The new regulations establish measures to restrict minors’ access to tobacco products (and especially e-cigarettes), including through online sales, and also establish reporting and market control procedures.
According to Emil Ceban, Minister of Health, the aim of the project is to strengthen the legal framework for tobacco control. The national legislation will be adjusted in accordance with the requirements of the European Union. Therefore, the new document clearly specifies how manufacturers and retailers should notify the authorities about their products, how to report and control sales, including online format.
The new rules will start to apply together with the Tobacco Control Law, except for the parts that will apply only after Moldova’s official accession to the EU. After this period, companies will start using a special European online platform EU-CEG to report the composition and properties of their products.
The document mostly concerns the segment of electronic cigarettes (vapes). It should be noted that in 2022 Moldova imposed a ban on online trade in e-cigarettes. At that time, their official imports reached 20 million lei, or one third of the real turnover. A year later, the volumes increased, with the illegal sales channel becoming dominant. Until now, e-cigarettes are openly promoted by E-commerce through at least 30 online platforms, including social networks (Instagram, Tik Tok, Telegram).
As IDIS “Viitorul” expert Veaceslav Ionitsa noted, the tax pressure has not yielded much result either. Excise taxes have been growing since 2022, and in 2025 the excise tax on cartridges and tanks for electronic cigarettes increased by 15% (from 2690.87 lei per liter to 3094.50 lei per liter). However, such a dramatic increase was accompanied by a lack of effective control mechanisms, resulting in a spontaneous and rapidly growing illegal market.
“We introduced strict rules for legal business, but did not ensure control at the borders,” the expert said. – The result was a paradox: legal business was under pressure, while the illegal market was stimulated to grow. In just two years (2022-2024), the country’s budget lost about 650 million lei amid the rapid growth of smuggling. New taxes have increased the margins of e-cigarettes, while the compactness of the products has made them extremely easy to smuggle. One woman’s bag can carry 2,000 euros worth of e-cigarettes. This is a very mobile and decentralized market, where even one or two people can organize a delivery.
The control mechanism has been discussed by the authorities several times, but they have not yet managed to fully regulate the vape market.
