08/11/2021
When looking at the issue of counterfeit goods, the obvious thing that comes to mind is the cheap knock-offs, like t-shirts, shoes or even the more serious items such as counterfeit electronic goods or car parts.
There is a recent new twist to this in Australia when it comes to ni****ne va**ng products.
New laws were introduced in October 2021 in relation to ni****ne va**ng products and how they may legally be imported or advertised for sale. These laws are designed to try and protect our youth from taking up ni****ne va**ng and to try and reduce the potential bridge to smoking.
What appears to be the situation is that if a product contains ni****ne but it is not declared to contain ni****ne on the product or packaging, it is considered to be a counterfeit product.
This comes off the back of a trend of people trying to evade regulatory detection by digitally removing the word ‘ni****ne’ from the va**ng products. This act is considered to be supplying and advertising counterfeit therapeutic goods, which is illegal as well as posing a serious threat to consumer health.
The part that we find interesting is that the product itself may not be fake, but the removal (or non-inclusion) of the word "ni****ne" will result in the product being defined as a counterfeit therapeutic product.
This information is from a media release by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which goes into more detail and also contains warnings for consumers and advertisers:
https://www.tga.gov.au/media-release/tga-warns-consumers-counterfeit-ni****ne-va**ng-products
