The charter is the latest development by the company to address the challenge of illicit disposable vape products finding their way into the country which has led to many raids by Trading Standards on retail outlets selling them.
The company has been instrumental in closing factories manufacturing counterfeit products in China; issuing guidance on spotting fake products; working closely with the UK Vaping Industry Association and other retail trade associations on raising awareness of the issues in the disposable vape supply chain; and revamping its packaging and design to ensure utmost compliance with product standards and regulations.
In a crackdown on rising levels of malpractice across the distribution and retail of disposable vape products, the company’s new charter covers every aspect of the supply chain, from product sourcing to sale of devices to the customer. In the charter the company commits itself and its supply chain partners to:
- Sourcing components and ingredients of the highest quality and purity to ensure the unrivalled quality of products on the market;
- Robust new product development processes to ensure complete compliance with the rigorous approval requirements of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA);
- Stringent batch control so retailers and distributors can easily check if a product incorporates a UK batch number;
- Clearly set out distribution contracts in place with all distributors, stating which territories they can sell into based on legislation around e-liquid capacity and nicotine concentrations;
- Highly responsive product recall procedures, which will alert distributors immediately when such a situation arises so that information can be cascaded downstream in the supply chain;
- Transparency with health and safety product information by ensuring any details on identified hazards within the content of the product is communicated effectively to consumers on the packaging, in line with the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulations. As part of this process Geek Bar will carry out classification and labelling checks on every product produced.
- Adult focussed labelling which makes very clear that the products are only for sale to those who are 18 or over;
- Product authenticity checks for retailers and consumers so if they are in doubt about the product that they are buying they can confirm its authenticity by checking the security code which is clearly visible on the packaging at http://www.geekbar.com/security-code.html
- Tamper proof products through a new top-integrated seal on the packaging, which will allow consumers to open the vape product using a tear brace and will help detect any attempts to tamper with the contents during its movement down the supply chain.
The Charter also highlights the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability as the business embarks on a journey to net zero across its operations and supply chain, from sourcing to disposal.
Allen Yang, Chief Executive at Geek Bar, said: “Our Charter, which has been carefully thought through, is designed to set the bar very high when it comes to disposable vape standards in the supply chain. These standards have been under scrutiny in recent months as the category has attracted significant interest and demand.
“We have been working tirelessly over the last six months to review our business operations to ensure that no stone has been left unturned and ensure that adult smokers continue to enjoy the highest quality and safest vaping experience when using our products.”
He added: “We will not tolerate malpractice amongst distributors and retailers who want to supply and sell our products but do not do it legitimately. Through the development of the charter we are upping the ante even more to ensure rogue traders do not succeed in our marketplace.”
In the UK, regulations state that disposable vapes should contain no more than 20mg/ml of nicotine nor have above 2ml liquid capacity. Geek Bar Pros, manufactured for non-TPD markets where regulations are different and allow higher nicotine concentrations, have been amongst the non-compliant products finding their way into the UK market.
Yang also reinforced the company’s focus on greatly enhancing its environmental impact. “We have already made elements of our packaging recyclable and we want to go much further looking at our environmental performance across the whole supply chain. We will be looking at the sustainability credentials of those that we source from as well as other partners in the supply chain; the environmental impact of our manufacturing and global distribution operations as well as disposal of our products. Our aim is to become the greenest disposable vape manufacturer in the world.”
