Similar Nicotine Should Be Managed to Fill Korea Vape Legal Gap

Oh Yoo kyung, Director of the Food and Drug Safety Ministry of South Korea, stated at the National Government Inspection Committee on Health and Welfare that “similar” and “synthetic nicotine” should be managed within the same regulatory framework to fill the legal gap in vapes.

Oh Yoo kyung pointed out that the current Tobacco Industry Law is based on the definition of “tobacco leaves”, and vapes have not been explicitly included, resulting in some nicotine free or chemically simulated nicotine products being placed in regulatory gray areas. Congress is pushing to expand the definition to include “tobacco and nicotine,” but clear coverage of “nicotine like” is still needed.
She stated that the Food and Drug Safty Ministry has established an analytical method for synthetic nicotine, which will be implemented immediately after the bill is revised; It also has the ability to detect nicotine like substances, but without supporting regulations, the effectiveness of law enforcement will be limited.
To this end, the Food and Drug Safty Ministry will improve the ingredient detection and hazardous substance management standards in the customs clearance process, and develop experimental methods and analytical standards in advance to quickly respond to new synthetic substances; At the same time, we will refer to overseas cases and collaborate with relevant departments to establish a more operational governance mechanism.

During the questioning, lawmakers revealed that 5 out of 19 unmanned vape stores in Seoul are located in educational and environmental protection zones, and 13 out of 14 “nicotine free” products were found to lack harmful labels for teenagers, most of which were imported from China.
Oh Yoo kyung stated that institutional improvement will be promoted based on the principles of youth protection and public health, ensuring that both synthetic and synthetic nicotine are included in the same governance framework, and enhancing regulatory coverage and enforcement through cross departmental collaboration.
‘Nicotine like’ generally refers to that has a structure or mechanism of action similar to traditional nicotine, but is not directly extracted from tobacco plants natural nicotine, nor is it a chemical substance that is not a traditional nicotine molecule (such as 6-methyl nicotine).
, Director of the Food and Drug Safety Ministry of South Korea, stated at the National Government Inspection Committee on Health and Welfare that “similar” and “synthetic nicotine” should be managed within the same regulatory framework to fill the legal gap in vapes.
Oh Yoo kyung pointed out that the current Tobacco Industry Law is based on the definition of “tobacco leaves”, and vapes have not been explicitly included, resulting in some nicotine free or chemically simulated nicotine products being placed in regulatory gray areas. Congress is pushing to expand the definition to include “tobacco and nicotine,” but clear coverage of “nicotine like” is still needed.

She stated that the Food and Drug Safty Ministry has established an analytical method for synthetic nicotine, which will be implemented immediately after the bill is revised; It also has the ability to detect nicotine like substances, but without supporting regulations, the effectiveness of law enforcement will be limited.
To this end, the Food and Drug Administration will improve the ingredient detection and hazardous substance management standards in the customs clearance process, and develop experimental methods and analytical standards in advance to quickly respond to new synthetic substances; At the same time, we will refer to overseas cases and collaborate with relevant departments to establish a more operational governance mechanism.

Reference: Oh Yoo-kyung, Director of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, “The same regulations should be applied to pseudo-nicotine and synthetic nicotine” < National Assembly/Political < Political < Text – Sporting Korea