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Singapore to ban new forms of cigarettes in mid-December

Xinhua, June 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore's Ministry of Health ( MOH) is moving to ban new forms of cigarettes including smokeless cigarettes and dissolvable tobacco or nicotine from Dec. 15, according to a statement released by MOH on Monday.

Most of these products are not yet available in Singapore, or not widely used. The ban is a pre-emptive measure intended to protect the public against the known and potential harms of such products.

The ministry added that the ban will be implemented in two phases. Tobacco products such as nasal snuff, oral snuff, gutkha, khaini and zarda will also be banned from Aug. 1, 2016.

The ban is aimed at ensuring that the targeted emerging tobacco products do not gain a foothold or become entrenched in Singapore market. It is also intended to prevent such products from becoming "gateway" or "starter" products for non-smokers, said the ministry. Endi