At the end of last week, Xinhua News Agency wrote an article entitled “A fish escaped through the seine of the online vape ban? RELX and other e-cigarettes are hidden in social network platforms”, which are reposted by major websites and local network information offices.
Several well-known e-cigarette brands, led by RELX, were criticized directly, saying that under the national vape sales ban, there are still some missing fish left for online sales.
According to the article, there is no result in QQ group search with “e-cigarettes” as the keyword, but with “RELX” or “FLOW” as the keyword, there will be multiple QQ groups of dozens to 500 people. In addition, Wechat, Microblog and other social platforms have also become an important lead channel for e-cigarette sales to offline.
An agent advertised in an electronic cigarette exchange QQ group: “RELX, FLOW, vvild, YOOZ, ammo wholesale and retail, no quantity requirements, provide you with different price experience.”
In addition, the chao of Wechat sales channels is also the focus of this article, including whether the buyer is an adult, offline channel regulation and other aspects.
A provincial general agent who claims to be vvild e-cigarette said on Weibo that Weibo and Wechat can wholesale or retail e-cigarettes, especially after the large platform is banned from sales, the agent will become the most important shipping channel. This agent reassures the followers who intend to wholesale e-cigarettes. The brand of e-cigarettes he wholesale has covered more than 1000 convenience stores, KTV, milk tea shops and other business areas. “Don’t worry about the license, the Tobacco Bureau won’t check it, it’s no different from selling drinks. The retail price is 39 yuan. We can offer a wholesale price of 25 yuan here. ” No matter which social platform, when consulting to buy e-cigarettes, they won’t ask whether the buyers are adults.
According to the data released recently by the tobacco control office of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people aged 15 and over vaping in China is about 10 million. Young people are the main users of e-cigarettes. The age group of 15-24 years old has the highest vaping rate. The access to e-cigarettes is now mainly through the Internet, accounting for 45.4%.
The laws and regulations such as the tobacco monopoly law of the people’s Republic of China, the law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the protection of minors and other laws and regulations that Protect Minors from the Infringement of Traditional Tobacco do not involve e-cigarettes, which also causes that this notice has not received the first response from the social platform.
Li Ziwei, a lawyer from Tianyang (Beijing) law firm, and others believe that the legislative and regulatory authorities need to make clear the legal definition and production standards of e-cigarettes, and guide the manufacturers and distributors of e-cigarettes in accordance with the law. At the same time, the relevant departments can establish a recognition mechanism for the age of vape buyers, and treat adult consumers and minors differently.
