CICC Urges Quebec Government for Food-Grade License for E-Cigarettes

According to a report by CTV News on August 27, the Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC) has publicly urged the Quebec government to require that all e-cigarette products sold have a food-grade alcohol license.

CICC hopes to curb certain e-cigarette stores that are currently circumventing regulations on the sale of e-cigarette flavors through this initiative.

Since October 31, the province of Quebec has banned the sale of flavored e-cigarette products.

The association's vice president, Michel Gadbois, stated that

There are approximately 400 e-cigarette shops in Quebec that circumvent regulations by masquerading as convenience stores and selling flavored products in the form of food flavorings.

According to Gabuwa, at least 80% of e-cigarette stores are not compliant with regulations, while the non-compliance rate for traditional convenience stores is less than 5%. Due to these evasion behaviors, "depending on the region, we have lost market share in the e-cigarette product market by 2% to 50%.

By requiring all businesses to hold a liquor sales license, CICC hopes to compel these non-compliant enterprises to change their business models and comply with the law.

In order to obtain a liquor sales license for a grocery store, at least 51% of the display items must be food, and the minimum value must be $5,500. Additionally, the store must undergo a preliminary investigation and inspection by the Alcohol, Gaming, and Racing Commission (RACJ).

The CICC believes that relevant regulations can be quickly implemented through the issuance of alcohol sales licenses, without the need for the government to incur additional costs. This can be achieved through simple regulatory revisions.

Gabwa said that he submitted this proposal to the government six months ago, but to date there have been no changes.

We told them: we will publicly pressure them because it appears they are not eager to take action.

The CICC stated that the government was aware of the existence of violators but chose not to take action.

There were no charges filed, no follow-up, so there was also no punishment.

The media posed questions to the Department of Health, but did not receive an immediate response.

The association had previously expressed support when e-cigarette flavors were banned. They had requested the government to at least retain two flavors, mint and fruit flavors. However, Gabwa insisted that...

Obviously, flavors such as pineapple, cotton candy, and bubblegum should not be included, as they are all designed to attract younger people.