China Set to Ban Sale of Non-Tobacco Flavored Vapes

It’s bad news for Beijing’s vaping population with the Chinese government announcing their intention to ban the domestic sale of non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, all part of a new set of measures aimed at restricting and regulating vaping products standards. 

The new rules, which we first reported on when they were being mulled over last year, are set to come into effect May 1 and will restrict the availability of flavored e-cigarettes and vapes.

There's also a proposed ban of 122 flavors including various fruit, candy and alcohol flavors. In addition to this the rules will also prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes and vapes to minors, sales of e-cigarettes and vapes in vending machines and self-service checkouts.

E-cigarette and vape products will be moved under the direct control of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration which means they will be under the same rules as those governing the sale of ordinary cigarettes.

Under the new regulations e-cigarette and vape manufacturers and sellers will have to acquire licenses from the government and major brands like RELX will have to sell competitor’s brands in their Chinese stores.

The measures are aimed at targeting the issue of teen vaping which has been on the rise in China despite the ban of online vape sales and advertising in 2019. The move has been hailed by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who have said it’s “the right move to protect Chinese kids from these addictive products.”

According to the Global Times China’s e-cigarette market has had a compound annual growth rate of over 70 percent between 2013 and 2020. Although, the number of Chinese residents who vape is still considerably lower than Chinese smokers with a report by the World Health Organization estimating that 26.6 percent of adults (aged 15+) are smokers – around 300 million people, nearly one third of the world’s total. 

In wake of the new rules e-cigarette and vape users have been rushing to stock up on flavored e-cigarette pods and some shops have taken advantage of the increase in demand and raised the prices for flavored vapes and e-cigarettes.

However, some people have voiced concern that the ban will lead to many users, especially minors, simply switching to ordinary cigarettes, as there are numerous cigarette brands that produce fruity flavors. Currently it is unclear what long term effects these new measures will have on the e-cigarette and vape industry, but it looks like any fans of non-tobacco flavored varieties would be wise to stock up.

The full announcement (in Chinese) can be found here.

READ: Covid Lockdown Prep: What to Stock Up On, Just in Case

Images: Unsplash, Chiara Summer