The Therapeutic Goods Administration has issued eight infringement notices totalling $106,560 to Mason Online Pty Ltd for alleged unlawful advertising of nicotine vaping products.
Advertisers are reminded to give proper consideration to guidance and warnings issued to them by the TGA. Where the TGA requests a person to review their website and remove all non-compliant advertising, it is not enough for the website to be redirected to an overseas domain or for references to a locally based bricks and mortar store to be removed from the website.
The TGA reminds advertisers of the recent warning not to engage in deceptive conduct.
Mason Online allegedly advertised the use and supply of nicotine vaping products on its websites and failed to come into compliance. The infringement notices relate to one of the company’s websites that advertised more than 400 individual nicotine vaping products. It is alleged that Mason Online was responsible for multiple websites.
Under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, vaping products that contain nicotine are prescription only medicines by reference to the Poisons Standard, and cannot be advertised to the Australian public. The TGA has published comprehensive information about nicotine vaping products.
The TGA considers advertising breaches relating to nicotine vaping products a serious matter and is taking prompt and appropriate action to ensure compliance with the law.