Since 2021, Costa Rica has enacted Law No. 10066 of December 14, 2021, regulating Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Non-Nicotine Alternatives (NNAs), and electronic devices that use heated tobacco and similar technologies. This law remained unregulated until the Government, through relevant authorities, issued the corresponding Regulation, Decree No. 44596-S-H-SP-GP-JP, published in Gazette No. 146, Supplement 139, on August 9, 2024.
1. Mandatory Compliance: Any employer who violates Law No. 10066 and related regulations may be subject to fines.
2. Complement to the General Law: Law No. 10066 of 2021 complements Law No. 9028 of March 22, 2012, the "General Law on Tobacco Control and Its Harmful Effects on Health," concerning electronic devices that deliver tobacco.
3. Prohibited Areas: Decree No. 44596-S-H-SP-GP-JP, which regulates Law No. 10066, includes provisions to protect against the vapor or aerosol emitted by ENDS/NNAs and electronic devices that use heated tobacco and similar technologies, establishing prohibited areas for their use in Article 4, including:
• Workplaces: “…understood as the place used by one or more employees or volunteers during work. This includes all adjoining areas and vehicles used by workers in the performance of their duties, as well as work accommodations. Excluded are homes intended exclusively for family residence and open spaces on the property at a distance of no less than five meters from the workplace or its adjoining areas. The prohibition also extends to parking areas within or outside the workplace, whether part of the property or rented for use by workers and visitors.”
• “Sports facilities and places where recreational activities or events of any kind are held”. For example, company-organized Christmas parties or other recreational or sports activities.
• “Elevators” inside buildings where work is conducted.
• “Areas or establishments where food is prepared, served, or sold”, such as cafeterias or dining areas used by the company.
4. Informing Visually Impaired Individuals: There is also an obligation to inform workers with visual impairments about the prohibition on vaping or using these devices in the workplace and other areas expressly prohibited by law (Article 5).
5. Rights of Individuals and Employer Duties: These include:
• People in prohibited areas who observe a customer or worker vaping or using ENDS, NNAs, or electronic devices that use heated tobacco and similar technologies have the right to request the owner, manager, administrator, representative, or any person with decision-making power to ask the violator to stop their behavior.
• The owner or representative of the place is obligated to ask the violator to cease their behavior, as it is harmful to health.
• If the violator is the owner, manager, administrator, representative, or other decision-makers, the affected party may contact the competent authority to issue a health report.
• If the violator refuses to stop, the owner, manager, administrator, representative, or other decision-makers shall request the individual to leave the premises, and if necessary, may seek assistance from law enforcement or the Ministry of Health, as specified in this regulation, who will act according to their authority (Article 6).
6. Employer Obligations: Employers must:
• Take actions to ensure compliance with the legal provisions described above. Private companies with internal work regulations or other relevant normative instruments must incorporate the prohibition of vaping or using these devices in the workplace, along with the corresponding disciplinary sanctions.
This requires companies to update their internal regulations to prohibit the use of ENDS, NNAs, and electronic devices that use heated tobacco and similar technologies in the workplace. If a no-smoking policy already exists, this new regulation can be included (Article 7).
7. Signage for Prohibited Areas: Employers must place signs in visible locations with the following message: “NO SMOKING/VAPING,” the international no-smoking symbol, and below, the message “SMOKE/VAPOR-FREE ENVIRONMENT. LAWS 9028/10066.”
8. Prohibition of Consumer Sales through Certain Means: Sales to consumers through telephone, digital, electronic, internet, mail, and other methods that do not allow clear and timely verification of the buyer’s age, as well as through street vendors and similar means, are prohibited. Employers may prohibit workers from using work tools to acquire such products.
9. Control and Supervision Actions: Properly identified health authorities may conduct inspections in areas where the aforementioned prohibition applies. These inspections can be prompted by verbal complaints, calls to the 911 emergency system, or routine operations (Article 19).
10. Fine Amounts: The base salary used to determine the fines established by the Law will be that set forth in Law No. 7337 of May 5, 1993, which establishes the concept of base salary for special offenses under the Penal Code (Article 36).
11. Transitional Measures: Executive Decree No. 44596-S-H-SP-GP-JP takes effect upon its publication in the Gazette.
However, the following transitional measures are established:
• Employers have six months from the Decree's publication to place the required signage.
• Employers have three months from the publication of this Decree to incorporate into internal work regulations or any other relevant normative instrument the prohibition on vaping or using these devices in the workplace.
At Bufete Godínez y Asociados, we specialize in counseling and advising employers in labor and employment law. If you need any additional information, do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here.
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