Is Selling IQOS Illegal? Can You Be Jailed for Selling IQOS?
Is selling IQOS illegal? Can you be sentenced to prison for selling IQOS? Heated tobacco products from overseas cannot be sold privately without authorization. Illegal sales of tobacco monopoly products may be deemed serious under criminal law, with penal
Is selling IQOS illegal, and can you be sentenced to prison for selling IQOS? Imported heated tobacco products cannot be sold privately. If someone illegally deals in tobacco monopoly products and the circumstances are deemed serious under criminal law, the penalty can be up to five years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention, plus a fine of one to five times the amount of illegal income, or a separate fine. A WeChat-based seller in Yuqi was arrested on suspicion of smuggling and illegal business operations after privately selling unlicensed IQOS-type heated tobacco products containing tobacco.
A merchant in a digital plaza in Urumqi was arrested by police after using mobile phone sales as a cover while selling large quantities of Marlboro tobacco sticks, HEETS tobacco sticks, and IQOS kits.
As heated tobacco products have become more widely known in China, illegal sales cases have also continued to emerge across different regions. Most of those involved are social-commerce resellers, purchasing agents, or small individual vendors. Their reason for selling heated tobacco products is largely the same: “They believe there is money to be made. There is strong market demand for e-cigarettes and imported cigarettes, but purchasing channels are limited, creating a supply shortage.” Even when warned that this is illegal, they still take chances.
In addition, people selling heated tobacco products often make false claims to consumers, such as “This is an e-cigarette, it contains no tar, it’s harmless, and it tastes just like real cigarettes.” Products such as IQOS and HEETS are heated tobacco products. In essence, they are still tobacco, and the tobacco sticks contain tobacco ingredients, so they do not fall under e-cigarettes. Claims such as “no tar” or “it’s an e-cigarette” are simply marketing tactics used by sellers to stimulate purchases.
Enterprises or individuals that have obtained a tobacco retail license must purchase goods from their local licensed tobacco wholesale enterprise and accept supervision from the issuing tobacco licensing authority. IQOS is not supplied through official tobacco company channels, so even licensed tobacco retailers currently cannot sell this type of new cigarette product.
China implements a tobacco monopoly system. Without obtaining a tobacco retail license, no one is qualified to sell cigarettes or other tobacco monopoly products. Foreign cigarette products such as IQOS have not been approved by the state and are strictly prohibited from being sold domestically. Any private purchase or sale of such products is illegal, so do not violate laws and regulations for short-term profit.
A merchant in a digital plaza in Urumqi was arrested by police after using mobile phone sales as a cover while selling large quantities of Marlboro tobacco sticks, HEETS tobacco sticks, and IQOS kits.
As heated tobacco products have become more widely known in China, illegal sales cases have also continued to emerge across different regions. Most of those involved are social-commerce resellers, purchasing agents, or small individual vendors. Their reason for selling heated tobacco products is largely the same: “They believe there is money to be made. There is strong market demand for e-cigarettes and imported cigarettes, but purchasing channels are limited, creating a supply shortage.” Even when warned that this is illegal, they still take chances.
In addition, people selling heated tobacco products often make false claims to consumers, such as “This is an e-cigarette, it contains no tar, it’s harmless, and it tastes just like real cigarettes.” Products such as IQOS and HEETS are heated tobacco products. In essence, they are still tobacco, and the tobacco sticks contain tobacco ingredients, so they do not fall under e-cigarettes. Claims such as “no tar” or “it’s an e-cigarette” are simply marketing tactics used by sellers to stimulate purchases.
Enterprises or individuals that have obtained a tobacco retail license must purchase goods from their local licensed tobacco wholesale enterprise and accept supervision from the issuing tobacco licensing authority. IQOS is not supplied through official tobacco company channels, so even licensed tobacco retailers currently cannot sell this type of new cigarette product.
China implements a tobacco monopoly system. Without obtaining a tobacco retail license, no one is qualified to sell cigarettes or other tobacco monopoly products. Foreign cigarette products such as IQOS have not been approved by the state and are strictly prohibited from being sold domestically. Any private purchase or sale of such products is illegal, so do not violate laws and regulations for short-term profit.
