China seeks tighter scrutiny of electronic cigarettes, with plans to expand regulations on traditional tobacco use to cover vaping products and possibly quintuple their tax rate.
“Enforcement on ID requirements has really gotten strict since last year,” grumbles a worker at a RELX shop in the city of Guangzhou. RELX dominates China’s vaping market with a more than 60% share.
“The government is really cracking down,” the employee says.
The clampdown on an industry that has grown rapidly over the past several years endangers many of the 170,000 companies in the field. Beijing is expected to hammer out the details of these proposed changes soon.
Amended rules for tobacco products were announced in March, and China said the same regulations also would apply to e-cigarettes. Manufacturing and sales of vaping products are expected to be managed under a monopoly license system. Local media report that the tax rate for vapes, currently around 13%, may jump to match the 67% for their paper-wrapped counterparts.
Takashi Kawakami – Nikkei Asia – 2021-06-29.
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