If a large part of the equipment dedicated to vaping is made in China, the country nevertheless seems ready to regulate the use of e-cigarettes in the public space. Indeed, Chinese tobacco regulators have recently called for global awareness and control over electronic cigarettes.
"PROHIBIT THE USE OF E-CIGARETTE IN PUBLIC SPACE"
According to the site thepaper.cn, Chinese tobacco regulators have called for global awareness and control over electronic cigarettes. Indeed, it should be noted that this alternative to traditional cigarettes currently operates in a regulatory gray zone within the framework of the national ban on tobacco use in public.
« We are currently asking the relevant departments to look into a regulation for a standardized control of electronic cigarettes and to ban their public use as for tobacco. ", said Zhang Jianshu, chairman of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association.
Currently, there are no regulations on e-cigarettes in China, whether in terms of tobacco control, care management or production, and no more regarding the use of e-cigarettes. in public places, as this product is not formally regulated as a tobacco product.
AWARENESS THAT WORKS AFTER SOME INCIDENTS
The call to ban e-cigarettes in public comes after several high-profile incidents triggered a red alert on the issue.
Last month, two Air China pilot licenses were revoked after a cockpit vaping incident caused the aircraft to make an emergency descent of more than 6 meters due to the sudden loss of cabin pressure.
In the same week, a passenger using an e-cigarette in a Beijing subway sparked a debate on social media about whether or not they should be considered traditional cigarettes.
According to Zhang, e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, so passive vaping can be dangerous.
At present, a few Chinese cities have already taken steps to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. For example, authorities in Hangzhou City, capital of Zhejiang Province in eastern China, now view vaping in the same way as smoking.
