Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Qatar

12th March 2025: Middle East: The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean published a post on 11th March on the social media platform X that called on smokers to quit smoking, highlighting that smoking might decrease life expectancy by ten years.
28th February 2025: Middle East: The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean posted that while smoking rates in the region are declining, there is still significant room for improvement. The WHO urged its Eastern Mediterranean Region member states to strengthen tobacco control measures, including smoking bans in public places, prominent health warnings, and enhanced support services for smoking cessation. Notably, the thread makes no reference to novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products.
18th February 2025: Gulf Cooperation Council: The Technical Committee for Tobacco Products of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Standardization Organization (GSO) has preliminarily approved a standard introducing flavour restrictions, additional requirements for devices and batteries, common health warnings, and standardised packaging regulations across all GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – for both vaping and heated tobacco products (HTPs). The standard still requires final approval, and the text of the proposed regulation is currently unavailable. We are actively engaging with the relevant authorities to obtain more detailed information.
5th November 2024: Kuwait: The International Conference on Tobacco Control organised by the Ministry of Health has recommended that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries establish national observatories to monitor tobacco industry activities and align with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards on tobacco control. Additionally, the conference advocated for regulating novel emerging products in the region, such as nicotine pouches, and recommended increasing excise taxes on tobacco.
15th October 2024: Qatar: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in collaboration with the Tobacco Control Centre at Hamad Medical Corporation, organised an awareness campaign on the dangers of new tobacco products – namely e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches. The campaign emphasised that these products are not safe alternatives and are no less dangerous than traditional smoking methods, press reports.
16th July 2024: Qatar: The Ministry of Interior has published an awareness video on X, saying that, for public safety reasons, the use of cigarettes and tobacco or its derivatives is strictly prohibited inside metro stations and vehicles and all public transportation. Under law 10/2016, the use of tobacco or its derivatives is prohibited in public places and is punished with a fine of between QAR1,000 ($275) and QAR3,000 ($825).
28th June 2024: Qatar: The Ministry of Public Health has published a video on Facebook warning against the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDs) and highlighting the negative effects resulting from their use, which include cardiovascular disease; stroke; cancer; gum, mouth and throat sores; nicotine addiction; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Under law 10/2016, the circulation, import, manufacture, sale, display and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are prohibited in Qatar.
15th March 2023: Qatar: The General Customs Authority has confirmed to TobaccoIntelligence that nicotine pouches are legal and can be imported by companies for commercial purposes under the Harmonised System (HS) code 24049130. The authority said no special labelling rules applied, but that importers should follow the general clearance procedures on the customs portal (Nadeeb), and that pouches are subject to an excise tax of 100%.
14th November 2022: Qatar: In advance of the FIFA World Cup, the Ministry of Public Health has announced a campaign titled "Sport for Better Health" to ensure the enforcement of Law No. 10/2016 regarding the ban on consuming tobacco products inside the stadiums and during the tournament, saying that in stadiums a team of 80 inspectors, volunteers, and security staff will ensure the ban is enforced.

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LATEST ALERTS

Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Qatar

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