President Irfaan Ali announced in a nationwide webcast that Guyana plans to shut its doors to vaping imports, tightening rules on electronic cigarettes amid rising worries about usage and health effects. He said the move fits a broader international push and reflects concerns voiced by parents, teachers, community leaders, children and the wider public.
The mechanism is straightforward: an order from Finance Minister Ashni Singh would stop imports, except when explicitly cleared by the health minister or the national tobacco-control authorities. Ali said the import curb aims to address what he called the "widespread and unregulated" buying and consumption of vaping products across Guyana.
He further highlighted uncertainties around health impacts, warning that "the absence of complete knowledge about those long-term effects must not be mistaken for evidence of safety," especially for children and young people.
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Health Minister Frank Anthony said authorities have screened more than 100,000 children and that most of the vape users identified were in high school. He labeled vaping "a gateway product," adding, "They see this as a stepping stone to other harmful products," and said, "We have to ban them and get them out of the stores."
Through the 2017 Tobacco Control Act, Guyana already has rules governing electronic nicotine delivery systems, including where they can be sold and used, and a prohibition on sales to minors.
The planned steps would place oil-rich Guyana - a small, English-speaking country on South America's northern coast with fewer than one million people - in line with a wider regional effort to tighten e-cigarette rules, particularly for youth. According to the Pan American Health Organization, about 2 million 13- to 15-year-old adolescents in the Americas use e-cigarettes, and the agency has urged stronger measures to curb youth nicotine use.
In plain English: the legal path to import vapes into Guyana is set to narrow to minister-approved exceptions, and the country is aligning with a regional trend toward stricter oversight. While Guyana is a small market, companies with exposure to e-cigarette sales in the Americas should watch these policy shifts, given the momentum behind curbing youth vaping.
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