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Abstract
Objective To document the regulatory environment of new tobacco and nicotine products (NTNPs), including electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs), in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Methods Review of market research reports and databases, regulatory websites, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, relevant published literature and the 2021 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.
Results ENDS entered the LAC market in the 2010s and are now available in most LAC countries. A majority of LAC countries (n=18) have either banned the commercialisation of ENDS (n=7) or regulated ENDS as tobacco products (n=7), medicinal products (n=1) or consumer products (n=3). The remaining LAC countries (n=15) do not regulate ENDS. HTPs were first introduced in 2017 and have been officially launched in five countries (Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Costa Rica). Few countries have banned HTP commercialisation (n=3) or regulated commercialisation and use (n=7), while the majority of countries have existing legislation that applies to HTPs (n=19). A few countries (n=4) have no tobacco control legislation and therefore do not regulate HTPs.
Conclusion NTNPs are emerging products in the LAC region. Governments should follow WHO guidance and the decisions of the Conference of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and ban or regulate NTNPs as tobacco products; otherwise NTNPs could create a new generation of tobacco and nicotine users.
- electronic nicotine delivery devices
- low/middle income country
- nicotine
- public policy
Data availability statement
Data are available in a public, open access repository.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Data availability statement
Data are available in a public, open access repository.
Footnotes
Contributors EC and EMS conceptualised the study. GS, BT and AB collected the raw data and EC prepared the first and subsequent drafts of the manuscript. EC, GS, BT, AB and EMS contributed to revisions of the paper. EC is the guarantor that accepts full resonsbility for the work.
Funding This work was supported by the University of Nevada, Reno. GS, AB and EMS received funding from the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use in low-income and middle-income countries.
Disclaimer Neither the university nor the Bloomberg Initiative played a role in the conduct of the research or the preparation of this article.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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