Illegal trade in flavored e-cigarettes: tobacco companies are urging Quebec to tighten the screws

A year after the ban on flavored e-cigarettes, the failure is resounding, according to the Regroupement des tabagies du Québec. Not only have the new Quebec regulations not reduced vaping among young people, but the black market has also increased, the group argues.

To curb the illegal sale of these flavored vaping products, the Regroupement urges Quebec to act as Jean Charest’s government did 15 years ago, with tobacco contraband.

The group proposes the creation ofACCES Vaping, modeled onACCES Tobacco (Concerted Actions to Counter Underground Economies), a program which was put in place in 2001.

In November 2009, other legislative provisions aimed primarily at combating tobacco smuggling were adopted, thus strengthening the program ACCES Tobacco.

We increased the penalties. We set up a multidisciplinary team that was focused [sur les inspections]and we gave new regulations for cities and police forces to be able to carry out interventions, surveillancesays Michel Poulin, spokesperson for the Regroupement des tabagies du Québec.

Such measures have yielded concrete results, he says.

While Ontario and Quebec were at the same level of tobacco smuggling before 2009, Quebec saw the illicit market decline sustainably, while smuggling rates remained relatively the same in Ontario.

In fact, tobacco contraband oscillates between 10 and 20%, while it is between 35 and 40% for Ontario, a province which has not legislated in this area.

Unless there is intervention from Quebec, illicit trade could reach 75% in vaping by the end of 2025. […] This situation causes significant harm to tobacco companies in Quebecargues the Regroupement des tabagies du Québec.

Easy to bend the rules?

As the illegal trade proliferates, many law-abiding convenience stores and boutiques now selling unflavored vaping products say they are seeing a 40% drop in sales.

Disposable models were very, very popular products, which smuggling [maintenant] on hand. […] Flavors were 98% of the marketexplains Daniel Marien, co-owner of 36 vaping stores in the province.

In fact, it is still easy to obtain perfume vapes, whether from online stores, in Ontario stores, on the street, in Indigenous communities, or even in specialized stores that skirt the rules.

For example, several specialty vaping stores have converted to food stores since last year, which allows them to sell flavor additives, but which are actually used to add flavors to vaping devices.

What’s more, businesses have products labeled as having a tobacco flavor, but their packaging has elements that inform the consumer that the product contains another flavor.

For example, it can be written tobacco on the label, but the paper is orange in color or has an orange line so the consumer knows that the product is in fact mango.

I would tell you that about 80% of vape shops have products that they are not supposed to have.

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Too few inspections, too few fines

According to Michel Poulin, the consequences for businesses violating the law are not dissuasive enough and inspections are not sufficiently frequent and effective.

The inspectors of MSSSeither they do not issue tickets, or on the rare occasions that they do, the amount is so insignificant that it is more profitable to pay the fine and continue to sell illegal products, than to comply .

This is why we recommend that the government take inspiration from the law that they had made at the level ofACCES Tobacco, to increase maximum and minimum fines, and encourage municipalities and police forces to make it a priorityhe continues.

The government of Quebec indicates on its website that the offense of sell, offer to sell or distribute a tobacco or vaping product containing a flavor or aroma other than that of tobacco is accompanied by a fine of $2,500 to $125,000, and of $5,000 to $250,000 in the event of a repeat offense.

A spokesperson for the office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, reacted in writing to the Regroupement’s request to create ACCES Vaping.

The inspectors of MSSS are visiting the stores to issue findings and files are currently being analyzed. Fines can reach $250,000. Everyone must follow the law and have the health of Quebecers and our young people at heart.

The government adds that it is important to reduce the appeal and access of these products to protect the health of Quebecers, particularly that of young people.

Interprovincial trade and permits

If inspections of non-compliant stores could be strengthened by creatingACCES Vaping, the problem of online orders from other Canadian provinces or other countries remains.

The market has moved to the Internet, which is the favorite place for young people. We discovered around 600 sites where anyone can buy illegal vaping products in Quebecexplains Michel Gadbois, of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association.

Same story from Valérie Galan, spokesperson for the Vapers’ Rights Coalition.

We directed people to the black marketwhere sometimes adulterated products carrying health risks, she deplores. She cites the example of young people who order e-cigarettes from China.

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For Flory Doucas, co-director and spokesperson for the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control, ACCES Vaping is not a bad ideabut she recalls that merchants and manufacturers of major brands deliver vaping products from other provinces.

There is no federal ban on interprovincial trade for vaping products, although this is the case for tobacco products.

If the Quebec government alone cannot block interprovincial trade, Ottawa has nevertheless announced that it intends to SoonImplement a national ban on flavored vaping products.

To crack down on offending stores, Valérie Gallan also suggests that Quebec make it mandatory to obtain a permit for retailers of vaping products, as the City of Ottawa recently did.

With information from Gabrielle Proulx and The Canadian Press