Singapore will ban tobacco products which are currently unavailable and also existing smokeless ones in the local market from mid-December 2015, the country’s Ministry of Health has announced.

The move is a pre-emptive measure intended to protect the public health against the known and potential harms of smokeless tobacco products, the ministry said.

The ban will be implemented in two phases, with the first one taking effect from December 15 applied for any product containing nicotine or tobacco that may be used topically for application, by implant or injected into any parts of the body, and e-cigarettes.

Meanwhile, existing smokeless tobacco products such as nasal snuff, oral snuff, gutkha, khaini and zarda will be banned from August 1, 2016, according to the ministry.-VNA