Police to be empowered to seize vapes, even if it’s not being used

New amendments to the Tobacco Control Act submitted by the government seek to empower the police to confiscate e-cigarettes and vaping devices found in possession of individuals, regardless of whether they are caught using it or not.

Maldives implemented a blanket ban on the import, sale, free distribution, and use of vaping devices and e-cigarettes in mid-December last year as part of a campaign against smoking launched by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration. Earlier this month, the administration announced plans to impose a generation smoking ban for the post-2007 generation.

The government legislature to amend the Tobacco Control Act in order to impose the ban was presented to the Parliament on Tuesday morning. The bill, sponsored by ruling PNC parliamentarian Ali Ashraq, the Kinbidhoo representative, also includes amendments that grant the police greater powers to enforce the 2024 vaping ban, empowering the police to confiscate e-cigarettes and vaping devices found in possession of individuals in public spaces, whether they are caught in the act of smoking or not.

The bill stipulates that the police must follow a set of procedure before they can confiscate e-cigarettes and vaping devices. That is:

• The police must explain they have the authority to confiscate the contraband and explain how the individual violated the law.
• The police must instruct the individual to surrender the device in their possession in order to verify that it is in fact an e-cigarette or vaping device.
• Police may use reasonable force to confiscate the device if the individual refuses to surrender it.
• Once the police verify that the device is in fact an e-cigarette or a vaping device, they must explain to the individual that it is against the law, and that the police have the authority to confiscate it and levy a fine.
• The individual must be fined in accordance with the law and presented with necessary papers.
• The police must inform the individual that they are confiscating the device they were found using or was found in their possession, and present necessary papers.

The bill states that such devices must be disposed of within 45 days of confiscation.

The Tobacco Control Act already prescribes hefty fines for vaping, with an MVR 10,000 fine for free distribution of a vaping device, MVR 5,000 for use of a vaping device, and MVR 20,000 for the sale of vaping devices, with an additional fine of MVR 10,000 fine for each vaping device sold.

As per the Tobacco Control Act, the confiscation of vaping devices is limited to instances where individuals are caught using such devices. But in February, the President’s Office published a general regulation on tobacco control, which states that the police may confiscate vaping devices found in possession of individuals, even if they are not actually caught using it. However, many legal experts opinioned that the police cannot be granted such powers through a regulation, and that it requires legislative changes.

President Muizzu launched a campaign against smoking last year, introducing a ban vapes and e-cigarettes, and doubling import duty and taxes on cigarettes.

The move doubled the price of the most common cigarette brands from MVR 110 to MVR 240 per pack.

Tobacco importers and distributors raised the prices of cigarettes following this change, with the price of common cigarette brands rising between MVR 240 to MVR 290 per pack, and MVR 2,240 per carton.

While businesses initially reported a drop in the sale of cigarettes, there has been an increase in the sale of rolling tobacco and cheaper lower quality cigarette brands, as well as a surge in the smuggling of cigarettes.

The new bill seeks to implement the generational smoking ban from November onwards.