Recently, a business owner who opened a convenience store in Guangdong left a message on the official website of the Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and asked two very representative questions: One is whether e-cigarettes need to be certified to be sold offline; the other is whether it’s legal that county bureau administrators force offline stores to remove vaping products.
The staff of Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau replied and made it clear that “e-cigarettes are not tobacco monopoly products and do not apply to the adjustment of the Implementation Regulations of the Tobacco Monopoly Law”. Based on this clear answer, it can be concluded that e-cigarette business does not need a tobacco monopoly license.
The message board on the official website of Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau shows that the message time is April 14, 2020, and the reply time is April 23, 2020. The staff also explained the responding unit at the end, “Responsible unit: Monopoly Office of Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company)”.
Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Burea also denoted that the production and operation of e-cigarettes shall comply with the circular on banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors (Circular No. 26, 2018 of the State Administration of market regulation and administration and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration), and the circular on further protecting minors from e-cigarettes (Circular No. 1, 2019 of the state tobacco monopoly administration and the state market regulation and administration).
The staff from Monopoly Office of Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau didn’t mention the second question in the reply.
