Air exports from Hong Kong will see a boost following a decision by the government to reverse a ban on the transshipment of e-cigarettes and other vaping products.
Media reports claim the banned cargo amounts to about 330,000 tons a year – the equivalent of some 10 percent of Hong Kong’s annual export volumes by air, according to the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics (HAFFA), according to Loadstar.
The value of the re-export cargo affected by the ban was estimated to exceed CNY120 billion ($17.33 billion).
While some transshipment by air had continued to be permitted, beginning in April of last year, vapes entering Hong Kong by land or sea for onward transport by air were banned. However, with the bulk of these products made in neighboring Dongguan, exporters were keen to ship them via land to Hong Kong International Airport.
Once the proposal is passed, the goods will be able to enter Hong Kong through a secure channel on dedicated barges and be delivered straight to the airport.
“The scheme is only to facilitate direct transshipment through Hong Kong and the goods will not be available for domestic consumption. The proposal is in response to the demand of the Hong Kong air freight industry”, said Willy Lin, chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers Council.
“We hope we could get back some flights lost to competitor airports due to [the] stoppage of shipments of e-cigarettes and related substances through Hong Kong”.
Australia’s government says it will consider key changes including tightening importation rules and toughing up labelling laws for e-cigarettes in an effort to prevent youth use.
Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), will begin public consultation in four areas:
changes to importation and border control laws required to stop illegal products entering Australia;
pre-market assessments of vapes to create a regulated source of products for pharmacists and doctors to prescribe;
labelling, advertising and flavoring of vapes that make them attractive to children;
and stronger identification and regulation of nicotine-containing products.
Additionally, Health Minister Mark Butler announced menthol cigarettes will be banned, along with other cigarette flavors and additives, according to media reports.
The public consultation on vaping reforms will be open until Jan. 16. Butler will meet that same month with state and territory health ministers to discuss how a response to vaping can be coordinated nationally.
New graphic warnings for tobacco will be created, Butler said, and for the first time the government will look at requiring warnings like “smoking kills” on every individual cigarette, and changing the colors of cigarettes to be more unappealing.
He said the appealing names of products will also be tackled, health promotion inserts will be put into every cigarette packet and advertising regulations will be updated to include vaping products.
Tobacco control expert and member of the Australian Council On Smoking and Health, Maurice Swanson, said Butler had contributed to a “major step forward for public health and tobacco control in Australia”. But on vaping, he said Butler must “urgently” make the importation of all e-cigarettes prohibited, regardless of whether they contained nicotine.
“This regulation will empower Border Force to seize all e-cigs unless they are accompanied by a doctor’s prescription required by the TGA regulations,” he said.
China’s government in Hong Kong said on Monday that it wants to allow shipments of illegal vaping products through Hong Kong. A move it says will help the city keep its status as an international logistics hub.
The Transport and Logistics Bureau told a Legislative Council (Legco) panel that there has been a significant downturn in air cargo volumes since the ban on the import, sale and manufacture of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products took effect in April.
During the meeting, Deputy Secretary for Transport and Logistics Pamela Lam said authorities want to exempt sea-to-air shipments of the vaping products from the ban, according to media reports.
“Our transshipment of air cargo has dropped from May to October this year by about 18 percent compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, Hong Kong’s status as an international logistics hub will be seriously undermined,” Lam said. “So whilst we want to ensure the ban on importation of alternative smoking products, we would like to keep our status as an international logistics hub.”
Lawmaker Frankie Yick, who represents the logistics sector, said the authorities should go further and also allow illegal vaping products to be brought to Hong Kong by land.
“People in the trade would like to have the land-air transshipment to be allowed as well, this is very important because most of the products are made in Dongguan area. It’s more convenient and cheaper to transport that via land to Hong Kong International Airport,” he told reporters.
Another lawmaker, Jeffrey Lam, questioned why the authorities hadn’t realized sooner how logistics companies would be affected by the ban.
“When you drew up this piece of legislation, you should have taken all these into account,” he said. “Why did you not think about this long ago? You shouldn’t be talking about this only at this moment,” he said.
A bill amending the law to allow the sea-to-air shipments is expected to be tabled to Legco early next year.
More than 400 owners of independent vape shops are urging FedEx to reverse its rule banning the shipment of vapor products. A letter drafted by Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association (AVA), to FedEx Chairman and CEO Fredrick Smith, states that the shipping ban is a “misguided and unnecessary” policy that prevents combustible smokers from access to lower-risk products that could help them quit smoking. The signatories include representatives from every facet of the vaping industry.
Credit: John R Perry
“It also threatens thousands of small businesses like ours, which rely on common carriers like FedEx to ship the lifesaving products we stock every day,” the letter states. “Please reconsider this disastrous decision, which will perpetuate another generation of smoking-related deaths – especially among underprivileged communities.”
The letter also accuses FedEx of continuing to ship vapor products for a select few large vaping industry manufacturers. The letter claims that FedEx is “picking winners and losers” in the vaping industry, calling the practice discriminatory against small businesses and raises serious antitrust concerns.
“In addition to the hypocrisy, antitrust concerns, and blatant negative impact on marginalized communities, we can’t help but also notice an inconsistency in shipment policies of companies like yours. For example, it struck us as ironic that FedEx banned the shipment of our legal, lifesaving, and regulated products, yet they are failing to identify and stop the company’s own shipment of illegal pharmaceuticals – products that have proven to have disastrous consequences on our country,” the letter states. “Also, while we as a group do not express a position on the Second Amendment, it does seem odd that you continue to ship firearms yet are prohibiting us from stocking our store shelves with legal products.”
The U.S. Congress imposed new limitations on the shipment of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) through the United States Postal Service (USPS) by including ENDS products in an updated provision to the 2009 Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act. ENDS would now be subject to the same shipping laws as combustible tobacco.
The PACT Act has historically exempted business-to-business deliveries from the USPS ban. Specifically, the USPS ban does not extend to tobacco products mailed only for business purposes between legally operating businesses that have all applicable state and federal government licenses or permits and are engaged in tobacco product manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, export, import, testing, investigation or research.
While the legislation was geared toward nicotine vaping products, the law is so broadly defined that cannabis businesses must also comply. This means marijuana and CBD companies selling, manufacturing or shipping vaporizers or associated parts across state lines are required to comply with the provisions of the PACT Act.
FedEx regulations are harsher than those mandated by Congress. The company has prohibited the shipment of all vaping products to both businesses and adult consumers. The letter states that the FedEx regulations would have a greater impact on small businesses than on large companies who have sophisticated distribution networks.
“Because most vape retailers are small mom-and-pop shops, they do not have the ability to build in-house distribution networks like those utilized by big tobacco companies,” the letter states. “As a result, the consequences of this decision are largely being borne by small, independent vape shops and our customers. We rely on companies like FedEx to stock our store shelves and meet customer demand. These restrictions will inevitably result in unintended, but severe, consequences for us, our businesses, our families, former cigarette smokers, and those trying to quit smoking around the country.”
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has launched an online logistics survey for the vaping industry.
This action follows the decision of several delivery companies to stop carrying shipments of vaping products.
Reports have involved leading providers such as DHL, UPS and FedEx, resulting in varying degrees of disruption to deliveries in recent months. The UKVIA is keen to learn if any disruption is affecting products imported from countries within the European Union or if products imported from China and the USA are also being held up.
“The UKVIA is extremely concerned to hear of any disruption to deliveries of vaping products experienced by our members or any other businesses in the sector,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA.
“We will be closely looking into the response to this survey, to gauge the severity of the problems faced by businesses. The UKVIA will then be in a better position to take up these concerns on behalf of our members and the wider industry. I would encourage everyone eligible to take part in the survey or to get in contact with the UKVIA directly to flag up any individual logistics issues”
