Court rules e-cigarette cartridges not pharmaceutical

Issues

A Budapest court has ruled that electronic cigarette cartridges may not be classified as pharmaceuticals, but the state health secretariat believes the ruling does not set a precedent, daily Népszabadság reported on Friday.

The District II/III Court of Budapest ruled in favor of a small business that was fined by the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) in 2012 for selling e-cigarette cartridges without a license to deal in pharmaceuticals, which the cartridges are classified as under current Hungarian law.

The court ruled that the cartridges may be sold without a license from the National Pharmaceuticals Institute and ordered that the business be refunded the fine levied by NAV and that its confiscated cartridges be returned.

State Secretary for Healthcare Miklós Szócska was quoted as stating by Népszabadság that he believes the ruling applies only to the individual case vis-a-vis tax administration and does not set a precedent.

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