Vaping industry and anti-smoking groups may not agree on much, but they agree that they don’t like legislation moving in the General Assembly to establish a statewide list of sanctioned nicotine vape products.

The state Senate last week passed an amended version of House Bill 1425, which would establish a state list of sanctioned vape products. The measure now returns to the House for a concurrence vote.

Proponents say the legislation will allow state prosecutors to crack down on those selling illicit vapes.

If enacted, the legislation would create a pathway for state prosecutors to crack down on stores selling illicit vape products. Currently, vape products must be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Only a couple dozen products have been approved, meaning most of the vape products for sale are illegal.

However, vaping industry officials say the proposal will mainly benefit large tobacco companies because their products are the only ones currently on the FDA’s registry.

“It’s being used as a market share grab, frankly,” Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vaping Technology Association, told CapitolWire/State Affairs.

“It’s going to end up shutting down hundreds of small businesses throughout the state of Pennsylvania … The reason is that the large manufacturers only sell through convenience stores and gas stations. They don’t sell through independent shops.”

Abboud’s group estimates there are about 5,000 people working in hundreds of independent vape shops around the state who would be impacted by the change.

Anti-smoking groups have also been reluctant to back the legislation largely over the same concern. They say the bill creates legal protection for some of the vape products on the market, including flavored vape varieties that advocates say play an outsized role in attracting young people to begin vaping.

Abboud said his group would prefer that lawmakers focus on banning products that that are marketed to appeal to juveniles. Those include vape products associated with video games or online apps.

The vaping industry group, however, opposes efforts to completely ban flavored vape products. Abboud said banning flavored vapes would chiefly serve to drive more people to take up smoking.

Anti-smoking advocates, however, say creating a state-sanctioned list of vape products will only make it more difficult for people to know if the products on store shelves are legal. They would rather lawmakers focus directly on barring flavored vapes and making vape products less accessible to young people.

“We appreciate what they’re trying to do, but we know that youth are still using these products. We know that they can still access them. And we know that really tobacco companies are making products with flavors that are attractive to youth,” Kristin Jimison, the regional advocacy director for the Mid-Atlantic for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids told Capitolwire/State Affairs. “And we know that, even though there are age restrictions in place, they still are able to access those flavored products.”

Under the legislation, vape manufacturers would have 60 days to provide the attorney general with documentation that their products have been approved by the federal government.

The manufacturers would also be required to make an initial payment of $2,000 for each brand family of electronic cigarettes, plus an additional $200 for each brand style sold. In subsequent years, the cost would be $1,000 per brand family and $100 per style.

The attorney general must post a directory listing all legal vape products. After that directory is released, any vape products not on it would be illegal, though state investigators would not begin seizing contraband vape products until 120 days after the directory of legal vape products is released.

Those caught selling illegal vapes would face a civil penalty of $500 for each contraband product.

In a statement after the Senate vote, Attorney General David Sunday said the legislation is a necessary step toward ensuring that vape products are safe and less likely to end up in the hands of underage users.

“The reality is that users of these unregulated products have no idea what they are actually consuming. The products often contain no reliable disclosures about contents or potential dangers attached to consumption,” he said.