Latest 2018 National Tobacco Policy on E-Cigarettes

  What is the latest policy from the national tobacco department on e-cigarettes in 2018? How does the tobacco department view e-cigarettes? What actions will be taken? These are questions of concern for all practitioners in the e-cigarette industry. However, the Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, Ling Chengxing, has already provided answers.

  On January 16, the 2018 National Tobacco Work Conference was held in Beijing. Ling Chengxing, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, and General Manager of China National Tobacco Corporation, delivered a work report. In the report, Director Ling mentioned e-cigarettes several times.

  In summarizing the tobacco work of 2017, Director Ling stated that in 2017, “we focused on strengthening five key areas”. The third area of focus was “to strengthen reform and innovation”. Within this context, e-cigarettes were mentioned.

  He stated, “Promote the reform of the scientific and technological innovation system, issue the “Several Opinions on Stimulating the Vitality of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Mobilizing the “Two Activations”, strengthen the construction of scientific and technological innovation platforms, improve the quality of Chinese-style cigarettes, and promote the research and innovation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. The national standard for e-cigarettes has been approved by the National Standardization Administration.”

  “Looking back at the five years of industry reform and development, we have a deeper understanding of the need to maintain the sustainable and healthy development of the tobacco industry”, Director Ling proposed “six musts”.

  The fifth must is “must adhere to technological innovation, focus on major scientific and technological projects in tobacco, continuously promote technological innovation, harm reduction, and efficiency enhancement, and effectively protect consumer interests; solidly promote the preparation for the legal regulation of new tobacco products, product research and development, and policy measures.”

  So what are the key tasks for tobacco work in 2018? What actions will be taken regarding e-cigarettes? Director Ling emphasized that the key tasks for tobacco work in 2018 are: to highlight “one primary task” and achieve “five unwavering commitments”.

  In the first “unwavering commitment”, it was mentioned that “closely monitor new trends in the tobacco market, vigorously support the accelerated development of cigar tobacco, and actively research and develop e-cigarettes, oral tobacco, and heated tobacco products.”

  In the third “unwavering commitment”, it was mentioned that “strengthen cooperation with transportation, postal, and other departments to build barriers to block and intercept the transportation channels of counterfeit and smuggled tobacco, increase efforts to address internet-related tobacco issues and new tobacco products, and enhance the exposure of counterfeit tobacco production and inferior products.”

  After reading the above content, everyone should have a clear understanding of how the tobacco department views e-cigarettes in 2018; the keywords regarding e-cigarettes include “promote”, “push”, “prepare”, “actively”, and “increase”, but no other content was mentioned.

  In this regard, some have interpreted Director Ling's work report from a “national perspective”, stating that “e-cigarettes relate to national economic security, and the country will only guide but not fully liberalize them...”