Child-appealing vapes are off-limits, declares vape tech supplier giant
Smoore International, the world’s largest international vaping technology and manufacturing company, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has vowed not to work with brands who use flavour names, packaging or product designs which are attractive to children.
The announcement comes as the government’s consultation on e-cigarettes, which is focused on addressing youth vaping, closes midnight today (6).
The company, which creates the atomisation (vapourisation) technology that is contained within the vaping devices, wants to rid the industry of flavour names such as "cotton candy", "gummy bear" "watermelon bubblegum" and "blueberry popsicle", as well as stealth products which could be hidden inside a teenager’s pencil case and product designs which look like toys, soft drinks or cartoon characters.
It has created a list of flavours that it will not be involved with and is setting up a vape flavour detection squad to monitor the market for new flavours coming onto the market that could be considered as being appealing to minors.
“The vape industry represents the best chance the world has ever seen to eradicate deadly cigarettes and we cannot allow this opportunity to be squandered," said Rex Zhang, Strategy Director at Smoore.
“Vaping was invented for this very purpose and we need to ensure that it is focussed on the adult smoking market.
“There is absolutely no place for any vaping product to look like a child’s toy, be shaped like a much-loved cartoon character or iconic children’s game or be filled with liquid called ‘gummy bear, cotton candy, strawberry milkshake or starry violet.”
Every single company under Smoore’s umbrella has been ordered to undertake a root-and-branch review to ensure that none of its products or those of its customers on the OEM and ODM side of its business could be seen as appealing to children.
If Smoore finds the brand owners have any products which it deems to be child-friendly, it will work with them so that immediate corrective action can be taken, but could ultimately discontinue all cooperation if changes are not made.
Smoore, whose ground-breaking heating technology is found in one of every three of the world’s rechargeable pod vapes, is putting its customers on notice of its new clampdown.
Just like a "no-fly list" imposed by airlines around the world, it wants to see an industry "no-buy list" so that no more child-friendly products are offered for sale.
“We want other companies to follow our lead on this because we have to ensure that we stop young people vaping and we strongly believe that this must happen regardless of what the government ends up doing," added Zhang.
“We cannot squander this opportunity to help secure a smoke-free generation and, in order to do this, we need both the general public and governments on our side.
“It is only by uniting as an industry from beginning to end and making a clear commitment to doing all in our power to tackle youth vaping that we will be able to achieve this.
“The UK has always been seen as a world-leading example in fair and proportionate regulation of the vape industry and let’s not give them any reason at all to move from that position.”
As part of the move to tackle child appealing vape devices, Smoore has also called for more standardisation of product sizes and shapes which it believes will also help “faster disassembly at waste treatment sites, helping to increase recycling rates of vapes.”
In addition, it wants to see every batch of disposable vapes and pre-filled pods being randomly sampled for product compliance, with whole batches, typically 100,000 devices, being rejected if any number of non-compliant products are identified.
Such measures are necessary to motivate the compliant brands and producers while punishing the offenders. A strict, yet open, marketplace will encourage more innovations in the industry to create products that will serve its job even better with every new generation.
Taking Smoore’s own recent innovation for example, the FEELM 2.0, gives consumers more value and makes the product more environmentally friendly by offering 1,000 puffs in a 2mL tank compared to the average of 600 puffs in older vapes.
The non-exhaustive list of flavours that Smoore has identified as being child friendly includes:
Skittles
Rainbow
Cotton Candy
Donut
Gummy Bear
Bubblegum
Slushy
Starburst
Pink Pop
Ice Cream
Milkshake
Popsicle
Starry Violet
Reindeer
Snow
Christmas
Fruit Smash
Dr Reptile
Sour Patch
Oreo
Jolly
