Towards unified regulation of new tobacco and nicotine products in Panama

Panamanian authorities are considering adopting a single regulatory framework to strictly control electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products.[1]. The aim is, in particular, to restrict their use in public and private spaces, as well as their advertising and promotion. To achieve this, the National Assembly's subcommittee on labor, health, and social development wishes to create a technical working group tasked with examining and harmonizing three bills currently under discussion.

A previous proposal to ban electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco was cancelled.

Law 315, introduced and adopted in 2020, blocked by President Cortizo then taken up again by the Legislative Assembly and promulgated on June 30, 2022, prohibited the use, importation and sale of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other similar devices with or without nicotine.

However, this was ultimately overturned in 2024 by the Supreme Court following an appeal filed by the Panamanian Association for Tobacco Harm Reduction, supported by the Association of Smokers and Families for a Smoke-Free Panama, arguing that the bill had not followed the proper legislative procedure.[1].

In 2025, the Ministry of Health decided to propose a framework aimed at regulating these products (including nicotine sachets). The stated objective, in the absence of regulation, is to protect young people from these products. Resolution 146 of January 31, 2025[1] has thus extended to new products the measures already in force for classic tobacco (prohibitions of all forms of advertising or promotion, removal of all stalls of these products, prohibition of their use in non-smoking areas and of sale to minors with systematic verification of age and mandatory affixing of health warnings).

Three draft bills currently under consideration are to be merged into a new text.

The three bills currently under consideration contain contradictions. One proposes a total ban on new products, while two others propose stricter regulations, reflecting the shift in policy following the repeal of Bill 315.

According to MP Crispiano Adames, merging these three initiatives could lead to more coherent and robust regulations.

He also highlights the possibility, if the ban on these products is not retained in the final version, of introducing a specific tax on electronic cigarettes, which is currently absent from the Panamanian tax system.

At this stage, no final harmonized law has yet been adopted.

" Let us seize this opportunity to adopt concrete, firm, and decisive regulations, not only concerning minors, but also prohibiting their use in public and private spaces, their advertising and promotion, and the resulting solidarity benefits that should be generated by legislation aimed at levying specific taxes on vaporizers, which are currently not taxed under our tax laws. »" the National Assembly emphasized in a press release.

It is still necessary for decision-makers to fight against the interference of industry and its representatives who, as previously in Panama and as everywhere else in the world, they are aggressively trying to weaken and slow down public health policies.

In total, at least 46 countries have currently banned the sale and distribution of electronic cigarettes, according to available international surveys., Syria And Myanmar being among the last to have made the announcement.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AD

[1]Julio César Aizprúa, Autoridades buscan unify norms to prohibit electronic cigars, vaporizers and tobacco heaters in Panama, Infobae, published on March 10, 2026, accessed on March 11, 2026

[2]Karol Elizabeth Lara, Ley that prohibits electronic cigarrillos in Panama is unconstitutional, Panama America, updated May 15, 2024, accessed March 12, 2026

[3]Please note: Vapor in prohibited places will be punished only when smoking tobacco., En Mayúscula, published on August 12, 2025, accessed on March 12, 2026

National Committee Against Smoking |