US Compliance Body Responds to New Regulation

On July 20th, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration released the "Guidelines for Promoting the Construction of Quality Assurance System for Export Electronic Cigarette Products" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"). The purpose of this release is to promote the legal and standardized development of the electronic cigarette industry, effectively prevent trade risks related to the export of electronic cigarettes, and enhance the quality and safety of exported electronic cigarette products.

In response to this, 2FIRSTS interviewed Ian Fearon, the Chief Scientist of McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors, a U.S.-based tobacco compliance consulting company, to seek his views on the "Guidelines." 

Ian told 2FIRSTS:

This is much-needed regulation on the quality of e-cigarettes exported from China and imported into numerous other countries around the world. 
The harm reduction potential of e-cigarettes is currently being eroded in many European countries including the UK, by poor-quality illicit products which don’t conform to European regulations and which may be placing users at increased risk. 

Clamping down on this will at least partly mitigate the potential damage that this trade is causing, and I welcome the Chinese government’s action in this regard.