13 Vape Pty Ltd directed to cease alleged unlawful advertising of nicotine vaping products

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued a direction notice to 13 Vape Pty Ltd and an executive officer to cease promoting the use and supply of nicotine vaping products to Australian consumers.

The TGA was of the view that when taken in the context of the whole advertisement, the website URL, trading name and website content collectively promoted the use and supply of nicotine vaping products.

This is because 13 Vape Pty Ltd:

• used references to the therapeutic good in the trade name and website URL
• advertised the benefits of using liquid nicotine vaping over other methods for smoking cessation
• omitted important, balanced information on the use of nicotine vaping products.

The company has been directed to cease using the following words in the website URL and in the company trading name:

• 'vape' or any variation such as 'vaping', in conjunction with:
• 'prescription', 'script', 'medical', 'pharmacy', 'pharmacist', or any variation of those words.

The company's executive officer was also issued with two infringement notices totalling $5,328 for the alleged unlawful advertising.

Nicotine vaping products are prescription only medicines and must not be directly advertised to Australian consumers unless the advertising meets the conditions of the Therapeutic Goods (Restricted and Prohibited Representations - Nicotine) Permission (No. 2) 2021.

Compliance with the laws surrounding nicotine vaping products as a therapeutic good is a priority for the TGA. Businesses have had sufficient time to ensure that their operations are compliant with the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989.

If you suspect non-compliance in relation to therapeutic goods, you can report illegal or questionable practices online to the TGA. The TGA encourages the reporting of suspected non-compliant advertising.