Among the thousands of attendees at VapItaly last weekend was none other than Italian deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.
The vaping advocate addressed the crowd on Saturday to talk about his role in making vaping more accessible to smokers and profitable for the industry.
Deputy prime minister Salvini said:
“I took charge of the battle for vaping and I’m glad I got a tax system that saved thousands of jobs, hundreds of companies, thousands of stores.”
This speech followed an amendment to the electronic cigarettes tax decree made the previous day. Presented to the Senate on Friday, the amendment saw a tax abatement for vape devices and juices in Italy.
He told the audience:
“Smoking is bad and, therefore, my battle is a matter of health, it’s a question of the future, it’s a question of respect and work. For me it was a point of honour to be here and to reaffirm concrete closeness to this sector.”
Salvini also guaranteed to promote the international “Vaping is NOT Tobacco” campaign further into Europe where signatures are being collected to cut taxes on these products.
VapItaly president Mosè Giacomello spoke of how pleased he was to welcome Salvini to this event:
“We are proud of the visit of Salvini and I am sure, having already fought in favour of the electronic cigarette in Italy, he will be ready to commit himself at the level of to defend health, the sector and the economy.”
