The vaping industry is still a young industry. Nevertheless, its vitality and its desire to be recognized as a responsible industry led it to organize itself quickly to offer consumers quality and safety guarantees. Here are the main standards and certifications.

Afnor, a standard, a certification

The French standardization association (Afnor) is behind the experimental standard XP D90-300. This framework, set up with the help of health professionals, consumer associations and the Fivape (French Professionals Association), has enabled the French vaping industry to acquire the first world standard regarding vaping products. This standard is broken down into 3 parts :

  • The first (March 2015) concerns equipment. It specifies the general safety requirements for electronic cigarettes used with e-liquids (with or without nicotine).
  • The second (March 2015) relates to e-liquids. It specifies the general security and information requirements for e-liquids (with or without nicotine) and their packaging. It also offers a suitable analysis methodology.
  • The third (July 2016) is specific to emissions and therefore covers both devices and e-liquids.

In addition, and to reassure consumers, the Afnor certification was created. Unlike the TPD, which remains rather vague in terms of the composition of e-liquids, this guarantees the absence of substances

ISO 8317 standard : e-liquids out of the reach of children

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) summarizes this standard as follows : ISO 8317:2003 specifies the requirements and test methods for reclosable packages designated as resistant to opening by children. Acceptance criteria are given for the package when tested by specified methods. These methods not only provide a measure of the effectiveness of the package in restricting access by children, but also cover the accessibility to the contents by adults. ISO 8317:2003 is intended for type approval only and is not intended for quality assurance purposes.”

Simply put, displaying the ISO 8317 standard is giving consumers the guarantee that the product will be inaccessible to children. Concretely, any e-liquid bottle can only be opened by pressing the cap before turning it, an impossible manipulation for children.

ISO 9001 standard, a manufacturing process under control

The ISO 9001 standard provides a framework for the product design in terms of ingredients, the manufacturing process, and the quality approach. Represented under the acronym "PDCA" (Plan, Develop, Control, Adjust), a panel of criteria is put in place on the preservation of the environment, human resources, production, control of the product before it’s put on sale... The e-liquid must be designed in a quality management system.

HACCP certification and the NF V01-006 standard

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point according to European regulations) is a method for controlling the safety of foodstuffs. It was developed in the United States by a laboratory dependent on NASA. The objective is to prevent, eliminate or reduce to an acceptable level any biological, physical, chemical and allergenic hazards. The implementation of these control points within a production unit enables compliance with the NF V01-006 standard.