AMA submission on Potential reforms to the regulation of nicotine vaping products

The AMA supports strong, strictly enforced regulation of nicotine vaping products (NVPs).

The AMA submission supports: 

• The introduction of controls on the importation of all vaping products through the Customs Regulations. The AMA also supports the end of the personal importation scheme. 
• Requiring NVPs to be registered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) to ensure a minimum safety, quality, and efficacy standards. 
• Major adjustments to Therapeutic Goods Order 110 to limit nicotine concentration, remove flavours and introduce packaging requirements. 
• Allowing the TGA to regulate all vaping devices that contain nicotine, including those that are not listed as NVPs but contain nicotine. 
• The aim of regulating NVPs must be to limit their use only for the intended purpose of smoking cessation, and to ensure these unproven products are as safe as possible. Due to the associated harms and lack of evidence as an effective nicotine cessation tool, it is the AMA’s view that the prescription of NVPs should be a last resort, prescribed by a patient’s doctor who has a strong understanding of their patient’s health and history.