In order to promote the legalization and standardization of the governance of the electronic cigarette industry and effectively prevent the risks of export electronic cigarette trade, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration formulated the Guidelines on Promoting the Construction of the Quality Assurance System for Export Electronic Cigarette Products (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, rules and normative documents, and published them on July 20, 2023.

The Guidelines consist of 18 articles, the main contents of which are:

First, it is clear that enterprises are responsible for the construction of quality assurance management system for export e-cigarette products;

The second is to clarify the main contents of the construction of the quality assurance management system for export e-cigarette products, including quality and safety standards, sorting out the process, equiping production resources, improving various systems, standardizing product packaging, tracing logistics and transportation, and export declaration and filing;

The third is to clarify the specific requirements for the construction of quality assurance management system for export electronic cigarette products.

Here's the full story:

Article 1 In order to promote the legalization and standardization of the development of the electronic cigarette industry, effectively prevent the risk of export electronic cigarette trade, and promote the production enterprises related to electronic cigarettes (hereinafter referred to as enterprises) to actively build a quality assurance system for export electronic cigarette products, These Guidelines are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tobacco Monopoly, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tobacco Monopoly and the Measures for the Administration of e-Cigarettes (State Tobacco Monopoly Administration Announcement No. 1 of 2022) and other laws, regulations and normative documents.

 Combined with the actual situation of enterprises, actively docking international advanced technologies, rules and standards, focusing on improving product quality, ensuring product safety, and comprehensively improving the overall level of quality and safety of export e-cigarette products.

Article 3 Enterprises shall be fully responsible for the quality and safety of export e-cigarette products produced and operated by them, carry out production and operation activities in accordance with laws and regulations, and accept supervision and management.

Article 4 An enterprise shall ensure that its export products comply with the laws, regulations and standards of the destination country (region); If the destination country (region) does not have relevant laws, regulations and standards, it shall comply with the relevant requirements of Chinese laws, regulations and standards.

Article 5 Enterprises shall establish a quality assurance management system that includes all elements, the whole process, and all data, ensure the effective operation of the system, and ensure that the procurement of export e-cigarette raw materials, product production, storage, and transportation continue to comply with relevant laws and regulations and quality safety requirements. Encourage mature enterprises to participate in the relevant quality system qualification certification.

Article 6 Enterprises shall clarify the quality and safety standards of export electronic cigarette products, formulate the operating procedures for the testing of raw and auxiliary materials, semi-finished products and finished products, implement quality and safety testing, and form test reports or certificates.

Article 7 The enterprise shall systematically sort out the technological process to ensure that it can sustainably and stably produce products that meet the quality and safety standards specified by the enterprise, strengthen business operation training, and ensure that the staff can operate correctly in accordance with the process.

Article 8 Enterprises shall ensure that the production resources equipped with their own production or commissioned processing meet the relevant requirements, including:

1. Appropriately qualified and trained personnel;

2. Secure plant and space;

3. Applicable equipment and maintenance support;

4. Qualified raw and auxiliary materials and packaging materials;

5. Qualified storage and transportation conditions;

6. Other necessary production resources.

Article 9 An enterprise shall establish a supplier evaluation system, a purchase inspection record system, a production record file system, a factory inspection record system, a commissioned processing product inspection record system, a product traceability system and a nonconforming product disposal system. The relevant records shall be true and valid, and the retention period shall not be less than 6 months after the expiration of the shelf life of the product.

10th export of electronic cigarette products box, box packaging shall be marked with tobacco monopoly production enterprise license number, product name, production batch number and production date. Among them, the boxes and boxes of export electronic cigarette products commissioned for processing should be marked with the license number of the tobacco monopoly production enterprise of the entrusted electronic cigarette production enterprise.

Article 11 The domestic and international logistics transportation of the export of electronic cigarette products shall meet the relevant safety requirements to ensure that the whole process can be traced.

Article 12 Enterprises exporting electronic cigarette products shall truthfully declare to the customs according to law, and shall record relevant information on the national unified electronic cigarette trading management platform within 30 days after the export declaration.

Article 13 Where the export of electronic cigarette products has quality and safety problems and has caused or may cause damage to human health, the enterprise shall immediately stop the production of relevant products, take corresponding measures to avoid and reduce the occurrence of damage, and report to the local tobacco monopoly Bureau.

14th export of electronic cigarette products due to quality and safety issues notified by international organizations, overseas government agencies, enterprises shall immediately report to the local tobacco monopoly bureau, the relevant enterprises shall accept the tobacco monopoly Bureau in accordance with the law to carry out the verification process.

15th State Tobacco Monopoly Administration will build export e-cigarette product quality traceability system, improve enterprise quality safety credit supervision, to achieve the export of e-cigarette product quality safety supervision of information, networking, intelligent. Tobacco monopoly bureaux at all levels should strengthen joint supervision with customs, market supervision, taxation and other departments.

Article 16 Export of electronic cigarette products refers to the electronic cigarette products produced by enterprises that are not sold in China and are only used for export. The quality assurance system construction of nicotine and atomizer for export electronic cigarettes shall refer to these Guidelines.

Article 17 The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Guidelines.

Article 18 These Guidelines shall come into force on the date of promulgation.