In the afternoon of December 17, on the eve of the 2019 International Electronic Cigarette Summit, the representatives of the Electronic Cigarette Merchants Association from 7 countries including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia unanimously agreed that the World Electronic Cigarette Union Preparatory Committee was officially established.
Liu Yufeng, the full-time vice chairman of the China Electronic Cigarette Chamber of Commerce, said that the establishment of the preparatory committee will accelerate the co-construction of the International Electronic Cigarette Industry Cooperation Organization, promote the establishment of an international standard system for electronic cigarettes, promote trade facilitation, and international quality certification.
The preparatory meeting of the World E-cigarette Union is chaired by Lin Hanzhong, assistant secretary general of the China Electronic Cigarette Chamber of Commerce and vice-chairman of the E-cigarette Committee. In the future, the union or alliance will organize research and recommendations on national regulatory policies, research and exchange on industry technology trends, e-cigarette health and safety, clinical trial data sharing, Intellectual property protection, international trade circulation cooperation, international e-cigarette exhibition layout cooperation and other issues in the in-depth cooperation.
Representatives from the conference association agreed that strengthening public awareness and publicity protecting minors from e-cigarettes is a common task for everyone. It is necessary to form an alliance to promote the global development of the e-cigarette industry. As an organization and business enterprise of the e-cigarette industry, they must not only provide users with a new generation of consumer experience, but also shoulder a responsibility and mission for improving the public health and safety of e-cigarettes.
Consumers’ health, safety, and happiness are the most fundamental driving forces for the development of the electronic cigarette industry. To achieve sustainable and standardized development of the industry, global e-cigarette practitioners should reach a consensus and put the user’s health and safety and prevent the use of electronic cigarettes by minors in the first place. Increase product health and safety research and development, strengthen production process monitoring, improve product quality testing, and standardize marketing behaviors to make e-cigarettes healthier and safer.
For this reason, exploring the establishment of the World Electronic Cigarette Union is an inevitable need for joint development of the industry. In the absence of global regulation of electronic cigarettes, it is necessary to formulate general rules and labels for international markets, build bridges for communication and cooperation, and build on the basis of scientific research. They will produce higher quality products and establish a more effective market order.
According to the data provided by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, the total global sales of vape/ electronic cigarettes in 2019 is US $ 33 billion, a year-on-year increase of 106.25%, which is 14 times since the industry development in 2012, and China has dominated the global electronic cigarette industry. Leading the world in terms of patents, production capacity, supply chain, technology, etc. The new business model and economic growth points of e-cigarettes have great potential value. At the same time as the rapid development of e-cigarettes worldwide, there are also diversified standards and trade frictions between countries. Superimposed problems, such as uncoordinated safety regulations, have attracted widespread international attention on how companies around the world collaborate and cooperate in self-discipline development. The establishment of the World Electronic Cigarette Union will accelerate the industrialization and standardized development of electronic cigarettes, and has far-reaching significance.
Representatives attending the preparatory meeting were John Dunn, Chairman of the Board of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), Tony Abboud, Executive Director of the American Vaping Technology Association (VTA), Eddie, Secretary General of the Indonesian vaping association (APVI), and German chairman of the vaping trade association (VDEH) Michael, Chairman of the Korean Electronic Cigarette Association (KECA) Zhang Xiaojin, Senior Member of the Malaysian Electronic Cigarette Association Zeng Nongye; Chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronic Cigarette Chamber of Commerce Ou Junbiao, Executive Vice President Huang Guihua, Secretary-General Weinuo, et al.
