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Crackdown on Illegal E-Cigarettes Ends: Suspects Await Sentencing, Half of National Standard Brands
H cink2023-04-27Views 869Source 未知
Breaking: On April 26, following a March 1 notice from the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration on a special inspection campaign to regulate the e-cigarette market, the 51-day crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes has come to an end.
On April 26, news reported that according to the notice issued by the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau on March 1 regarding the special inspection of the e-cigarette market, the 51-day crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes has ended as of yesterday, and the next phase will involve a 5-day summary and enhancement period.<\/section><\/section>According to the deployment, the second phase will be long-term, meaning that although the comprehensive crackdown period has ended, the fight against illegal e-cigarettes will continue for the long term and does not mean that the crackdown will cease after yesterday.<\/section>According to previous notices, starting from March 1, provincial tobacco monopoly bureaus, in conjunction with local governments and public security, market supervision, and other departments, have conducted special inspections of the e-cigarette market nationwide, lasting until April 25, severely cracking down on illegal e-cigarettes such as disposable e-cigarettes in milk tea cups, cola cans, and flavored e-cigarettes.<\/section>The crackdown lasted a total of 51 days.<\/section>According to the notice, this crackdown focused on two main aspects.<\/section>First, it severely targeted e-cigarette production enterprises that illegally produce flavored e-cigarettes; second, it severely targeted retail entities that illegally sell e-cigarettes using the internet and WeChat.<\/section>The aim is to eliminate illegal sources from above and clean up the retail market from below.<\/section>From the perspective of regulating unlicensed production sources, local tobacco bureaus have issued regulatory reminder letters requiring unlicensed companies to cancel or remove their e-cigarette business.<\/section>According to the "E-cigarette Management Measures," companies without an e-cigarette production license will not be able to continue operating e-cigarette businesses.<\/section>According to public data, there are currently about 700 e-cigarette companies nationwide that have obtained production licenses, of which 46 e-cigarette brands have obtained licensed permission.<\/section>If a company does not have an e-cigarette production license, it can either cancel its license or remove the e-cigarette business from its scope. Many e-cigarette companies have chosen to remove it.<\/section>Several e-cigarette companies have announced changes to their business scope, leading to a wave of exits, mainly because similar companies received regulatory reminder letters from the tobacco monopoly bureau.<\/section><\/section>
According to the regulatory reminder letters, e-cigarette businesses have now become pre-approval businesses, and those without production licenses cannot engage in related businesses.<\/section>In addition to regulating unlicensed enterprises, local tobacco and public security agencies have also launched a strong crackdown on illegal sales.<\/section><\/section>After March 1, the Blue Hole Sewing Machine Channel published about 50 news articles on major illegal e-cigarette cases being cracked down on across the country, with over 200 people under bail.<\/section>Some of the publicly reported major cases are as follows:<\/section>1. Arrest of 10 people! Case value up to 150 million RMB! Xining cracked down on illegal sales of non-national standard e-cigarettes.<\/section>2. In Suzhou, Anhui, a case involving 120 million RMB in illegal e-cigarette operations was cracked, with 21 people arrested across 5 levels.<\/section>3. In Jiangjin, Chongqing, the first major illegal production and sale of e-cigarettes in Southwest China was cracked, involving 75 people and an amount of 30 million RMB.<\/section>4. Case value of 20 million RMB, several people arrested! Nanchang seized illegal e-cigarettes in milk tea cups and cola cans.<\/section>From the feedback of those under bail, the highest number of people arrested was in Anhui, followed by Shandong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.<\/section>Those who have been released on bail are anxiously awaiting the next phase, which is the prosecution by the procuratorate, followed by court judgment.<\/section>"Before the final result, nothing makes sense," said one of the involved store owners.<\/section>However, the outcome can actually be predicted based on the amount involved; it's just that the shoe hasn't dropped yet, and no one wants to touch this terrifying experience.<\/section>"It's regretful; I used to think it would just be a fine and confiscation, but I didn't expect people to be arrested," several store owners expressed their insufficient understanding of the regulations.<\/section>Some licensed store owners told Blue Hole that during the crackdown, illegal e-cigarette advertisements in their social circles sharply decreased, but through certain specific euphemisms, they could still be purchased, and there has been a recent upward trend.<\/section>For the national standard market, a survey of e-cigarette store operations in March showed that 48% were losing money, 41% had sales below 5,000 RMB, and 48% still wanted to renew their licenses.<\/section>Currently, licensed store owners are most looking forward to two things: first, continuing the crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes and clearing fruit-flavored products from the domestic market; second, improving and enhancing the taste of national standard products.<\/section>"Currently, national standard sales are in a slow recovery phase," one licensed store owner told Blue Hole.<\/section>In the Blue Hole live broadcast room, a store owner from Zhejiang stated that his best store could achieve sales of 120,000 RMB in a month, and eight stores could achieve national standard sales of 300,000 RMB in a month, and he mentioned that there were no fruit flavors and no wholesale, all compliant retail, which made hundreds of viewers watching the live broadcast envious.<\/section>However, some licensed store owners stated that sales in the national standard market are still sluggish, often experiencing three days of opening with no inquiries.<\/section>Some wholesale data from brand sides can serve as a reference.<\/section>Blue Hole learned from a certain province that in April, a total of 24 e-cigarette brands were ordered by store owners, with the lowest sales below 500 RMB.<\/section>Eight brands had sales between 1,000 RMB and 9,999 RMB.<\/section>Ten brands had sales between 10,000 RMB and 80,000 RMB.<\/section>Four brands had sales between 100,000 RMB and 250,000 RMB.<\/section>Only one brand had sales in the millions.<\/section>Currently, 46 e-cigarette brands have obtained licensed permission for compliant sales in China, and 24 brands have wholesale data in that province, indicating that 22 brands are currently not being sought after.<\/section>Since October 1 of last year until now in April, nearly 50% of brands are currently not being sought after, and a reshuffle is quietly taking place.<\/section>
Now, with only a little over a month left until the first batch of license renewals in June, a soul-searching question arises:<\/p>
Have this year's quotas been used up? <\/strong><\/p>How to survive the situation of losing money is a matter of life and death for all licensed brands and store owners.<\/section>
<\/section><\/section><\/section>Before closing the store, the store owner specifically said goodbye to Blue Hole, "I can't keep putting money into it, right?"<\/section>
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According to the regulatory reminder letters, e-cigarette businesses have now become pre-approval businesses, and those without production licenses cannot engage in related businesses.<\/section>
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