The Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (Ecta)

[kanadiankat]

The Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (ECTA) of Canada was formed last week. This Association was born from several months of discussions between competing Canadian vendors, consultants and legal advisors.

What is ECTA
ECTA Canada is a newly formed, industry-wide body that will create standards for the electronic cigarette industry in Canada.

The Association will follow the basic outline of ECITA (The Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association) – which is active in the UK and the EU, have faced similar policy issues that Canadians are struggling with, and have been successful in gaining market approval for their industry and engaging the participation of government regulators.

What does ECTA hope to Accomplish
ECTA is working to accomplish full and open market approval for all hardware, eliquid with and without nicotine – and businesses trading in electronic cigarettes as a “tobacco harm-reduction product”.

This involves compiling standards for the industry based on existing legislation and known product issues. ECTA will be assisting member businesses in reaching those standards and then ensuring that the standards are maintained.

These standards will cover everything from proper documentation for hardware, blind testing on eliquid, labelling, user manuals, standards for storage and marketing claims. Basically taking the industry from its current “wild-west” mentality to where it can be effectively monitored checked and corrected.

Who is going to do all this and will it be impartial?
ECTA has retained the services of an independent 3^rd party contractor to carry out legal research, test products, identify issues, assist members with compliance, perform audits and maintain records. ECTA will work with members of the legal profession as required and invite interaction with government regulators as the process develops.

Who is involved
ECTA was officially formed on November 17^th by 6 Canadian Vendors. Two more founding members were added within a week. These vendors serve as the ECTA Board of Directors and have committed their resources to fund ECTA and provide leadership for the industry as it goes forward. ECTA is still seeking the involvement of 2 more Founding Members (though open to 4 – for a total of 12).

The ECTA website is currently under construction. It will feature logos, news, updates and links to the founding member businesses. Founding members will also be identifiable by an ECTA compliant logo on their website. We will publish the website as soon as it’s ready.

As soon as ECTA has a full Board of Directors in place, we will be creating Members categories – to welcome many of the smaller or newer businesses who have been involved in discussions and/or interested in ECTA, as well as all businesses across Canada who are trading in electronic cigarettes as tobacco harm-reduction products. Every member – regardless of whether a Director or general member – will be held to the same standards of compliance, will have a vote and a voice in the Association.
If you have any questions - feel free to ask them here.

 

[NoizMaker]

Proud day to be a Canadian! Thank you Kat and the whole of the ETCA for finally accomplishing the first truly solid step forward!

 

[Switched]

Good news One question. Who is on the board of directors?

 

[robcope]

Hopefully they don't get to involved, over regulation can be just as bad if not worse then under regulation. Ensuring things are safe is one thing, but the wild west mentality is what has brought the industry so far in such a short time. Good luck and I do hope it all works as intended and doesn't just become something that is over regulated and over taxed.

 

[Mindfield]

I'm excited to hear an official announcement! I was talking with Sebastien at CEV last night and he had to cut the conversation short to attend the meeting, so it seemed like things were really getting under way, and this announcement shows that we've really, finally started down the road to some real regulation and standing that I am very hopeful can finally put together something real and substantial to bring to HC so that we can, with any luck and some hard work by our vendors, finally legitimize the E-cig and juice market in Canada. I know it's probably still a long road to travel yet, but at least we're making some tire tracks on it now.

 

[kanadiankat]

Good news One question. Who is on the board of directors?

Some of the Board are not registered suppliers, or active on the forum - so we are not announcing that here. That will be published on our website - which should be completed soon.

As the membership grows there will also be links to and from every members page.

 

[kanadiankat]

Hopefully they don't get to involved, over regulation can be just as bad if not worse then under regulation. Ensuring things are safe is one thing, but the wild west mentality is what has brought the industry so far in such a short time. Good luck and I do hope it all works as intended and doesn't just become something that is over regulated and over taxed.

Generally when an industry begins self regulating - it goes to a good place.

I'm failing to see how the "wild west mentality has brought the industry so far in such a short time"?? Could you explain a bit further?

The ecig industry has been inside Canadian borders for a few years now and most consumers don't even know what it is, advertising is next to impossible, people can't find products, can't pay using conventional means, order from outside the country and then have their items seized, or held for crazy amounts of time, have no way of knowing if the products will still be available tomorrow or next week.

The industry will be regulated - at some point - it has to be. Question is - who do you want doing this - some government committee that has no idea what the product is or can be - or the people who truely care about it's future?

As for taxes - well - if the government wants to set some special tax on ecigs (and there is no indication of that yet) - wouldn't it be better to have an educated and informed public making sure that discussion is open and transparent - rather than via some back door deal that no one knows or cares about?

Edit: I do get what you're saying about "over-regulation" - that usually happens though when a product or industry has somehow allowed their products to get outside of conventional controls and end up in a situation where there is potential harm or danger to the public. I know we're all hoping that never happens - but regulations are the only way to ensure it doesn't (and that if it does - it won't tear down the entire industry).

 

[Motivaper]

This is a huge step in the right direction - thank you to those vendors and individuals involved in creating ECTA!

I will certainly be signing on to participate in any way I can to further the cause of fair regulation, and once ECTA gets rolling, I believe all consumers will benefit by regulators awareness that vendors want to be regulated, not ignored or banned!

Keep the vape train rollin'!

 

[Chime]

Thanks for taking the fight to the hill so they can get the vendor side of the battle officialy, and hopefully it'll pave the way eventually for some of the consumer side. Beats just having it randomly dictated out by HC that's for sure.

 

[VIVAP2]

Ah, now I understand why I couldn't find anything relevant about ECTA when I seached it on the web last week. One day, I'll have the picture of the founder hanging on the wall of my office! Great initiative! I am a strong believer!

 

[Cokeybill]

Thanks for the info Kat. May all the plans get laid out like a runway and as smooth as your vape.
Cheers!

 

[smokum]

Congrats on the forward movement of ECTA.

I'm making this a sticky !

 

[Song]

ECTA was officially formed on November 17th by 6 Canadian Vendors. Two more founding members were added within a week. These vendors serve as the ECTA Board of Directors and have committed their resources to fund ECTA and provide leadership for the industry as it goes forward. ECTA is still seeking the involvement of 2 more Founding Members (though open to 4 – for a total of 12).

I woudn't mind joining if you let me know the requirements =D, my funding isn't very huge thou so i'm not sure how much I can contribute in monetary terms and i'm pretty new at this, but i've been spending all my time learning more about e-cigs.
btw I'm a newly registered supplier, just haven't made my own threat yet because i'm waiting on supplies.

 

[JayTheVapingGuy]

Congrats,

I truly hope that this new formation provides the stability and confidence in the industry that is needed to effectively help teach our local politicians that vaping is not some backroom crackhouse device and that this is a legitimate and life saving alternative to smoking.

cheers,

Jay

 

[SloHand]

ECTA! Congrats. This is definitely good news. How soon can you get registered with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada?

 

[Ayce]

Had to look that one up. Goes to show the Gov't has a hand in every pie.

Go ECTA!

 

[Netter]

ECTA was officially formed on November 17th by 6 Canadian Vendors. Two more founding members were added within a week. These vendors serve as the ECTA Board of Directors and have committed their resources to fund ECTA and provide leadership for the industry as it goes forward. ECTA is still seeking the involvement of 2 more Founding Members (though open to 4 – for a total of 12).

I woudn't mind joining if you let me know the requirements =D, my funding isn't very huge thou so i'm not sure how much I can contribute in monetary terms and i'm pretty new at this, but i've been spending all my time learning more about e-cigs.
btw I'm a newly registered supplier, just haven't made my own threat yet because i'm waiting on supplies.

I will PM you contact info.

Netter

 

[Anaconda]

Great to hear. I'm really glad that our vendors are standing up for themselves, and helping consumer's in the process. We all need a safe place to get our supplies, and we all want to be able to vape for however long we choose to. This is the best way the future of vaping can be ensured.

Awesome News!

 

[VIVAP2]

The following is an -almost- perfect french translation. I will admit, I didn't do the last part myself. My partner (french official translator) and I are more than willing to volonteer for english to french translation documents for this cause. We are waiting for more work to be done !:

ECTA - ACCCE

L'association canadienne du commerce des cigarettes électroniques vient tout juste d'être formée. Elle est le fruit de plusieurs mois de discussions entre fournisseurs, représentants et autres personnes concernées.


Qu'est-ce que ECTA?


L’ECTA est une toute nouvelle association qui a entrepris d’établir des normes de fonctionnement et d’exploitation de l'industrie des cigarettes électroniques au Canada.

C’est sur la base de ce qui a été fait par L’ECITA (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association) que l’association élaborera ses plans de mise en marché. En effet, nous faisons face au Canada aux mêmes défis politiques que l’ECITA qui est présente au Royaume Uni et aux USA et dont les démarches ont eu quelques succès quant à l'approbation de la mise en marché de leur produit aux yeux de l'appareil gouvernemental.

Qu'est-ce ECTA veut accomplir?

L’ECTA veut faire approuver, au Canada, une mise en marché complètement légale des cigarettes électroniques. Elle veut faire reconnaître toutes les pièces et les e-liquides (avec ou sans nicotine) nécessaires à son utilisation comme des produits étiquetés comme "moins nocifs que le tabac".

Ceci implique la compilation des connaissances déjà disponibles pour cette industrie en recensant ce qui existe déjà légalement avec ou sans restrictions. L’ECTA est là pour aider ses membres à atteindre les normes établies et aussi pour s'assurer que ces normes seront respectées.

Les normes couvriront tous les aspects de l'industrie incluant la documentation sur les appareils, les tests de contrôle au hasard sur les e-liquides, l’étiquetage, les manuels d'utilisateur, les conditions d'entreposage ainsi que les messages diffusés par les annonceurs. Fondamentalement ces actions auront pour effet d'élever le marché de la cigarette électronique à un niveau respectable, contrôlé et ajusté au besoin.

Qui va accomplir tout ça et est-ce que ça sera fait de façon impartiale?

L’ECTA a retenu les services d'une compagnie de tierce partie pour procéder aux recherches légales, tester les produits, identifier les points à être améliorés, assister les membres dans le respect des règlements, procéder aux examens de contrôles et archiver les données. L’ECTA travaillera aussi avec des juristes et favorisera, au cours du développement de ce projet, l'interaction avec les différents ministères concernés.

Qui est impliqué?

L’ECTA a été officiellement crée le 17 novembre 2011 par six fournisseurs canadiens. Deux autres membres fondateurs ont été ajoutés dans la semaine suivante. Ces fournisseurs formeront le conseil d'administration. Ils s’engagent à financer l’ECTA ainsi qu'à assurer le leadership nécessaire au bon fonctionnement de l’industrie à moyen et à long terme. Un total de douze représentants feront partie du conseil d'administration.

Le site internet de l’ECTA est présentement en construction. On y trouvera ses logos, les nouvelles, des mises à jour et des liens internet référant aux sites des fournisseurs membres fondateurs. Ces membres seront aussi identifiables par un authentique logo de l’ECTA sur leurs sites internet. Le site internet de l’ECTA sera mis en ligne aussitôt qu'il sera prêt.

Dès que le conseil d'administration de l’ECTA sera complet et fonctionnel, il va créer des catégories de membres de façon à accueillir la plupart des petites ou nouvelles entreprises qui ont été impliquées dans les discussions et/ou qui s'intéressent à l’ECTA ainsi qu'à toutes les entreprises au Canada qui font la vente des cigarettes électroniques en tant que produit moins nocif que l'usage tabac. Tout les membres, peu importe qu'ils soient directeurs ou simple membres, seront tenus de respecter les mêmes normes de conformités et auront droit de vote et à une voix dans l'association.

 

[kanadiankat]

Announcement:

A person has created a blog by the name of ECTA - for the sole purpose of discrediting a portion of the electronic cigarette industry. This person is in no way affiliated with or part of ECTA and is in copyright violation over the name. We are seeking legal advice on the matter.

Just a heads up if you run across it.