China bans the sale of e-cigarettes on E-Commerce

On November 1, China National Tobacco Monopoly Administration and China’s State Administration of Markets issued the Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-cigarettes.

The regulator requires e-cigarette production and sales companies or individuals to promptly close e-cigarette Internet sales websites or apps; and urge e-commerce platforms to close e-cigarette stores in time and remove e-cigarette products in time; urge e-cigarette production and sales companies or individuals to withdraw Electronic cigarette advertisements posted via the Internet.

The government claims that e-cigarettes, as a supplement to traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes, have unclear safety and health risks.

The electronic cigarette industry currently has no standards in raw material selection, additive use, process design, quality control, etc. Some products have potential safety hazards such as leakage of smoke oil, low quality batteries, and the addition of unsafe ingredients.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, in order to strengthen the protection of the physical and mental health of youth, various market entities may not sell electronic cigarettes to young people under the age of 18. Any organization or individual should dissuade and stop the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

The notice requires that the tobacco monopoly administrative departments and market supervision and administration departments at all levels should earnestly strengthen the promotion and implementation of this notice to protect minors from e-cigarettes. The tobacco monopoly administrative department shall increase the market supervision of e-cigarette products, strengthen the monitoring, dissuasion, and suppression of the promotion and sale of e-cigarettes through the Internet, and investigate or notify relevant departments of all kinds of illegal activities discovered.