Changes in Vardex's Display of "Honest Labels" Cause Controversy

On May 24th, 2FIRSTS, an electronic cigarette vendor in Russia, noticed that the Vardex online retail platform had changed its method for displaying "tracing labels". Products registered with the "tracing label" would no longer receive individual labels, but rather have them displayed collectively at the bottom of the website. In response, the 2FIRSTS Moscow news team interviewed a representative from BABYLON, the parent company of Vardex, for their perspective on the matter.

Babylon is one of the largest electronic cigarette dealers in Russia. Vardex is their online sales platform for electronic cigarettes and they represent well-known brands such as ELFBAR, LOSTMARY, and NOKO.

The responsible staff at BABYLON have informed 2FIRSTS that Vardex is undergoing a comprehensive compliance overhaul and will only sell products that have been registered with a "Tracing Label". The spokesperson explained that Vardex is currently removing products that have not been registered with the label and adjusting its website by prominently displaying the "Honesty Label" at the bottom of the page, instead of selling products with and without the label as it previously did.

Furthermore, 2FIRSTS has discovered notices on the Vardex website announcing the closure of several brick-and-mortar stores. In response, a spokesperson for BABYLON stated that this is a normal business adjustment and the closures are due to poor performance of those specific stores. BABYLON has also added new stores in high-potential consumer areas.