Ministry to add warning labels to e-cigarettes

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Ministry to add warning labels to e-cigarettes

Korea is seeking to impose higher taxes on so-called heat-not-burn e-cigarettes and adopt graphic health warning labels on packages, the Health Ministry said Friday.

The ministry said it had recently proposed a revision to the existing public health promotion law in order to make users of these cigarettes pay higher taxes. It added smokers will be warned of dangers to their health through pictures and messages on the packs.

Heat-not-burn electronic cigarettes heat tobacco leaves to a level at which nicotine can still be extracted without burning them like conventional cigarettes.

On Friday, the revision obtained approval from the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly. Still, it has to gain endorsement from a parliamentary legislation committee and pass through a floor vote at the plenary session slated for next month, according to the ministry.

Under the revision, the health promotion tax for heat-not-burn products will rise to 750 won per 20 cigarettes from the existing 438 won, the ministry said. In addition, a total of 10 different warning pictures will appear on the product’s package under the bill.

China imposes antidumping tariff on Kumho P&B

A Korean chemical company was hit with antidumping tariffs by China’s Commerce Ministry this week for its export of methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), a compound widely used in coatings, pesticides and solvents, industry officials said Friday.

Kumho P&B Chemicals, an affiliate of Kumho Petrochemical, was among the companies from Korea, Japan and South Africa that the ministry named in its preliminary ruling announced Tuesday after an antidumping probe on the product was launched in March.

The tariff for Kumho was 29.9 percent. For Mitsui Chemicals and Mitsubishi Chemical, it was 48.4 and 51.2 percent, and 15.9 percent for Saso South Africa.

The final ruling is due in March.

Kumho P&B is the only company in Korea that manufactures MIBK, according to the officials. Its export of the product last year totaled $27 million, about 0.07 percent of the country’s entire petrochemical shipments.


Yonhap
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