Shanghai Jiading issues its first e-cigarette fine: No smoking-related devices may be placed in smok

Recently, the Jiading District Health and Family Planning Commission imposed a fine of 2,000 yuan on a retail point selling e-cigarettes that provided trial smoking services, marking the first e-cigarette fine issued in the Jiading District.

During an inspection, law enforcement officers found that the e-cigarette retail point had set up e-cigarette devices, pods, and disposable mouthpieces for customers to try, which violated the relevant provisions of the “Shanghai Public Places Smoking Control Regulations” that state, “Units in smoking prohibition areas are obligated not to set up any smoking-related devices.”

Yang Hao, head of the Public Health Supervision Department of the Jiading District Health and Family Planning Commission, explained that the “E-cigarette Management Measures” issued by the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration clearly states in Article 3 that e-cigarettes include pods, devices, and products sold in combination with pods and devices. According to the revised “Shanghai Public Places Smoking Control Regulations,” e-cigarettes are included in the regulatory scope, explicitly prohibiting smoking (including e-cigarettes) in indoor public places, indoor workplaces, and public transportation.

“All units in smoking prohibition areas should carry out smoking prohibition publicity and education, discourage smokers, and prominently display unified no-smoking signs and supervision phone numbers, and not provide any smoking-related devices,” Yang Hao added.

Through on-site publicity and education, the person in charge of the penalized location recognized the error and immediately removed the e-cigarette trial devices, promising to strictly comply with the “Shanghai Public Places Smoking Control Regulations” and fulfill their smoking control obligations.

In the next phase, the Jiading District Health and Family Planning Commission will continue to strengthen law enforcement efforts in public places regarding smoking control, increase the frequency of daily supervision in stubborn locations, and further enhance publicity and education to guide citizens not to smoke (including e-cigarettes) in indoor public places, advocating for a civilized and healthy lifestyle to protect public health.

Regulatory updates

Article 18 of the “Shanghai Public Places Smoking Control Regulations” states that if a unit in a smoking prohibition area fails to fulfill its no-smoking obligations, relevant departments may order rectification within a specified time and impose fines ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 yuan; for serious cases, fines may range from 10,000 to 30,000 yuan.

Article 19 states that individuals smoking in prohibited areas and refusing to heed warnings may be ordered to correct their behavior and fined between 50 and 200 yuan.