Major News: STMA Begins Survey of E-Cigarettes, E-Liquid, and Nicotine Salts

On the evening of August 19, it was exclusively reported that the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration has recently issued relevant documents requiring strengthened regulation of new tobacco products, mainly involving heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes, but the nature of regulatory work for the two categories is different.

In this document, it is noted that it has been sent to provincial bureaus (companies), industrial companies, the China Tobacco Industry Development Center, and the Shanghai Research Institute of New Tobacco Products, primarily to implement the work deployment of the National Bureau's Party Leadership Group regarding the strengthening of new tobacco product regulation, based on tobacco monopoly laws and regulations and relevant policies. The National Bureau has decided to deploy special regulatory work for new tobacco products.

For heated tobacco products, a joint crackdown will be launched by multiple departments, mainly targeting smuggled cigarettes and illegal sales of heated tobacco sticks.

For e-cigarettes, further investigations will be conducted into the illegal acquisition of nicotine raw materials by e-cigarette and e-liquid production companies, with serious investigations and strict penalties.

The specific execution of sales will be organized by grid areas, assessing the product brands, production volume, sales volume, sources of raw and auxiliary materials, cooperation methods, and sales channels of e-cigarette and heated tobacco stick production and R&D companies within their jurisdiction, and proper registration will be maintained.

For products whose components are unclear and not currently listed in the identification directory by the National Bureau, they will be uniformly registered and publicized, urging them to be removed from shelves and cease sales.

At the same time, based on the "Notice on Prohibiting the Sale of E-Cigarettes to Minors," efforts will be made to educate retail customers and consumers in the jurisdiction about the health hazards of e-cigarette use, actively coordinating and urging relevant internet companies to block and remove e-cigarette products that contain terms related to students and minors, and urging all market entities not to sell e-cigarettes to minors.

The investigation phase is from August 1 to August 31.

Relevant online information shows that the Jiangxi Guangchang Tobacco Monopoly Bureau has already begun to strengthen the regulation of new tobacco products, with the announcement made on August 15.
 
The full text from Tobacco Online states: Recently, to further strengthen the regulation of new tobacco products, the Guangchang Bureau in Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, conducted an investigation into the operation of new tobacco products throughout the county. The picture shows the tobacco monopoly law enforcement personnel from the county bureau conducting an investigation at an e-cigarette experience store in their jurisdiction, inquiring in detail and recording the formulas, manufacturers, sales conditions, etc., of the e-cigarette products, while also providing education on tobacco monopoly laws to the merchant.

After communication, the aforementioned document should align with the actual investigation.

At the same time, e-cigarette distributors have indicated to Blue Hole that they have already received inquiries from both the tobacco and industry and commerce departments.

Key points: The National Bureau has begun to investigate the e-cigarette industry chain.

1. Strengthen the crackdown on IQOS-type heated tobacco products while also starting to investigate the situation regarding e-cigarettes. Note that this is an investigation.

2. The investigation of the e-cigarette industry chain includes upstream e-liquids, nicotine salts, and the sources of nicotine, as well as coordinating with internet companies to combat the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

3. Each jurisdiction should also promote awareness of the hazards of e-cigarettes.

4. In the absence of national standards for e-cigarettes and the lack of legislative regulation, the investigation of e-cigarettes may accelerate the introduction of relevant policies.