The new regulations replace the prohibition with a system of control, registration and traceability to combat the illegal market.
The objective is to reduce the access and attraction of these products among young people, a segment where use had grown in recent years without any type of regulation.
The Government maintains that change does not create a new market, but rather orders an existing one, where consumption was widespread but without
controls.The regulation will make it possible to:
Monitor the quality of products
Reduce health risks
Control commercialization
Apply sanctions to those who operate outside the law
Another central axis of the measure is the incorporation of these products into the formal system, which implies that they will begin to tax taxes and will be subject to
state oversight.This not only seeks to increase revenue, but also to balance the market in the face of the advance of smuggling.
decision reflects a change in focus on health and economic policy: moving from uncontrolled prohibition to a scheme of active regulation.
With this measure, the Government aims to reduce the risks associated with uncontrolled consumption, improve market transparency and recover the capacity to intervene in a sector that operated completely outside the law.
The national government put an end to the prohibitive scheme on nicotine products and moved forward with a comprehensive regulation that covers vapers, heated tobacco and nicotine bags, with the objective of ordering a market that until now operated mostly informally.
The measure was made official through resolution 549/2026, published in the Official Gazette, and establishes for the first time a complete control, registration and traceability system for these products.
Until now, the sale of vapers and electronic nicotine devices was banned in Argentina, creating a massive informal circuit without health or fiscal controls
.The new scheme changes the approach: instead of prohibiting, the State moves to regulate and oversee. According to official sources, the measure seeks to dismantle the smuggling business, which dominated the market with products without quality control
or taxation.The regulations state that no product can be sold without prior registration. In addition, manufacturers must declare the composition, meet quality standards and respect strict limits on:
Nicotine concentration
Allowed substances
Manufacturing conditions Full traceability of
the product This will allow the
State to exercise effective controls, something that was not the case under the previous system
.
One of the most relevant points of the regulation is the elimination of flavors in vapers, considered a key factor in the
