The mandatory national standard of electronic cigarette will be officially implemented on October 1 this year. The relevant person in charge of the State Administration of market supervision (Standards Committee) introduced the relevant situation today (13th).
Q: what is the background and main content of the national standard for electronic cigarette?
A: in November 2021, the State Council issued the decision on Amending the regulations on the implementation of the tobacco monopoly law of the people’s Republic of China (Order No. 750 of the State Council), adding Article 65, “electronic cigarettes and other new tobacco products shall be implemented with reference to the relevant provisions of these Regulations”. On March 11, 2022, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration formulated and issued the measures for the administration of electronic cigarettes, which will be officially implemented on May 1. The measures put forward that “electronic cigarette products should meet the mandatory national standards for electronic cigarettes”. Therefore, the formulation of mandatory standards for e-cigarettes is not only an important means to implement the above laws and regulations, but also an important technical support for the establishment of e-cigarette supervision system.
On april8,2022, the General Administration of market supervision (Standards Committee) issued the compulsory national standard GB 417 Shanghai Kehua Bio-Engineering Co.Ltd(002022) electronic cigarette. The standard is formulated by the National Technical Committee for tobacco standardization and relevant technical institutions organized by the State Administration of market supervision in conjunction with the state tobacco monopoly administration. The contents of the standard mainly include: first, clarify the terms and definitions of electronic smoke, atomization and other related terms; Second, put forward the principle requirements for the design of electronic cigarette and the selection of raw materials; Third, put forward clear technical requirements for electronic cigarette set, atomization and release respectively, and give supporting test methods; Fourth, it stipulates the marks and instructions of electronic cigarette products.
Q: what are the salient features of the national standard technical content of e-cigarette?
A: the measures for the administration of electronic cigarettes clearly prohibit the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes other than tobacco flavor and electronic cigarettes that can add atomization by themselves. Based on the regulatory requirements of the measures for the administration of electronic cigarettes, in line with the international regulatory trend and drawing on the international regulatory experience, the national standard of electronic cigarettes puts forward scientific and applicable technical contents, which is characterized by: first, it stipulates that electronic cigarettes are “electronic transmission systems used to produce aerosols for people to smoke”, and brings nicotine free electronic cigarettes into the definition of electronic cigarettes. Second, in view of the strong attraction of flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine free e-cigarettes such as fruits, food and beverages to minors and easy to induce minors to smoke, the standard clearly stipulates that the characteristic flavor of the product should not show other flavors except tobacco, and clearly requires that “the fog should contain nicotine”, that is, the e-cigarette products without nicotine shall not be sold on the market. Third, based on the use principle of additives, after full safety risk assessment and demonstration, experimental verification and extensive consultation, the standard clearly lists 101 additives that are allowed to be used and is included in the “white list” of additives.
Q: the national standard of electronic cigarette will be officially implemented on October 1 this year. What are the considerations for setting the implementation date?
A: according to the relevant provisions of Article 25 of the standardization law of the people’s Republic of China, products and services that do not meet the mandatory standards shall not be produced, sold, imported or provided. After the formal implementation of the standard, the electronic cigarette products sold on the market must meet the national standards. Considering that after the release of the national standard of e-cigarette, e-cigarette manufacturers need to carry out compliance design of products according to the standard requirements, complete product transformation, and apply to relevant departments for product testing and technical review, which will take a certain time, a 5-month implementation transition period is set. During the implementation transition period, e-cigarette manufacturers should carry out standard publicity and implementation training, deeply understand the technical content of the standard, and achieve product compliance as soon as possible.
