A statement released by Chinese regulators last week, explained that the ban aims to protect teens from having access to vaping products. Up until now, in China there were currently no regulations pertaining to the use and production management of e-cigarettes. In 2018, Chinese tobacco regulators urged the government to regulate the devices in the same way as other tobacco products.
“The company is waiting for specific notices [about the ban] and is discussing the relevant solutions, please be patient. As for the Double 11 event, we haven’t received any notification yet, and sales are going on as usual.”
At a press conference last Summer, head of the National Health Commission (NHC) planning department Mao Qunan, said that the organization was conducting research on the devices with the aim of regulating accordingly. “The supervision of electronic cigarettes must be severely strengthened,” he said at the time. The NHC “is working with relevant departments to conduct research on electronic cigarette supervision and we plan to regulate electronic cigarettes through legislation.”
Meanwhile, the newly released directive has ordered online shopping platforms to remove e-cigarette products from their sites. This measure certainly comes in response to all the scrutiny surrounding vaping products as a result of the EVALI outbreak in the US. Last September, Juul products were taken off Chinese e-commerce sites Tmall and JD.com, only days after being launched on the sites.
The websites claim they are waiting for specific instructions
In the meantime, despite the ban the products are still available on several shopping platforms including JD and Tmall. Additionally special promotions for the upcoming “Double 11” sales day on November 11, can be found.
“The company is waiting for specific notices [about the ban] and is discussing the relevant solutions, please be patient. As for the Double 11 event, we haven’t received any notification yet, and sales are going on as usual,” said a Tmall salesperson when asked about the ban.
A customer service agent for JD said something similar. “We are closely watching the situation. If we receive any further instruction from the platform [JD], we will immediately implement it,” he said, “We don’t sell to teenagers.”
Read Further: Global Times
