Weekly vape briefing: Shenzhen tests smart cameras for smoking control

This article is reproduced on Blue Hole New Consumption, with the original title "Shenzhen piloting electronic eye tobacco control; three major institutions cut Juul valuation; Hahn serves as FDA director"

1. Domestic developments

1. Shenzhen streets pilot electronic eye tobacco control
 
On December 10, it was announced that starting this month, Maluan Street, Pingshan District, Shenzhen will officially pilot electronic eye tobacco control. By installing monitors in non-smoking areas such as restaurants, shopping malls, passenger terminals, Internet cafes, and schools, electronic eyes will be able to monitor illegal smoking 24 hours a day. According to reports, the tobacco control environment monitor determines whether there is smoking in the room by monitoring PM2.5, PM0.3, PM5 and TVOC in a short period of time. The monitor updates ambient air data every 3 seconds. This device is also suitable for electronic cigarette products.

Shang Pengtao, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Maluan Subdistrict, said that after the pilot is mature, the electronic eye for tobacco control is expected to be fully promoted within the jurisdiction of Maluan Subdistrict.

2. Lianyun District of Lianyungang: Conduct e-cigarette inspections around the campus
 
On December 11, according to Justice Network, the Procuratorate of Lianyun District, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, joined forces with the District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau to conduct e-cigarette inspections on shops around the campus to strictly prevent e-cigarettes from entering the campus and protect minors from being infringed by e-cigarettes. According to prosecutors, teenagers who smoke e-cigarettes for a long time will also develop dependence on nicotine. Any organization or individual should dissuade and stop the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

The prosecutor of the Third Procuratorate Department of the hospital said that in the next step, the Lianyun District Procuratorate will continue to pay attention to the safety of food, toys and other products around the campus, occasionally jointly conduct inspections of shops around the campus, and regularly carry out rule of law courses on campus activities to educate teachers, students and parents on product safety.

3. Yuexie's application for 34 categories of electronic smoke core trademarks was rejected again
 
On December 12, according to information disclosed by the Beijing Court Trial Information Network, Shenzhen Weoxin Technology Co., Ltd., the operator of the e-cigarette brand Yuexie RELX, refused to accept the State Intellectual Property Office's rejection of its application to register the Weoxin as a trademark of 34 types of e-cigarettes. The lawsuit was closed in the first instance on May 22, and the first-instance judgment rejected Yuexie's lawsuit. Since the first-instance judgment was issued on May 22, it is unclear whether Yueshi has filed an appeal.

The first-instance judgment of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that: In this case, the fog core of the trademark in dispute was designated for use on re-examined products such as electronic cigarettes and cigarette filters, and relevant consumers could easily understand it as the cigarette liquid or central position that could be atomized in the electronic cigarette. The atomizer component is a description of the functional purpose or other characteristics of the designated product, and is difficult to distinguish the source of the product. Therefore, the defendant decided to determine that it has constituted the provisions of Article 11, paragraph 1, item 2, of the Trademark Law. There is no inappropriate situation. The evidence provided by the plaintiff is not enough to prove that the trademark in dispute has been used to obtain distinctive features that are sufficient to enable relevant consumers to recognize it as a trademark symbol. The relevant litigation claim cannot be established and this court does not support it.

4. China's e-cigarette brand mentality and public opinion list released in November
 
On December 12, BlueHole and the Digital Brand List, a brand reputation big data research institution, jointly released the November mental share list and public opinion monitoring list of China e-cigarette brands. (See the picture above for the brand's mental share ranking)

Data from the public opinion monitoring list shows that searching and calculating 23360 pieces of information on the entire network of the e-cigarette industry in November has further expanded to 52.77%. Among them, news content accounted for 63.66%, and social media content accounted for 46.72%. (Link to the list for details: China's e-cigarette brand mentality and public opinion list released in November)

5. Winho Technology's e-cigarette business accounted for 10% of total revenue and profits in the first three quarters
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On December 12, Winho Technology revealed on the interactive platform that the company controlled 51% of Skor. In the first three quarters, the revenue and profits of e-cigarette products accounted for approximately 10% of the company's overall revenue and profits.

6. LOVAPE Luweipu e-cigarette abolishes its Beijing office
 
On December 13, Blue Hole New Consumption learned from the new e-cigarette brand LOVAPE Luweipu that the company had abolished its office staff in Beijing. Currently, the Beijing company is basically empty. When asked if LOVAPE would withdraw from the e-cigarette industry, CEO Yuan Jia said that only the Beijing company is currently handling the matter, and the Shenzhen company will continue to carry out related business.

It is reported that when LOVAPE was first released, Loveape claimed that it was the direct brand in China of 21st Century Smoke, the second largest independent e-cigarette brand in the United States. On August 9, it announced that it had signed a contract with the world-renowned fragrance brand Bolton Group as a tobacco oil fragrance partner, and signed a GMP10000 pharmaceutical production workshop as a strategic manufacturing partner.

2. Foreign developments

1. Japan Tobacco International sells 2.1% stake in South Korea's KT G Company
 
On December 9, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) sold its 2.1% stake in South Korea's KT G last Wednesday. Citigroup Global Markets asked investors to sell the 2,864,094 shares of KT G held by the Japanese tobacco giant in a block deal.

After assessing investor demand, the final price was set at 94,000 won (US$78.8), a 2.8% discount from Tuesday's closing price. KT G shares closed at 96,500 kroner last Wednesday, down 0.72%. Market experts speculate that the company lost interest in the alliance after transferring production lines in South Korea to the Philippines two years ago.

2. Three major institutions cut Juul valuation
 
December 10 news, according to foreign reports, recently, three major institutions have significantly reduced the valuation of Juul: Juul's major shareholder Altria reported that Juul reduced its own valuation from the previous US$38 billion to US$24 billion at the end of the third quarter; Tiger Global Management, a fund that cut the valuation of its Juul shares by 50% to US$19 billion;Juul's early investor Fidelity Investments further reduced Juul's valuation to US$16.4 billion.

3. Survey: The main reason why teenagers try e-cigarettes is not flavored tobacco oil
 
On December 10, the latest analysis of data from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA last week showed that flavored e-cigarettes are not the main reason why young people use e-cigarettes. Among the students who reported trying to use e-cigarettes, 55.3% chose to use e-cigarettes because of curiosity;30.8% were influenced by friends or family members who used e-cigarettes; and 22.4% were attracted by various fruit-flavored tobacco oils.

4. Philippines arrests 98 people for violating e-cigarette ban
 
On December 11, according to Chinanews. com, Lieutenant General Debold Sinas, acting director of the Philippine Capital Police Station (NCRPO), said at a press conference on the 10th that the agency had arrested 98 people who violated e-cigarette orders in public places. People also confiscated 98 kinds of various e-cigarette equipment. In addition, the Guodu District Police Station also closed 812 e-cigarette shops that lacked business licenses, and another 297 e-cigarette shops were also recommended to be closed due to lack of relevant business documents. According to instructions from Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa, head of the Philippine National Police, arrested violators will only be taken to the police station for records and released.# p#pagination title #e#

It is reported that President Duterte recently ordered a ban on the use of e-cigarettes in public places and banned the import of e-cigarette raw materials, calling them dangerous and toxic.”

5. Germany will legislate to completely ban outdoor tobacco advertising
On December 12, Germany's Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party CSU proposed a plan to phase out tobacco outdoor advertising starting in 2022. A policy document adopted by the European Parliamentary Group on Tuesday said the move was necessary to address avoidable health risks.

Germany is the only EU country that still allows tobacco advertising in public places. The document recommends stopping tobacco advertising on outdoor posters and billboards starting January 1, 2022. It also calls for a ban on cigarette advertising in cinemas from 2021, tobacco heating products from 2023, and e-cigarettes from 2024. According to medical institutions, about 120,000 people in Germany die every year from smoking-related causes.

6. Some liquid e-cigarettes in South Korea have detected harmful substances suspected to cause severe lung disease
 
On December 12, the Korea Food and Drug Safety Administration released the analysis results of harmful substances related to lung injury on the same day. The investigation results showed that vitamin E acetate was detected in some products. It is reported that the Food and Drug Safety Administration recalled 153 liquid e-cigarette products sold on the market and began to analyze whether these products contained harmful substances suspected to cause lung damage detected in the United States, including tetrahydrocannabinol, which can cause hallucinations, 7 kinds of oily substances such as vitamin E acetate.

After the results were released, Lotte Duty Free Shop decided to stop selling eight types of vaporous e-cigarette products, and Silla Duty Free Shop and New World Duty Free Shop also stopped selling five types of e-cigarette products. Chain convenience stores such as CU, GS25, 7-ELEVEN, and emart24 also immediately stopped selling related products.

7. The U.S. Senate confirms Hahn as FDA director
 
December 13, CNBC reported that the U.S. Senate confirmed on Thursday that cancer expert and hospital executive Hahn voted 72 to 18 to confirm him as director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

8. CDC: The number of deaths related to electronic nebulization rose to 52, and the number of hospitalizations was 2,409
 
On December 13, according to the latest data released by the CDC, as of December 10, the number of people hospitalized for mysterious respiratory diseases related to electronic atomization in 50 states across the United States was 2409, and 52 deaths have been confirmed in 26 states and the District of Colombia. The CDC calls vitamin E acetate a chemical of concern and recommends that the substance not be added to e-cigarettes or other electronic atomizing products during investigations.

9. Los Angeles launches its largest operation against black market marijuana
 
On December 14, according to the Los Angeles Times, relevant U.S. officials said on Friday that national regulators conducted dozens of surprise inspections of illegal marijuana retailers in Los Angeles and seized a total of $8.8 million worth of marijuana products and 10000 illegal electronic aerosol pens and $129,000 in cash. This is the city's largest crackdown on the underground black market to date. According to some estimates, the state's black market marijuana accounts for approximately 75% of the state marijuana market.

Alex Traverso, spokesman for the Cannabis Control Bureau, said that in California, the illegal marijuana market faces challenges, and as we work to defend the legal industry, we are also working to reduce the illegal marijuana market.

10. Norway lifts the ban on nicotine sales and will switch to EU TPD for supervision
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According to a report from the New Force of Steam, Norway has recently planned to lift the ban on the sale of nicotine e-cigarette products and adopt the EU Tobacco Products Directive. Manufacturers of e-cigarettes and new tobacco products must apply for marketing authorization six months before the scheduled release of their products. It is reported that the listing authorization approval project and process of the Norway Ministry of Health are mainly based on TPD, so companies do not need to spend millions of dollars.

TPD is the EU regulatory regulation for e-cigarettes, which is divided into five major categories: 1. The upper limit of cigarette cartridge capacity must not exceed 2 ml, and the upper limit of nicotine content is 20 mg/ml;2. The packaging must contain health warning information;3. E-cigarettes must be safe for children, and the packaging of e-cigarette products must not be easy to disassemble;4. E-cigarette advertisements have also been changed accordingly, prohibiting beautification, publicity, endorsements, etc.; 5. Manufacturers should provide information on the composition of e-cigarette products and increase product review.