The regulation of electronic cigarettes is a complex issue involving multiple aspects, which requires the joint efforts of the government, enterprises, and the general public to achieve the healthy development of the electronic cigarette market.
1, At present, there are some difficulties in the investigation and prosecution of electronic cigarettes, mainly including the following aspects:
(1) The uniqueness of electronic cigarette products. Compared to traditional tobacco products, e-cigarettes have greater concealment and are easy to destroy, making it difficult to investigate and even drug-related e-cigarettes. Synthetic cannabinoids are added to the e-liquid, which is commonly known as "upper end e-cigarettes". In interviews with reporters, smoking drug-related electronic cigarettes has become a popular fashion among young people with strong concealment. According to the Beijing Daily, in the second half of 2021, Changsha police cracked a huge Internet trafficking case of new drugs synthetic cannabinoids, captured 781 suspected drug related people and detained 185 people. 156.81 grams of synthetic cannabinoids crystals, 3254.6 milliliters of e-liquid, and over 4800 e-cigarettes containing synthetic cannabinoids were seized. This criminal gang has a wide range of radiation areas, members of the gang are classified at or above level five, non-contact trafficking, and concentrated electronic cigarette oil.
Strong concealment (physical dilution and packaging in regular e-liquid), younger age groups (smoking and selling "post-00s", who graduated from high school and college respectively. One person earned 124 yuan from selling a synthetic cannabinoid e-cigarette, while the other person earned 1400 yuan from selling it multiple times.), fast spread (mainly in densely populated areas such as bars and schools), and other characteristics.
(2) Insufficient capacity of regulatory authorities. The rapid development of the e-cigarette industry has led to regulatory authorities being unable to keep up with the development of the e-cigarette market, resulting in regulatory gaps and increased difficulty in governance. The "milk tea cup," "cola can," and "planet cup," with 3 free shipping and direct delivery from the manufacturer, have been redesigned and packaged with toy and food shells like snacks. After testing, it was found that electronic cigarettes are essentially a marketing strategy of exchanging electronic cigarettes for "vests". There are more than 15500 flavors of electronic cigarettes, such as tar free, low toxicity, mint flavor, and fruit flavor. Only through "circuit breaker" and "traceability" network monitoring and publishing reporting phone numbers online 24 hours a day, closely monitoring the electronic cigarette black production chain, network, and micro end marketing signs, regulatory departments implement a full chain of cracking, tracing the source, and other electronic cigarettes can eradicate the entire black production chain.
(3) The cross-border characteristics of the electronic cigarette industry. The electronic cigarette market has the characteristics of internationalization and cross-border sales, which has led to an increase in the difficulty of cross-border tracking and crackdown. International production and sales. The production and sales of electronic cigarettes often span multiple countries and regions, involving production, sales, and regulatory processes in different countries and regions. Internationalized supply chain. The supply chain of the electronic cigarette industry involves multiple countries and regions, including the supply of tobacco leaves, batteries, circuit boards, etc., making the production and sales of electronic cigarette products cross multiple countries, making it impossible to track which country of origin is the product synthesized by multiple countries.
Cross border tracking of electronic cigarettes refers to tracking the entire process of electronic cigarette products from the production site to the final sales location. Production location tracking: Tracking the production location of electronic cigarette products is the first step in cross-border tracking. This requires investigating the supply chain and determining the original manufacturer and production location of the product. For example, if a certain e-cigarette brand is produced in China, the tracking process will involve searching for information about the manufacturer, investigating the location of the factory, and so on:
Transportation route tracking: Electronic cigarette products may pass through multiple transit points in cross-border transportation, and tracking the transportation route of electronic cigarette products can help understand the transportation situation and time of the products. If electronic cigarette products are shipped from the United States to China, they may pass through Hong Kong or other transit points, and the tracking process will involve searching for logistics records and transportation routes.
Customs declaration tracking: Electronic cigarette products need to go through customs during cross-border transportation. Tracking customs declaration information can help understand the import and export situation and declared value of the product. The tracking process will involve searching for customs declaration records and declared value.
Final sales location tracking: Tracking the final sales location of electronic cigarette products can help understand the sales channels and market situation of the products. For example, if a certain e-cigarette brand sells in the United States, the tracking process will involve searching for sales channels and sales data.