Liquid E-Cigarette Harmfulness Announcement Imminent... Industry Demands "MFDS Properly Disclose Analysis Methods"

Industry Takes Preemptive Measures Ahead of Human Harmfulness Study Results Announcement
Juul Requests Meeting with MFDS to Discuss 'Tobacco Analysis Method'
Vape Association "Denied Information Disclosure Request... Willing to Sue"

Convenience store GS25 stopped selling flavored liquid e-cigarettes on December 24 last year. On that day, a GS25 store in Seoul was seen removing the product from the shelves. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Sunghye] The liquid-type e-cigarette industry has called for a reconsideration, claiming there are issues with the harmful substance analysis process conducted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). This is seen as a backlash against the MFDS's decision last December to maintain a strong recommendation to stop using certain liquid-type e-cigarette products after detecting substances that cause lung disease. The industry is even prepared to take legal action to push for a re-examination.

According to the MFDS on the 21st, Juul Labs Korea recently sent an official letter requesting a meeting to discuss the tobacco analysis methods. According to the harmful substance analysis results for liquid-type e-cigarettes announced by the MFDS in December last year, vitamin E acetate was detected at 0.8 ppm (mg/kg) in Juul Labs' "Juul Pod Crisp." This substance is considered a harmful agent strongly suspected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cause lung damage. Juul Labs has suffered significant sales losses due to the suspension of convenience store sales and has recently begun restructuring.

At the time, Juul Labs stated, "We have not used vitamin E acetate as a raw material in any of our products," and "We will actively communicate with relevant authorities regarding the overall testing methods and analysis results conducted by the MFDS." The proposal for this meeting was made in the same context. It is known that the MFDS plans to announce the "Research Results on the Human Harmfulness of Liquid-type E-cigarettes" in the first half of the year, possibly as early as next month, prompting proactive measures.

The Electronic Cigarette Association, established to represent the positions of about 70 headquarters involved in e-cigarette import and distribution, 2,000 retail stores, and 600,000 users, is also actively responding to this issue. The association stated, "We requested information disclosure from the MFDS on the testing methods used in the harmful substance analysis results of liquid-type e-cigarettes on the 16th of last month, but it was rejected on the 7th," adding, "We are seriously considering filing a lawsuit for information disclosure."

This is the second information disclosure request following one on December 27 last year. The association explained, "At that time, the MFDS provided only minimal data, insufficient to conduct the same environmental tests, so we reapplied. However, the MFDS refused, stating the information is subject to non-disclosure." In response, an MFDS official said, "The association requested raw data (original unprocessed data collected during experiments or investigations), so we declined."

Kim Dohwan, spokesperson for the Electronic Cigarette Association, said, "We independently analyzed four products among those detected with vitamin E acetate at the private level, but none showed the presence of the substance," adding, "We cannot understand the MFDS's analysis methods at all, and we do not accept the claim that the information is subject to non-disclosure, so we are preparing for a lawsuit."

According to the association's own statistics, since the MFDS recommended refraining from using liquid-type e-cigarettes on September 20 last year, small business sales have dropped by 50%, and after the strong recommendation to stop use on October 23 last year, sales plunged by about 70-80%. Spokesperson Kim emphasized, "While we partially agree with the government's proactive measures for public health, such national actions must be supported by clear evidence," and raised his voice, saying, "The government is threatening the livelihoods of small business owners with unclear evidence."