Guangxi E-Cigarette Enforcement Results: 141 Cases Investigated, Total Value Reaches RMB 1.98 Millio

On October 1, 2022, the national standard for e-cigarettes officially came into effect, marking a comprehensive shift towards legal and standardized regulation of e-cigarettes.

Starting November 1, 2022, various levels of tobacco monopoly bureaus in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in collaboration with public security and market regulation departments, launched a four-month special campaign to crack down on illegal activities related to e-cigarettes. This initiative aimed to rigorously combat various illegal acts associated with e-cigarettes, effectively addressing the production and sale of non-compliant e-cigarettes such as “milk tea cups” and “cola cans,” and firmly shouldering regulatory responsibilities to protect the physical and mental health of minors.

Firm Attitude, Swift Action, and Achieving Phase Results in Cleanup and Regulation

On November 3, 2022, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau held a special meeting, emphasizing the need for the entire system to prioritize the protection of national interests and consumer rights, particularly the health of minors, in e-cigarette regulation.

“We have a significant responsibility to rigorously combat the illegal production and sale of non-compliant e-cigarettes to safeguard the healthy growth of minors,” stated Xie Jianhong, director of the Guangxi Bureau, with determination.

To ensure that the regulatory decisions regarding the e-cigarette market are implemented without fail, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau formed six supervisory working groups, led by responsible leaders like Xi Liangwen, who went deep into the market to conduct special supervision. Each city and county-level tobacco monopoly bureau meticulously implemented the regular regulatory responsibilities for e-cigarettes, adhering to the principles of accountability and responsibility, treating the special cleanup campaign as a crucial task for monopoly regulation, and uniting efforts to severely crack down on illegal activities related to e-cigarettes.

On February 21 of this year, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, assessing the situation, convened a teleconference to strengthen e-cigarette regulation, promptly summarizing the effectiveness of regular phase regulation, deeply analyzing market conditions and challenges, and coordinating relevant departments to deploy targeted regulatory measures for the e-cigarette market.

Law enforcement personnel conducted repeated crackdowns, striking hard and achieving fruitful results, severely combating the illegal production and sale of non-compliant e-cigarettes, thus safeguarding national and consumer interests—

From November 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023, a total of 12,174 law enforcement personnel were dispatched across the region, inspecting 8,213 e-cigarette sales outlets; 141 e-cigarette cases were investigated, including 4 cases of selling e-cigarettes to minors, 3 cases of illegal e-cigarette production, 72 cases of selling illegally produced e-cigarettes, 35 cases of operating e-cigarettes without a license, and 5 cases related to “heady e-cigarettes”; 45,450 illegal e-cigarette products were seized, including 18,851 non-compliant e-cigarettes such as “milk tea cups” and “cola cans,” with a total value of 1.98 million yuan, marking a phase achievement in regulatory work.

With Laws to Follow, Strict Enforcement, Striving for “Effective Regulation and Quality Management”

The Regulations on E-Cigarette Management stipulate that e-cigarette products must comply with mandatory national standards.

For some time, non-compliant fruit-flavored e-cigarettes began to appear in “disguised” forms, such as “milk tea cups” and “cola cans,” which have a strong allure for minors whose mental maturity is not yet developed, posing a serious threat to their healthy growth.

“These unscrupulous merchants are truly driven by profit, even making e-cigarettes in the shape of dolls to entice minors to purchase and consume; such practices must be severely punished,” expressed a citizen from Nanning in a complaint to the local tobacco monopoly bureau.

“To ‘regulate effectively,’ we must resolutely address long-standing issues such as counterfeit and imitation e-cigarettes and malicious competition, rigorously combat illegal production and sale of non-compliant e-cigarettes, and effectively maintain market economic order; to ‘manage well,’ we must standardize e-cigarette production and operation behaviors, striving to promote the legalization and standardization of the e-cigarette industry,” stated the head of the e-cigarette supervision management office of the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. He believes that the prevalence of “milk tea cups” and “cola cans” disrupting market order is contrary to the goal of “effective regulation and quality management,” and it is essential to focus on the main line of work, which is “protecting minors from harm,” combining efforts to eliminate production sites, dismantle networks, and clean the market, thus initiating a new wave of special cleanup in the e-cigarette market.

On February 13, 2023, at noon.

On the highway from Beiliu City to Xinfeng Town, a convoy of eight vehicles sped like arrows, heading straight for an illegal e-cigarette production site in a village in Xinfeng Town.

“Action begins!” The command was issued from the walkie-talkie of the on-site commander. More than 20 public security and inspection personnel sprang into action, completing the arrest of 18 target individuals and the seizure of evidence within two hours. One vehicle involved in the case was seized, along with 6,588 counterfeit e-cigarettes and a batch of production packaging machines, with a case value of 710,000 yuan, marking the “first shot” in the city’s regular regulatory phase against illegal e-cigarette production sites.

On February 21, 2023, in the evening.

The Nanning Tobacco Monopoly Bureau received a tip from the 12313 tobacco market regulation hotline and immediately collaborated with public security police to go to Tinghong Road in Jiangnan District, where they apprehended suspects selling illegal e-cigarettes on-site, seizing 59 non-compliant fruit-flavored e-cigarettes such as “milk tea cups,” 1,990 illegal fruit-flavored pods, and 95 vaping devices, with a case value of 94,800 yuan.

On February 25, 2023, in the afternoon.

The Liuzhou Tobacco Monopoly Bureau learned of illegal e-cigarette sales at a store in the Shidai Commercial Port of Liunan District and quickly rushed to the scene, collaborating with public security to apprehend suspects selling illegal e-cigarettes, seizing 3,180 non-compliant fruit-flavored e-cigarettes such as “milk tea cups” and “cola cans,” with an on-site value of 84,410 yuan, and following leads to dismantle a criminal gang of nine individuals.

This case is the largest illegal e-cigarette operation case in terms of on-site value and scope since the regular regulatory phase began in Liuzhou. The successful resolution of the case has significantly deterred criminal activities.

On March 7, 2023, in the afternoon.

The Nanning Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, in conjunction with public security, conducted a sweep of a network case involving the sale of illegally produced e-cigarettes that had been operating for nearly a month, destroying five distribution sites and arresting three suspects, seizing a total of 7,422 illegal e-cigarette products on-site, including 3,686 illegal fruit-flavored pods, 3,449 non-compliant fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, 44 vaping devices, and 243 non-compliant fruit-flavored e-cigarette kits, with a case value exceeding 580,000 yuan.

While deeply investigating and expanding the case, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau has placed great emphasis on tracking and regulating existing unlicensed e-cigarette production enterprises in the region. During the transition period, the region has legally dealt with two typical cases of e-cigarette production enterprises producing counterfeit products under others' registered trademarks, with a total case value reaching 225 million yuan, apprehending 106 suspects and dismantling three large-scale counterfeit e-cigarette production sites, creating a strong deterrent. At the same time, before the end of the transition period, unlicensed enterprises were legally guided to promptly dispose of their inventory of e-cigarette production materials and products. Entering the regular regulatory phase, unlicensed enterprises were strictly ordered to cease e-cigarette production and operation activities in accordance with the requirements of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, with irregular inspections conducted. Three e-cigarette production entities that had previously expressed intentions to apply for licenses voluntarily ceased operations or shifted production, and all five e-cigarette production entities that had intentions to apply but did not meet relevant standards were closed or shifted production, ensuring the implementation of national e-cigarette regulatory laws and policies.

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To effectively protect minors from the harm of non-compliant e-cigarettes such as “milk tea cups” and “cola cans,” tobacco monopoly bureaus at all levels in Guangxi, in collaboration with public security and market regulation departments, have conducted joint rectifications, achieving frequent successes.

“Nanning has dealt with 37 cases, Liuzhou 25 cases, Baise 21 cases, and Chongzuo 15 cases…” Staff from the e-cigarette supervision management office of the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau opened the “Compilation of E-Cigarette Cases in the Region” to introduce the regulatory achievements since entering the regular regulatory phase.

“Recently, the tobacco department has been cracking down on non-compliant e-cigarettes in the market, creating a fair competitive environment for us law-abiding e-cigarette retailers and boosting our confidence,” said a licensed e-cigarette retailer from Yufeng District in Liuzhou, expressing appreciation for the special cleanup of the e-cigarette market.

In the process of cleaning up the e-cigarette market, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau has made full use of the 12313 tobacco market regulation hotline, garnering strong support and active participation from the public, initially forming a community-based prevention and control pattern in the e-cigarette market, which has played an important role in collecting case leads. During the special action, the 12313 tobacco market regulation hotline received 84 tips from the public regarding e-cigarette cases, leading to the seizure of 2,954 illegal e-cigarette products by various tobacco monopoly bureaus, with a total case value of 323,600 yuan.

With the in-depth advancement of the special action, the order of the e-cigarette market in the region has significantly improved.

Building Mechanisms, Strengthening Regulation, and Continuously Promoting the Legal and Standardized Development of the E-Cigarette Industry

Small wisdom governs affairs, great wisdom governs systems.

E-cigarette regulation is a brand-new task, as well as a systematic, regular, and long-term endeavor that requires continuous summarization and improvement in practice to form a long-term and effective regulatory mechanism.

The Guangxi Bureau actively explores the establishment of a regular regulatory mechanism for e-cigarettes, promptly preparing compliance operation guidelines for e-cigarette production enterprises and retail entities, enhancing legal operation education and training for licensed market entities, helping them understand what they can and cannot do, and how to operate legally and in compliance.

Issuing and trialing e-cigarette market regulation work guidelines, focusing on promoting strict and standardized regulation of e-cigarettes in the region.

“The work guidelines clearly outline the key tasks, work procedures, inspection methods, and regulatory objects, contents, focuses, bases, methods, and key illegal scenarios for each link of monopoly licensing approval and production and operation activities, effectively addressing the practical difficulties and issues faced by grassroots monopoly personnel in specific law enforcement practices regarding ‘what to check’ and ‘how to check’.” The issuance of the work guidelines has received full recognition from grassroots tobacco monopoly law enforcement personnel.

Gathering forces from all sides, gradually establishing a comprehensive governance mechanism for the e-cigarette market in collaboration with public security, market regulation, education, and other relevant departments.

Entering campuses, increasing the intensity of theme publicity and education on the harms of e-cigarettes, effectively enhancing minors' self-protection awareness and their ability to recognize and resist illegal e-cigarettes.

“Protecting minors requires the joint support and efforts of the entire society. The tobacco department's organization of the ‘Guarding Growth, Rejecting E-Cigarettes’ theme publicity activity is very meaningful, as it helps minors establish a conscious awareness of staying away from e-cigarettes, creating a refreshing environment for their healthy growth,” affirmed the principal of the Fourth Middle School in Hepu County, Beihai City, regarding the tobacco department's theme publicity activity.

Achievements are hard-won, and the journey is far from over. Moving forward, the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau stated that it will earnestly implement the national bureau's work deployment regarding the special inspection of e-cigarette market order, striving to open a new chapter in e-cigarette regulation.