary, administrative, and living facilities and used for selling goods and providing services, as well as receiving, storing, and preparing goods for sale; exhibition halls refer to buildings with sales areas and designed for one or more workstations.
Change: Add “and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products” after “hookah”.
Article 2:
If there are no stores or exhibition halls in the area, transactions involving tobacco products or nicotine-containing products, hookah, and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products, can be conducted in other commercial facilities or deliveries of such products can be made.
Change: Add “and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products” after “hookah”.
Article 3:
Retail transactions involving tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, hookah, and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products are prohibited in commercial premises, markets, exhibitions, and other ways, such as mobile sales, remote sales, vending machines, unless mobile sales are conducted under the conditions specified in Section 2.
Change: Add “and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products” after “hookah”.
Article 4:
The display and exhibition of tobacco products or nicotine-containing products in retail and commercial establishments are prohibited, except as provided in paragraph 5 of this article.
Change: Add “and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products and hookah” after “nicotine-containing products”.
Article 5:
Information about tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, and hookah, when conducting retail transactions, should be listed in alphabetical order with black font on a white background in the sales area of commercial premises, and the list should indicate the prices of the products without the use of any images or graphics. After customers have read the list of tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, and hookah sold, and comply with the requirements of Article 20 of this federal law, they may request to see the tobacco products, nicotine-containing products, and hookah in the commercial premises.
Change: Add “and devices for consuming nicotine-containing products and hookah” after “hookah”.
