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Washington - The US Food and Drug Administration proposed rules on Thursday that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18, but would not restrict flavored products, online sales or advertising, which public health advocates say attract children.
The long-awaited proposal would subject the $2bn e-cigarette industry to federal regulation for the first time.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said at a briefing that the proposal represented the first "foundational" step towards broader restrictions if scientific evidence shows they are needed to protect public health.
Critics of e-cigarette advertising say it risks introducing a new generation of young people to conventional cigarettes when little is known about the long-term health impact of the products.
And they lamented the fact that limits were not included in the proposed rule.
"It's very disappointing because they don't do anything to rein in the wild-west marketing that is targeting kids," said Stanton Glantz, a professor at the Centre of Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.
"They should not have been so timid."
Hamburg said the current proposal "lays the foundation for many more actions and activities."
Vince Willmore, a spokesman for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said the proposal "by no means does everything we think needs to be done, but it starts the process.
What is critical now is that they finalise this rule and then move quickly to fill the gaps."
