About the Golden Shield Program

Preventing the production and sale of counterfeit e-cigarette products is one of the main challenges currently facing the e-cigarette industry. Counterfeit e-cigarette products pose serious potential health risks to consumers. While governments and local authorities work to implement stronger enforcement methods to rid the market of these harmful products, international e-cigarette companies can and should do more to aid them in this global fight to offer consumers products that abide by safety standards by undergoing stringent quality checks.

RELX established the Golden Shield Program in August 2019 to help prevent the production and sale of illicit e-cigarette goods. With the goal of safeguarding adult e-cigarette users’ right to access quality products., members of RELX’s Golden Shield Program utilize large amounts of data and other technologies to track down illicit e-cigarette products sold online and offline. The Golden Shield team actively works with online social media platforms, online e-commerce platforms, China’s Administration for Industry and Commerce, and local authorities throughout China to eliminate counterfeit vaping products from the market.

The Golden Shield team monitors and tracks illicit e-cigarette products sold online around the world. Through in-depth investigations, the team is able to discover and track the complete illicit product supply chain, including the production, distribution, and sale of illicit e-cigarette products.

The Golden Shield team has helped authorities launch 26 criminal cases related to the illegal production and sale of illicit or copyright-infringing e-cigarette products. Over 17,000 websites and 6,000 social media accounts have been taken down due to the Golden Shield team’s efforts and 110,000 illicit products have been removed from the market.