South Korea strengthens e‑cigarette import controls amid tax‑evasion allegations

The South Korean government rejected claims that Chinese e‑cigarette imports have caused a loss of up to 20 trillion won in taxes, stating that customs has been detecting avoidance since 2022 and has identified 44 cases. Since 2019 the Ministry of Economy and Finance has required six documents for synthetic‑nicotine imports and made declaration of natural versus synthetic nicotine mandatory. A customs‑developed analysis method has exposed false reporting: 10 cases in 2022 (290 L), 27 in 2023 (163 L), 5 in 2024 (1.62 L) and 2 in 2025 (0.02 L).

The government will assess the health risks of “similar nicotine” compounds such as 6‑methyl‑nicotine through the Food and Drug Safety Ministry and will intensify crack‑downs on products marketed as nicotine‑free that contain nicotine. New safety‑management standards for liquid e‑cigarette stock, effective 28 April 2024, aim to prevent long‑term distribution of pre‑law inventory. Officials noted that while synthetic‑nicotine production is tightly regulated in China, export is not fully prohibited, and they will continue strict action against regulatory evasion, including investigations into nicotine‑base sales and mislabelled products.