China Refines Supervision of E-Cigarette Industry

The official website of China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued a number of documents on April 15, stipulating guidelines for the production, wholesale, retail and traceability of electronic cigarettes.

According to the new rules, when applying for a production license, an e-cigarette manufacturer should possess the necessary capital, technology and equipment and meet the requirements of the national e-cigarette industry policy.

Enterprises that have obtained the license for tobacco wholesale can operate within the e-cigarette industry with the approval of relevant departments. Furthermore, domestic e-cigarette retail outlets are to be categorized independently from traditional cigarette retail outlets.

Specific traceability management systems and technical standards will also be established soon. Certain measures will involve the placing of mandatory QR codes on the outer packaging of e-cigarette products.

In addition, two new regulations for e-cigarettes have been unveiled recently, namely measures for the administration of e-cigarettes and the mandatory national standards for e-cigarettes, which will be implemented on May 1, 2022 and October 1, 2022 respectively. There will be a five-month transition period prior to the regulation’s enforcement, giving the industry a window of time to clear inventory and develop new products. During the transitional period, new e-cigarette production and operation enterprises, and new e-cigarette retail stores are not allowed to be established. All firms are also banned to expand production capacity.

SEE ALSO: China’s National Standards for E-Cigarettes to Begin October 1