China: Market and regulatory data analysis of the vaping sector

8th February 2024: US - Federal: Republican representatives Rob Wittman of Virginia and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois wrote a letter to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf asking for answers to enquiries they had sent to the agency in November 2023, media reports. “While we appreciate the recent joint federal operation resulting in the seizure of more than 1.4m units of illegal e-cigarettes in December 2023, much more needs to be done,” the letter reads. Wittman and Krishnamoorthi further highlighted that “illegal vaping products from China now make up more than half of all vaping products sold in the United States and contribute significantly to under-age vaping rates”. The lawmakers asked what the FDA planned to do to stem the flow of e-cigarettes from China and whether it planned to enforce legal proceedings against manufacturers.
21st July 2023: China: Yesterday, the China Tobacco Monopoly Administration published the Guidelines for Promoting the Building of Quality Assurance Systems for Exported Electronic Cigarette Products. The document reinforced companies' responsibility to ensure that products for export comply with the rules of the destination country and that Chinese rules apply when the destination country has no relevant legal requirements. Exports must be recorded in the national management platform within 30 days, and a traceability system for exported products will be established by the authorities.
10th March 2023: China: The Healthy China Action Promotion Committee instructed enforcement agencies to "severely crack down" on illegal underage and online sales. The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration is also planning to step up enforcement of the tobacco control rules, and increase oversight over production in order to ensure that only licensed manufacturers remain on the market.
2nd November 2022: China: As of yesterday, a 36% ad valorem tax is applied on production and import of e-cigarettes and 11% on wholesale. E-cigarettes for export are exempt from the consumption tax.
25th October 2022: China: Several state authorities have today jointly announced plans to levy a consumption tax on e-cigarettes. The Announcement on Collection of Consumption Tax on Electronic Cigarettes 33/2022 sets a 36% ad valorem tax rate on production and import of e-cigarettes and 11% on wholesale price from 1st November. The introduction of a specific tax was outlined earlier this year in the Policy Measures to Promote the Legalisation and Standardisation of the E-cigarette Industry, which said the tobacco administration should work with the relevant departments to formulate and promote the implementation of tax policies.
7th October 2022: China: The tobacco administration will accept objections from existing e-cigarette manufacturers starting tomorrow (8th October) until 31st October 2022. The tobacco administration published a notice reiterating that e-cigarettes made exclusively for export must comply with the regulations of the destination country or region. If the destination country does not have relevant laws, the products must comply with Chinese rules. E-cigarette manufacturers with a tobacco monopoly manufacturer’s licence who engage in exports should make export filings in the electronic cigarette trading management platform.
30th September 2022: China: On 1st October, the e-cigarette standard will enter into effect. Today, the tobacco administration published several documents regulating retroactive QR code labels and further clarifying the rules for foreign production companies, expansion of e-cigarette production capacities, and production licensing. Please note that access to official Chinese websites is not available outside of China.
29th September 2022: China: Ahead of the implementation on Saturday, 1st October, of the new national standard for e-cigarette products, the tobacco administration has published a notice reiterating that e-cigarettes intended for export must comply with the regulations of the destination country or region. If the destination country does not have relevant laws, the products must comply with Chinese rules. E-cigarette manufacturers with a tobacco monopoly manufacturer's licence who are engaging in exports should make export filings through the electronic cigarette trading management platform. The administration will accept objections from existing e-cigarette manufacturers from 8th to 31st October.
31st August 2022: China (Macau): The Macau Legislative Assembly has unanimously approved a government amendment to the New Tobacco Control Law, which prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution and transport of e-cigarettes. Until now, e-cig sales have been forbidden in the special administrative region, while limited imports for personal use were allowed.
15th June 2022: China: The national Unified e-cigarette trading platform was launched today. As explained in our report on Chinese regulation, the platform will hold information on licensed operators and all products sold domestically, as well as those intended for export after they are reviewed by the tobacco administration.
9th June 2022: China (Macau): Today, the Legislative Council of Macau supported the government amendment to the New Tobacco Control Law, which prohibits the manufacture, import and export of electronic cigarettes. Until now, sales have been forbidden, while limited imports for personal use have been allowed.

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