"Mint-Flavored Smokeless Tobacco" Sold Freely via Direct Purchase... 'Regulatory Blind Spot'

"Smokeless tobacco that can be enjoyed indoors anywhere. When you put it in your mouth, a mint flavor spreads."

On the 10th, a tobacco company that imports and sells a new type of tobacco made overseas said this. The company introduced it as a "nicotine pouch." They explained that you put a tea bag-like tobacco between your upper lip and gums and use it. The company advertised, "One pack contains 24 pouches, and each pouch can be used for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, making it economical. It also contains less nicotine than traditional cigarettes, so it is less harmful to health." However, the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) defines all tobacco products containing nicotine as harmful. This is because even if the nicotine content is low, the body requires a similar amount of nicotine.

A new type of tobacco that does not take the form of a cigarette is being sold domestically. Some tobacco companies promote it as "less harmful than heated tobacco products" and "an alternative to quitting smoking." The government has not even grasped how these new tobacco products enter the country or how diverse the types are.

As tobacco products diversify, smoking behaviors are changing. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the smoking rate for conventional cigarettes, called "gweolryeon," began to decline from 26.7% in 2009 and reached 19.3% last year. However, the number of lung cancer patients last year was 116,428, a 27.7% increase compared to 91,192 in 2018 (according to National Health Insurance Service statistics), marking the highest ever. It is estimated that various forms of smoking not captured by smoking rate statistics have actually increased. For example, the usage rate of liquid-type electronic cigarettes doubled from 1.1% in 2013 to 2.3% last year.

Tobacco regulation experts point out that "South Korea is becoming a testing ground for global tobacco companies." Lee Sung-gyu, director of the Korea Tobacco Control Research and Education Center, said, "At first, interesting products come in through overseas direct purchase, and once word spreads, a market forms." He added, "South Korea has no national approval or monitoring system for new tobacco products when they enter the country," and "if regulation is imposed after the market forms, it will inevitably be too late."

Under the Tobacco Business Act, tobacco cannot be sold online or through direct purchase, nor can it be advertised or promoted, but this only applies to products made from tobacco leaves. Tobacco products made from tobacco stems, roots, or synthetic nicotine are outside domestic regulations. Even the United States, which was considered to have lax tobacco regulations, changed its rules last April to define any product containing nicotine as tobacco.

A bill to expand the definition of tobacco under the Tobacco Business Act to include not only tobacco leaves but also stems, roots, and synthetic nicotine was proposed early in the 21st National Assembly. It is pointed out that this law must pass for the "Tobacco Harm Management Act," which requires disclosure of the composition of tobacco products, to be effective. However, the related Tobacco Business Act amendment bill is currently pending review in the relevant committee. Some fear that if the bill is not processed within this year, it will be automatically discarded at the end of this session. The Ministry of Economy and Finance, the department in charge of the Tobacco Business Act, has not been able to make a decision easily due to opposition from tobacco businesses.

An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which conducts public health promotion projects such as smoking cessation campaigns, emphasized, "Products that fall outside the legal definition of tobacco are not subject to fines or crackdowns," and stressed, "There is a need to consider synthetic nicotine as tobacco as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.