Meeting between Health Canada and the Vaping Industry Trade Association – November 8, 2024

Subject(s)

Vaping industry compliance and VITA’s Ottawa Environmental Scan

Date

November 8, 2024

Participants

Health Canada

• Cecilia Van Egmond, Director, Tobacco Products Regulatory Office, Tobacco Control Directorate (TCD), Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch (CSCB) (Chair)
• Denise MacGillivray, Director General, Cannabis, Tobacco and Controlled Substances Directorate (CTCSD), Regulatory Operations and Enforcement Branch (ROEB)
• Ericka Tulloch, Director, Tobacco and Vaping Compliance and Enforcement Program (TVCEP), CTCSD, ROEB
• Sophie Corriveau, Acting Associate Director, Office of Compliance for Tobacco and Vaping Products, TCD, CSCB
• Senior Manager, TVCEP, CTCSD, ROEB
• Policy Analyst, Regulatory and International Policy, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, TCD, CSCB (Secretariat)

Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA)

• Thomas Kirsop, Managing Director
• Mike Meathrel, Chairman

Introduction

A meeting was held at the request of VITA to discuss vaping industry compliance.

The Chair started the meeting with introductions.

The Chair read the transparency and disclosure statement. She reminded participants that this meeting is subject to disclosure as per Health Canada’s Openness and Transparency policies. The handling of information and privacy notice was outlined and acknowledged. Health Canada also referred to Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), its international obligation to protect tobacco control policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. It was acknowledged by VITA participants.

Subjects

VITA provided an overview of the environmental retail scan they conducted in the Ottawa, Ontario, mainly in specialty vape shops, including online retailers. Issues identified in the scan included delays in age-gating for online retailers; health warnings being below the required size; flavour promotions not permitted under Schedule 3 of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act; nicotine concentration limits above 20 mg/mL; and volume promotions (i.e. “buy three get one free”).

VITA believes that the drivers of the illegal market include rapid increases in taxation and limits on nicotine content. VITA expects that if there were restrictions on flavours and disposable vaping products were implemented at the federal level, these measures would also increase the illegal market. Finally, VITA advocated for a federal track and trace system in order to combat the illegal market.

The Chair thanked VITA for their presentation and comments.

Conclusion

The meeting was then concluded.

Documents

• Agenda as provided by VITA
• VITA’s Ottawa Environmental Scan Report