South Carolina is on the verge of becoming the 15th U.S. state to adopt a PMTA registry law, which would ban the sale of most vaping products not manufactured by tobacco companies.
Both houses of the South Carolina General Assembly have now passed registry bill S 287, and the bill will soon be delivered to Governor Henry McMaster to be signed into law or vetoed.
If the governor approves the bill, the law will take effect in about a year. It would drive many dedicated vape shops out of business almost immediately.
A typical Big Tobacco-sponsored registry bill
Bill S 287 was introduced in 2025. It passed the State Senate in March last year, but debate in the House was put on hold when the assembly adjourned in May. The House passed a slightly amended version this year on Jan. 22, and the Senate concurred with the changes on Feb. 5.
The bill mandates creation of a registry (in this case called a directory) of vape products that can be legally sold in South Carolina. It is a typical registry bill in most aspects:
The state Attorney General is mandated to establish a directory of vape products that can legally be sold in South Carolina. The law will take effect when the directory is published or on Feb. 1, 2027 (whichever date is later).
Retailers will then have a 60-day window to sell products not included in the state directory. Following the 60-day grace period, any state or local law enforcement agency may seize and destroy non-compliant products, at the seller’s expense.
To be included in the directory, a product must have been on the market since Aug. 8, 2016, and the manufacturer must have submitted a premarket tobacco application (PMTA) to the FDA by Sept. 9, 2020. The manufacturer must have either received FDA marketing authorization for the product; still be under review by the FDA; or have received a marketing denial order (MDO), but the MDO has been stayed by a federal court or the FDA.
Manufacturers must certify under penalty of perjury that products submitted for inclusion in the directory meet those requirements, and pay a $100 fee for each product. After the original submission, the fee for renewal is $50 per year.
The bill includes reporting requirements for importers of vape products manufactured in foreign countries, or containing components made in foreign countries.
The bill specifies penalties for retailers and wholesalers that violate the law. Fines begin at $500 and increase for repeat offenders. A third violation within a 36-month period is punished with a $1,500-3,000 fine per non-compliant product.
The bill also prohibits the use on vaping products of numerous words, including candy, gummy bear, lollipop, cake, pie, ice cream and popsicle. It also bans the use “in the labeling or design of the product, its packaging, its advertisement, or in its marketing materials, images of or references to children's toys, cartoons, cartoon characters, superheroes, television shows, video games and movies, or other similar characters or references, that have been commonly used to market products to minors.”
Will South Carolina become the 15th registry state?
Fourteen U.S. states now have some form of vaping product registry law. In 2025, more than 20 states considered similar bills, with Arkansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Tennessee passing registry bills. South Carolina would be the first state to adopt such a law this year, if Gov. McMaster signs it into law.
Because of declining cigarette sales, state governments in the U.S. and countries around the world are looking to vapor products as a new source of tax revenue.
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