<strong>China: STMA Requires Cyclic Use of Cigarette Case Packaging</strong>

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 07/15/2013

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) – the regulator of China’s tobacco industry – issued on June 5 a notice to proclaim its decision to launch a campaign of cyclic use of cigarette case packaging by all manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the tobacco industry.

The notice specifies that by the end of 2014, there shall have formed a package of mature and well-regulated working systems and operation mechanisms for the work of cyclic use of paper-based cigarette packaging cases, and the rate of cyclic use of cigarette case packaging in the relevant local provinces or provincial-level regions shall have reached 50 percent or higher.

By the end of 2015, the rate of cyclic use of cigarette packaging in the relevant neighboring provinces or provincial-level regions shall have reached 50 percent or higher, and Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) tags of cigarette packaging cases shall have been put into application by the tobacco industry in batches, the notice says.

Afterwards, efforts will be made to accelerate interprovincial cyclic use of cigarette packaging by the whole of the tobacco industry, according to the notice. Enditem