Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

  (i) recent media reports that teenagers are taking up vaping under the misapprehension it is safe, and that concerned parents support a ban on the supply, sale and use of all e-cigarette products in Australia,

  (ii) that it is legal to sell only nicotine-free vaping liquids in Australia,

  (iii) that, while the sale of e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine is not legal in Australia, it is legal for a person to import a three-month supply of liquid containing nicotine for personal use,

  (iv) that it is a simple task for anyone under the age of 18 to access vaping paraphernalia, including e-liquids containing nicotine, via online retailers, and

  (v) a 2018 study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health cautioned vaping may have a "gateway effect" to cigarette use, with two-thirds of the young people surveyed stating a preference for e-cigarettes containing nicotine;

(b) further notes that:

  (i) the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) issued a warning to consumers in January 2019 regarding undisclosed by-products and toxic ingredients including nicotine in e-liquid sold in Australia, despite being labelled 'nicotine-free', and

  (ii) the TGA warning was prompted by a study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, which stated there is little to no regulation of

e-cigarette manufacture, and the frequency with which nicotine is detected in e-liquids labelled "nicotine-free" was concerning; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to:

  (i) regulate the manufacture and labelling of e-cigarette liquid to ensure safety and consistency of ingredients in imported and

domestically-available products, and

  (ii) ban the importation of e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine.