State Tobacco Monopoly Administration Solicits Public Opinions on E-cigarette Management

On April 25th, 2FIRSTS learned from the official website of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration that the administration has issued three notices to revise three documents including the "E-cigarette Logistics Management Regulations," "E-cigarette Trading Management Regulations," and "E-cigarette Fixed Asset Investment Management Regulations." The administration is currently seeking public feedback on these proposed modifications.

Notice on the public solicitation of opinions on the "Regulations on E-cigarette Logistics Management (Draft for Solicitation of Opinions)

According to the Regulations on the Management of E-cigarettes (Announcement No. 1 of 2022 by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration), the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration plans to revise the "Regulations on the Management of E-cigarette Logistics" (Guoyanban [2022] No. 77) issued on June 2, 2022, taking into account the current status of e-cigarette logistics operations. The draft of the "Regulations on the Management of E-cigarette Logistics (Draft for Public Consultation)" and the explanation of the revisions are now open to the public for feedback.

Organizations or individuals can submit their opinions by emailing hehuandzy@tobacco.gov.cn from April 25 to May 8, 2024. Please indicate "Public Consultation on Regulations for E-cigarette Logistics Management" in the email subject.

1. Revision Background

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has issued the "Regulations on the Logistics Management of E-Cigarettes" (国烟办〔2022〕77号) on June 2, 2022. These regulations, also known as the "Regulations," have been in effect for over a year and have effectively regulated the logistics behavior of e-cigarettes. As the regulatory work has progressed, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has reviewed and refined the content of the Regulations based on the latest operating conditions of e-cigarette logistics. After seeking opinions and suggestions from various parties, the Administration has continuously streamlined and improved the content of the Regulations, resulting in the formation of the "Draft Regulations on the Logistics Management of E-Cigarettes".

Revise the main content.

The draft for soliciting opinions is divided into 6 chapters with a total of 32 articles. Compared to the previous regulations, the main changes in this revision include:

Firstly, some definitions have been clarified, such as adding Article 28 to define e-cigarette nicotine sales companies and specify their licensing scope. Secondly, the regulations for issuing logistics documents have been modified, such as amending Article 6 to change the production of logistics documents from companies to platform generation. Thirdly, new management requirements have been added, such as adding Article 17, which stipulates that during domestic transportation, e-cigarette manufacturers and service providers are not allowed to illegally export e-cigarette products, aerosols, or e-cigarette nicotine.

Notice on soliciting public opinions on the "Regulations for the Management of E-Cigarette Transactions (Draft for Soliciting Comments)

According to the "Regulations on the Administration of E-cigarettes" (Notice No. 1 of 2022) issued by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, in view of the current management status of e-cigarette transactions, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration plans to revise the "E-cigarette Transaction Management Measures (Trial)" (Guoyanban [2022] No. 77) issued on June 2, 2022. The "Draft of E-cigarette Transaction Management Measures" and the revision instructions are now publicly available for soliciting opinions from the general public.

Organizations or individuals can submit their feedback by sending an email to liningxs@tobacco.gov.cn between April 25th and May 8th, 2024. When submitting feedback, please include "Public consultation on e-cigarette trading regulations" in the subject line.

Background of the revision:

On June 2, 2022, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration released the "Regulations on the Management of e-cigarette Transactions (Trial)" (Guoyanban [2022] No. 77, hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), initially establishing a set of standardized rules for managing e-cigarette transactions. This essentially achieves full-process management of the e-cigarette industry from raw material supply to product circulation, making e-cigarette transactions more regulated in aspects such as market access, pricing mechanisms, contract management, and member management, ensuring the trading autonomy of various market entities. During the over one year trial period of the "Regulations," the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, based on the latest e-cigarette transaction situations, identified deficiencies in their work, solicited opinions and suggestions from various parties, continuously refined and improved the content of the "Regulations," and formulated the "Draft Regulations on the Management of e-cigarette Transactions (Solicitation of Opinions)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft Opinion Document").

Revision of main content

The "Draft for Soliciting Opinions" is divided into 6 chapters with a total of 30 articles. Compared to the previous "Regulations," the main content of this revision includes:

First, the regulations clearly define the subjects of various types of e-cigarette transactions, such as adding Article 28 to define e-cigarette import business enterprises and specify their licensing scope. 

Second, the specific content of overall management has been improved, such as enriching and streamlining the content of Article 18 on overall management, simplifying the description of overall management requirements for different types of products. 

Third, it standardizes the use of specialized terms and standardized language, such as using the uniform name "e-cigarette nicotine raw material sales enterprise" in Article 5. 

Fourth, it adds some management requirements, such as adding Article 19 on the record-keeping requirements for production enterprises conducting marketing activities. 

Fifth, it removes technical handling content unrelated to transaction management, such as deleting Article 10 on "platform automatically recording, analyzing, and analyzing transaction prices.

Notice on soliciting opinions on the "Draft Regulations on Fixed Asset Investment Management for E-Cigarettes

In order to implement the relevant policy requirements of the "Industrial Structure Adjustment Guidance Catalogue (2024 Edition)," and to further improve the organic connection between the "E-cigarette Fixed Asset Investment Management Rules" and national-level industry policies, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has researched and revised the "E-cigarette Fixed Asset Investment Management Rules (Consultation Draft)" to enhance the quality and effectiveness of regulation. The draft is now open for public feedback, and comments are requested before May 8, 2024 (7 working days from the date of publication).

The public can provide feedback by sending an email to donghaoming@tobacco.gov.cn. Please indicate "Draft Regulations on Fixed Asset Investment Management for E-cigarettes - Public Consultation" in the subject line.

Revision Background:

In order to strengthen the regulation of e-cigarettes and prevent the uncontrolled expansion of e-cigarette production capacity, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has officially released the "Regulations on Fixed Asset Investment Management for E-cigarettes" in April 2022, in accordance with the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Tobacco Monopoly", the "Implementing Regulations of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tobacco Monopoly", and the "Administrative Measures for E-cigarettes" (State Tobacco Monopoly Administration Announcement No. 1 of 2022) and other relevant laws, regulations, and normative documents. The "Regulations" have been in effect for two years and have effectively guided the fixed asset investment behavior in the e-cigarette industry, preventing the uncontrolled expansion of e-cigarette production capacity and providing strong support for bringing e-cigarettes into the realm of standardized and legal governance. With the deepening of regulatory work and the issuance of the "Guidance Catalog for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 edition)", it is necessary to make timely adjustments and improvements to certain content within the "Regulations" in order to ensure coordination with other relevant policy measures, enhance the effectiveness and operability of the "Regulations", and further strengthen their relevance and practicality.

Step Two: Revision Process

In order to implement the restrictive industrial positioning and related restrictive requirements of the "Catalog (2024 Edition)" on "new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes", and to ensure the organic connection between the "Regulations on Fixed Asset Investment Management for e-cigarettes" and national-level industry policies, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has conducted repeated research and discussions on key issues, made amendments and improvements, and incorporated feedback and suggestions from various parties, resulting in the formation of the "Regulations on Fixed Asset Investment Management for e-cigarettes (Draft for Comments)" to further enhance the effectiveness of supervision.

3. Main Revisions

According to the requirements of the "Catalog (2024 Edition)", the fixed asset investment approval scope and regulatory measures for the e-cigarette industry will be optimized and improved based on the actual operation of the industry.