Nandu initiated the establishment of the "E-cigarette Industry Integrity Self-Discipline Alliance".
The first roundtable forum focused on the development of industry norms.
On August 24, the 2021 China (Shenzhen) E-cigarette Industry Standardization Development Forum sponsored by Southern Metropolis Daily and undertaken by Shenzhen Big Thing Media was held in Shenzhen. The forum deeply focused on the development of e-cigarette industry norms and the protection of minors, and invited experts and scholars from e-cigarette head enterprises, research institutions and upstream and downstream enterprises of the industrial chain to discuss and jointly seek the development of healthy and standardized e-cigarette industry.
At the forum, the members of the Nandu E-cigarette Industry Observation Research Group introduced the observation and research of the research group on the e-cigarette industry in the past two years. The research group found that due to the fact that the national standard for electronic cigarettes has not yet been introduced and the technical threshold is relatively low, there have been some market-disrupting behaviors in the electronic cigarette industry, such as counterfeit and shoddy "three noes" products, wild tobacco bombs, online sales of electronic cigarettes, the stigmatization of regular electronic cigarettes by "upper e-cigarettes", and loopholes in juvenile protection measures.
How does the e-cigarette industry embark on the road of standardized, standardized and international development? Effectively ensuring product quality and safety and protecting minors from e-cigarettes are important topics that must be seriously considered in the process of the industry's forward development, which is the purpose of this forum.
It is worth noting that at this forum, Nandu initiated the establishment of the "E-cigarette Industry Integrity Self-Discipline Alliance", and the first batch of 8 head e-cigarette companies became members of the Alliance and signed the Alliance Convention.
Chen Wending, deputy secretary of the party committee and general manager of Southern Metropolis Daily and chairman of Shenzhen Dashi Media, said in his speech at the forum that he hoped that practitioners in the e-cigarette industry could actively carry the banner of social responsibility and make up for the shortcomings and loopholes in the development of the industry. In the case that the national standard for e-cigarettes has not yet been introduced, it is more necessary to strengthen industry supervision and enterprise self-discipline, and take the road of healthy, standardized and orderly development. It is hoped that this alliance convention will become a guide to action for the normative development of e-cigarette companies.
Zhong Guoping, Director of the Data Management Center of the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Sun Yat-sen University:
It is recommended to increase basic/clinical research on the industry to provide a more solid data foundation for the implementation of regulatory policies
For the public and regulatory authorities, the safety of e-cigarettes is a core concern. Compared with overseas, e-cigarette clinical research in China is still in a relatively blank stage. In the keynote speech session of the forum, Zhong Guoping, director of the Data Management Center of the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology of Sun Yat-sen University, pointed out that the basic research and clinical research of the domestic e-cigarette industry are weak; the non-clinical and clinical safety data are still insufficient.
With the rapid development of the e-cigarette industry in recent years, Zhong Guoping suggested that the industry should actively encourage the strengthening of basic research and clinical research on e-cigarette products to obtain sufficient non-clinical and clinical safety data to provide a key basis for the development of e-cigarette products.
Zhong Guoping pointed out that e-cigarettes have introduced relevant laws and regulations and regulatory policies overseas. Among them, the United Kingdom has formulated a sound e-cigarette regulation. In the UK, e-cigarette-related advertising has been severely restricted, and manufacturers must also report the details of all products to the UK Medicines and Health Products Authority.
Zhong Guoping suggested that China should increase basic research on the e-cigarette industry, so as to provide a more solid data foundation for the implementation of regulatory policies. The research on safety, material basis, in vivo dynamics, and improving user experience and quality of life all have very important social significance and great social value.
Wen Yilong, co-founder of Wuxin Technology and head of R&D and supply chain
Standardized development is the lifeline of the industry Facing problems directly can also help the industry wake up to itself
Are e-cigarettes safe? What are the implications for public health? Is it an industry with positive social value? As a representative of the enterprise, Wen Yilong, co-founder of Wuxin Technology and head of R&D and supply chain, said in his keynote speech that practitioners have the obligation and responsibility to answer these questions. At the same time, facing the problem head-on can also help the industry wake up to itself and promote the development of norms. Scientific research work is the guide for standardized development and the basis for quality assurance.
Standardized development is the lifeline of e-cigarette companies. As an e-cigarette company, Yueke's understanding of standardized development is mainly reflected in the safe products, continuous scientific research and protection of minors. Among them, safe products are the premise of standardized development. In response to the question of whether e-cigarettes are safe, Wen Yilong admitted that e-cigarettes are not absolutely harmless, and it is not suitable for non-smokers and minors. However, whether a specific brand of e-cigarettes is safe or not requires enterprises to prove it through solid and excellent products.
In addition, Wen Yilong also introduced some scientific research projects related to atomization technology, including physical and chemical research, toxicological research, clinical research, and overall public health assessment. Wen Yilong said that he hopes that the summarized knowledge and experience obtained in these studies can provide more and more solid data and support for the development of the industry.
Safe products are the premise of standardized development, but as an e-cigarette company, it is even more necessary to answer the question of who made the product for. Wen Yilong said that opposing the sale of e-cigarettes to minors is the bottom line of all e-cigarette companies. In December 2019, Yueke launched the "Sunflower" intelligent guardian system, through which customers can complete the triple age verification of "name-ID number-face recognition". In the future, the "Sunflower" system will also be further upgraded, urging store operators to implement the mandatory age inspection system before purchase.
Finally, Wen Yilong also called on all practitioners in the e-cigarette industry to take the public interest as the guide, abide by regulatory regulations, and regulate healthy development under the guidance of the management department. In addition, under the premise of the joint efforts of e-cigarette companies and self-restraint, they also need the support and supervision of users, the public, and management departments, and the standardized development of the upstream and downstream industrial chains.
Roundtable forum
Theme: Looking for the development of industry norms
There are many entrants, and the industry needs long-term belief
Entering the roundtable of the forum, the first roundtable focused on the difficulties and pain points faced by the e-cigarette industry and looked for a way to standardize the development of e-cigarettes. At the first roundtable forum, Wen Yilong, co-founder of Shenzhen Wuxin Technology Co., Ltd., Zeng Huabin, deputy general manager of the domestic business department of Shenzhen Leiyan Technology Co., Ltd., Dr. Zhong Guoping, director of the Data Management Center of the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology of Sun Yat-sen University, and Mao Peng, senior partner of Guangdong Shengdian Law Firm, brought their sharing.
Under the prosperity, the development of the industry is also facing painful difficulties
Looking at the changes in the industry in recent years, e-cigarette practitioners such as Wen Yilong and Zeng Huabin have given the most intuitive feelings. E-cigarettes have gradually become more and more subdivided tracks from traditional cigarettes, and now they have once again moved from the niche to the public, and players have sprung up in recent years, and the development of the industry under the prosperity is also facing painful difficulties.
In Zeng Huabin's view, the problem of additives in the e-cigarette industry, e-cigarettes, protection of minors, and wild tobacco bombs have become painful difficulties in the development of the industry. Behind this is the short-term profit of practitioners and the performance of not being responsible for consumers and the industry in the long term. He appealed: "To protect the principled long-termists, and make it difficult for practitioners of short-term behavior to profit, make it difficult for them to do things, and raise the threshold of entry." ”
How to build long-term capabilities for the development of the industry?
Specific to all aspects, how to create long-term capabilities for the development of the industry? All the guests gave their opinions. In Zhong Guoping's view, the lack of solid basic research is one of the current constraints on the development of the e-cigarette industry. The construction of the industry's long-term capabilities can be landed on basic research such as clinical and non-clinical, such as ingredient addition, and the head enterprise should set up a clinical team like a pharmaceutical company and even incorporate medical experts into the important consulting force of industry development, which is a direction that can be considered.
In response to the wildcard problem in the industry, Mao Peng also gave new thoughts. Taking the Apple charging line and the domestic Apple charging line as an example, Mao Peng believes that if the head enterprise wants to reduce the situation of wildband, it is necessary to improve the technical content of the smoking equipment and smoke bombs produced by itself in many cases, so that the threshold of plagiarism and imitation is further raised. For example, the smoke produced by the manufacturer has some special designs and patents, so that others have no way to imitate.
In addition, practitioners also called for the introduction of national standards for e-cigarettes as soon as possible.
In the view of Wen Yilong and Zeng Huabin, compliance operation has always been the main theme of the development of the industry, and the existence of chaos will not cover the voice of the main theme. Among them, the transmission of correct industry information and the industry information to consumers and the public are also inseparable from the participation of the media.
Theme: Corporate Responsibility and Responsibility
Standardize operations from the source, and the protection of minors is the red line of the industry
The second roundtable forum focused on the protection of minors.
The bottom line should not be touched at the point of sale
Kong Yang, co-founder and vice president of Shenzhen Ono Technology Co., Ltd., believes that although the novel and attractive appearance of e-cigarette products is easy to attract young consumer groups, it is not contradictory to protect minors from e-cigarettes. Because the new things in one industry will have their own selling points when they grow up, which is something that other industries are also experiencing. But in the e-cigarette industry, not selling e-cigarettes to minors is the bottom line, as a responsible enterprise, in the sales terminal should certainly not touch this bottom line.
Chen Weilin, co-CEO of Shenzhen Zhongchuang Wulian Technology Co., Ltd., also mentioned that from the current store sales data, there are more users in the age group of 18-35 years old, and in the return visit to customers, it was found that the mentality of young people who love to try new things may be one of the reasons for the low age of e-cigarette consumer groups.
In addition to the increase in awareness, avoiding minors from e-cigarettes is also inseparable from the implementation of actions. Kong Yang, co-founder and vice president of Shenzhen Ono Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that in the process of selling e-cigarettes, the company will require customers to verify their real-name authentication and face recognition, and will only sell after confirming their identity. At the same time, the staff of offline stores will also be regularly trained.
Li Chen, co-founder of Shenzhen Non-I Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the company has independently developed a chip, and the electronic cigarette with this chip must be connected to the mobile phone APP activation before it can be used. In addition, in view of the situation that some minors will mistakenly use other people's electronic cigarettes, this APP also adds a child lock, when the electronic cigarette is idle, customers can lock the electronic cigarette through the child lock in the APP. Li Chen said that even if the user forgets to lock the e-cigarette, there is a limited number of mouths in the e-cigarette stick, and the minors can only smoke the remaining number of mouths even if they smoke by mistake.
In response to the problem of the proliferation of "three noes" electronic cigarette products such as wild-matched cigarette bombs, Li Chen introduced that the company has implanted a new chip in a newly launched product recently, with this chip, other electronic cigarette cartridges cannot be used on the cigarette pole of this product, and there must be an identification system to avoid the problem of wildcard at the technical level.
In addition, Zhao Hailun, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Huashang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., also mentioned that on the issue of preventing minors from e-cigarettes, the company will also be strict in the selection of distributors. At the same time, in terms of site selection, avoid some schools nearby, or expand stores in places where young people and minors gather.
The efforts of all sectors of society are required
At the regulatory level, Zhao Helen believes that preventing minors from e-cigarettes requires the efforts of all parties in society. In addition to the implementation of national regulatory policies, media public opinion supervision and guidance, families and schools should also assume certain social responsibilities, more objective and correct understanding of e-cigarettes, so as to strengthen supervision and avoid minors from contacting e-cigarettes.
"Not disseminating tobacco information to minors is the responsibility and responsibility of all sectors of society. E-cigarette companies must make it clear in their brand promotion that their core users must be smokers, and are not suitable for non-smokers, especially minors. From the perspective of the media, Li Ying, director of the Commercial Science and Technology News Department of the Shenzhen News Center of the Southern Metropolis Daily, said that Nandu has been paying close attention to the protection of minors, and will also pay close attention to the marketing and publicity activities of e-cigarette brands, and resolutely put an end to relevant publicity to minors.
Producer: Nandu Electronic Cigarette Industry Observation Research Group Coordinator: Nandu reporter Cheng Yang Wrote: Nandu reporter Chen Yingshan trainee reporter Yan Zhaoxin