Customers puff on e-cigarettes
Customers puff on e-cigarettes at the Henley Vaporium in New York City December 18, 2013. At the Henley Vaporium, one of a growing number of e-cigarette lounges sprouting up in New York and other U.S. cities, patrons can indulge in their choice of more than 90 flavors of nicotine-infused vapor, ranging from bacon to bubble gum.The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has not escaped the notice of the industry's critics, who have stepped up calls for new regulations, including bans on their use in public places, even though the scientific evidence about exposure to their vapors remains inconclusive. Reuters/Mike Segar

Smokeless cigarettes have officially been banned island-wide in Singapore by the government.

The ban, put into effect on Dec. 15, also covers “emerging” tobacco products that are not yet available within Singapore. The Ministry of Health (MOH) believes that this step is necessary to ensure that such products are not able to make a foothold in the Singaporean market and increase the rate of tobacco consumption.

In addition, the Singapore government has also banned dissolvable tobacco and other products containing nicotine or tobacco, that may be injected, implanted to topically applied to the body.

The initial announcement about the government's plan to ban such products came in June 2015. The ban is a part of MOH's "ongoing efforts to protect the public against the known and potential harms of emerging tobacco products," states the government press release.

The ban on emerging tobacco products would be implemented in two phases. The first phase – announced yesterday – includes a ban on smoking cigars, dissolvable tobacco and other products containing nicotine or tobacco.

The second phase – expected to be implemented in Aug. 2016 – would cover products that are already available locally in Singapore. Such products include smokeless forms of tobacco that come as oral or nasal snuff, khaini, zarda and gutkha, which is made up of tobacco and betel nut.

The first phase will be effected via the Prohibited Tobacco Products Regulations made under Section 15 of the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, reports the Economic Times. Any person who contravenes the ban shall be liable to a fine not exceeding SGD 10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both.

For a subsequent conviction, the person will be liable to a fine not exceeding SGD 20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.

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