The Hong Kong government has recently released proposals concerning e-cigs. According to these proposals, electronic cigarettes and other new tobacco alternatives would be under the same regulation as conventional smoking products are. Do you need an e-cig merchant account to grow your business? Where to find an affordable and secure one? This article will tell you where.
E-Cigs in Hong Kong: Get an E-Cig Merchant Account
The initiative to ban e-cigs was suggested by the Food and Health Bureau back in 2015. The latest proposal announced recently doesn’t ban the sale of such products. It puts them under the same regulation as traditional tobacco goods are.
Local health bodies and the tobacco industry question the proposed regulations for electronic cigarettes in Hong Kong. In fact, the tobacco industry requested lawmakers to avoid relying on the World Health Organization’s “poor advice,” which had served as a source for the government to create the proposal. According to the WHO, countries must restrict the sale, promotion, and use of e-cigs.
With this being said, it’s critical to find a reputable high risk payment processor to work with so to be sure you avoid challenges involved with the industry. A respectable high risk credit card processor will get you an e-cig merchant account fast and easily. Look for an experienced and reliable merchant account provider that guarantees the best services for your own specific business needs.
According to Sophia Chan Siu-Chee, Secretary for Food and Health, the proposal was the government’s target to bring the smoking rate below the 10% point registered in 2017, which was among the lowest figures across the world.
Different Views on the Proposal to Regulate E-Cigs
The global use of electronic cigarettes, which are also referred to as vaporizers, accounts for several billion dollars. In Hong Kong, you can usually find vaping products in trendy shopping centers. They’re sold at HK$100 – HK$500.
According to the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, which is the city’s anti-smoking body, if the products are available in the market, they should fall under the same tax regulation as traditional tobaccos. What is more, their selling price should not be lower than cigarettes. This way, the public won’t get appealed by their use just because they don’t cost much.
The Coalition on Tobacco Affairs has recently reported that, if you tax the new products as if they were cigarettes, this won’t be fair as e-cigs don’t have tobacco in them. Christine Hu, the coalition’s chairwoman, says that e-cigarettes don’t have tobacco in them and are associated with different health risks. The same health warnings shouldn’t be put on the packs. They shouldn’t be taxed in the same way as cigarettes.
Dr. Thomas Tsang Ho-Fai has also expressed thoughts concerning the proposal. Tsang, who’s the president of the College of Community Medicine and the former head of the Center for Health Protection, has noted that claiming that these products were less harmful than tobacco wasn’t right since there was no tolerance threshold for substances causing cancer.
The tobacco firms and health groups have expressed willingness to go on lobbying lawmakers and officials to revise the plan.
Author Bio:
Electronic payments expert Blair Thomas co-founded eMerchantBroker, serving both traditional and high-risk merchants by offering an e-cig merchant account, and other merchant services. His passions include producing music and traveling.
