"Cola, coffee, watermelon...... There are all kinds of flavors, and you don't need a lighter to 'swallow the clouds'." Non-national standard flavored e-cigarettes with a variety of flavors are quietly popular in the market, and this kind of e-cigarette is sought after by young people under the gimmick of "smoking cessation artifact". In fact, the sale of this fruit-flavored e-cigarette has been banned since October 1, 2022, but due to the prevalence of the Internet and the popularity of online trading software and online chat platforms, the sale of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes has moved to the "underground market".
Recently, the procuratorate of the high-tech zone prosecuted a case of illegal sales of e-cigarettes in accordance with the law. After trial by the court, Du was sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment, suspended for one year and six months, and fined 30,000 yuan, and Sun was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for one year and six months, and fined 10,000 yuan.
Case review
From October 2022 to March 2023, the defendant Du sold more than 3,000 boxes of fruit-flavored e-cigarette cartridges to the defendant Sun without a tobacco monopoly business license, making a profit of RMB 16,864. From October 2022 to March 2023, without a tobacco monopoly business license, the defendant Sun illegally sold fruit-flavored e-cigarette cartridges purchased from Du, as well as other fruit-flavored e-cigarette cartridges and e-cigarette sticks in stock, to others, making a profit of RMB 6,000. After identification, the test conclusion of the atomizer bomb involved in the case was counterfeit and shoddy e-cigarettes.
According to the prosecutor
In order to strengthen the supervision of e-cigarettes, in November 2021, the State Council issued the Regulations for the Implementation of the Tobacco Monopoly Law to include e-cigarettes in the management of cigarettes. The Measures for the Administration of E-cigarettes, which came into effect on May 1, 2022, clearly stipulate that to engage in e-cigarette retail business, a tobacco monopoly retail license is required, and the transaction of e-cigarettes is limited to the national unified e-cigarette trading platform, and the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors and e-cigarettes that can add atomizers by themselves is prohibited. According to the "Notice on Matters Concerning the Strengthening of E-cigarette Supervision" issued by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, from October 1, 2022, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes have been required to be fully removed from the shelves.
Du and Sun violated national regulations by selling fruit-flavored e-cigarettes without applying for a tobacco monopoly retail license, and the circumstances were serious, which violated the provisions of Article 225, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law of the Mainland, constituting the crime of illegal business operation.
Links to legal provisions
Article 225 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China [Crime of Illegal Business Operations] Whoever violates state regulations by committing any of the following illegal business activities, disrupting market order, and the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or short-term detention, and/or a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the amount of unlawful gains;
(1) Engaging in franchised or monopoly goods or other restricted items provided for by laws or administrative regulations without permission;
(2) Buying and selling import and export licenses, import and export certificates of origin, and other business licenses or approval documents provided for by laws and administrative regulations;
(3) Illegally engaging in securities, futures or insurance business without the approval of the relevant competent state departments;
(4) Other illegal business activities that seriously disrupt market order.
Prosecutor reminds:
In recent years, many people have labeled fruit-flavored e-cigarettes as "fashionable" and "healthy", and even called them "non-toxic and harmless" and "smoking cessation artifact". In fact, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes will induce teenagers with poor judgment and pursuit of novelty to smoke, which is easy to make people addicted. Not only that, flavored e-cigarettes are more likely to allow criminals to take advantage of loopholes and become carriers of new drugs.
The prosecutor solemnly reminded the majority of merchants that the sale of e-cigarettes must strictly abide by the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Tobacco Monopoly Law" and "Measures for the Administration of E-cigarettes" and other regulations, so as to operate in accordance with the law, and must not be blinded by interests and step on the red line of the law, otherwise they will be severely punished.
In addition, consumers are also reminded that fruit-flavored e-cigarettes add aldehydes, benzyl alcohol, terpenes and other flavors, and long-term inhalation of these substances in large quantities will affect human health. The majority of consumers should clearly understand that e-cigarettes are also harmful to health!