Updated: 13th January 2025
Updated: 13th January 2025
The Vaper Expo UK is set to kick off on 12 May 2023 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. As Europe’s biggest and most important vaping event, Chinese brands and manufacturers are gearing up to showcase their products in this flagship three-day exhibition.
The UK has no doubt been one of the priority markets for Chinese e-cigarettes producers and brands, partly because it is currently regulated under a more relaxed legal regime in comparison with other regions. In China, for example, Chinese producers are facing ever more tightened laws and regulations for production, marketing and sales of e-cigarettes within mainland China since March last year. Released in March 2022, the final version of the Administrative Measures for E-Cigarettes has imposed a ban on the sale of flavoured e-cigarette in China. The restrictions, however, do not extend to exportation of e-cigarettes to other countries, providing a narrow window for Chinese producers to access to moderately regulated overseas markets where e-cigarettes are considered as healthier alternatives.
Indeed, the opportunities are irresistibly tempting but it would be a dangerous misconception to believe that no one is looking over the shoulders of overseas e-cigarette producers. The recent queries into Elf Bar 600s, a top-selling vape in the UK, should be a warming to other Chinese players in this field. After meeting with Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) earlier this year, non-compliant Elf Bar 600s were required to be withdrawn from the market.
Chinese e-cigarette producers are generally aware of MHRA as the top regulatory authority for e-cigarettes in the UK, as well as the producers or importers’ notification requirements under Part 6 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR).
However, there are more to watch out for within the overall regulatory framework, from advertisement, labelling or environmental perspectives. For instance:
Product requirements: the TRPR’s requirements on nicotine concentration (20mg/ml maximum) and size of presentation (10ml maximum for refill container and 2ml for e-cigarettes). This is the area where Elf Bar 600s has fallen short.
It is an offence not to register according to the EEE, batteries and packaging regulations when required to do so, and enforcement action may follow.
Our corporate and commercial law team is comprised of mandarin-speaking lawyer qualified in mainland China and the UK, who has the insights and experience in advising current or prospect market players from China on regulatory compliance issues under UK e-cigarettes legal regime, as well as related commercial matters.
Jing Wang is a solicitor in the corporate and commercial team, based in the Bristol office.
Jing has been a qualified lawyer of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 2014 and in 2017 she qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales. Jing is fluent in English, Mandarin and Hokkien.
Jing joined the firm in October 2022. Specialising in corporate and commercial law, she frequently advises business owners and senior management on corporate deals, including share purchase or asset purchase, reorganisation and restructuring, management buy-out as well as general corporate matters, such as shareholders agreement, articles of association and corporate governance issues. From a commercial law perspective, she helps clients with a wide variety of commercial contracts, such as general business terms and conditions, supply agreements, manufacturing agreements, property management agreements, or framework agreements etc.
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