Compulsory Quality Testing On The Horizon For Vapes – Are You Ready?
There is no denying that it’s a challenging and complex time for vape, nicotine product and e-liquid manufacturers. In particular, the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill is set to transform the current landscape into one where regulation and accreditation become key.
We have talked before about innovation being the buzz word in the vaping universe, but now analytics, compliance and meeting regulatory needs are all frontline. Quality control is moving from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’ and a business essential.
The forthcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill give regulators the power to demand QC testing and they have previously shown that they would like it to be required with draft guidance on the topic. This will likley mean that the next 12-18 months will see the industry moving from the current situation where less than 10% of manufacturers routinely run pre-market testing, such as stability, batch release, 2ml volume, diketone and nicotine to one where such quality control measures are demanded by the regulatory authorities. With an extra 90% of manufacturers needing to demonstrate quality testing, now is the time to exercise effective due diligence in looking for the right analytics and compliance partner. There is huge variance in what is available and all is often not what it seems.
In the main, there are three types of companies operating in the fields of analytics and compliance for these products:
Those that are primarily focussed on analytics, but provide a little compliance support;
Those which deliver compliance provision and claim to also provide analytics but actually outsource it.
And preferably companies that have a balance of compliance expertise and in house analytical provision.
When researching a potential partner, find out if they really do have their own laboratory. Is it on-site? Is it shared with anyone else? Do they have full control over it? Is it UCAS accredited to ISO17025? (Don’t be fooled by Labs with ISO9001, this is nothing more than an administrative standard) Anything less is unlikely to be accepted by the regulators. There are companies out there, presenting themselves as having their own laboratory, when they don’t. Without that, they don’t have the level of control that your products and your business need. If they out-source analytics to external resources, flexibility and control are dramatically diluted and rapid response will be impossible. Significantly less than half of the Uks larger vape regulatory agencies have their own laboratory and none of the smaller ones do. Be pragmatic and sceptical. Don’t take their word for it – visit the facilities and reassure yourself that what you’ve been told is reality.
ADACT Medical – best in class and UCAS ISO17025 accredited
I’m very proud of the fact that ADACT Medical stands apart in the field. Not only is it the largest vape compliance, testing and analytical company in Europe, with more than 20 years’ experience of medical product regulation across the world, it also has an word class laboratory with state-of-the-art testing instruments and the very latest IT systems, where we test over 23,136 products for more than 320 customers. It’s taken £1 million of investment to create a gold-standard laboratory like ours at ADACT Medical. It’s UCAS ISO17025 accredited and also accredited to the equivalent standard in the United States.
Furthermore, we own it; it’s not shared with anyone else. It’s in the same building as our compliance and regulatory teams, so our teams have full flexibility and control. We can quickly test products and change priorities fast as the business needs dictate to resolve any issues that arise and create successful solutions for our clients. We know that having product sitting in warehouses is no good to anyone; we guide products through the system to expedite things and get products out of the warehouse and onto shelf.
Last Word
There has been a dramatic increase in professionalism within the industry and those who are embracing this are pulling ahead of the field - those that don’t match it will fall and be left behind. Manufacturers who are not working with a company like ADACT Medical will genuinely ‘feel the pain’ and struggle to keep up with the competition. If your company is not already exercising full quality control testing, you need to start making preparations in the near future.
ADACT Medical already works with a significant number of companies who demonstrate this level of quality testing - typically because it is a requirement of the big retailers. However, the landscape will be shifting to where this is a necessity for all. Having direct and speedy access to an UCAS-accredited lab – ADACT Medical - will be business-critical for manufacturers in the vape industry.