The Latest On Juul: Congress Threatens Subpoena; China, India Halt Sales

E-cigarette maker Juul, partly owned by tobacco company Altria Group Inc MO, was notified by a U.S. House panel Wednesday that it is not cooperating with a congressional probe and may face a subpoena, CNBC reported.

What Happened In The US

A House subcommittee responsible for overseeing consumer product investigations looked into Juul's practices in June and said in a letter delivered to the company that it has not fully complied with requests, CNBC reported.

Lawmakers were interested in viewing a list of schools who financially benefited from an anti-vaping curriculum and details related to Altria's 35% stake.

"Those documents have not been produced," Subcommittee Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, was quoted by CNBC as saying in an MSNBC interview.

"When we questioned students at those seminars about what was said they said, for instance, that Juul representatives claimed that e-cigarettes were 'totally safe' and made other claims which, as you know, don't appear to be true."

What Happened In China

Sales of Juul products in China were halted in China just days after entering the market, The Wall Street Journal said in a Tuesday report.

Juul's vapes were suddenly removed from online retailers, and the company itself doesn't even know why, sources told WSJ.

"We look forward to continued dialogue with stakeholders so that we can make our products available again," a Juul spokeswoman told the newspaper. 

India Clamps Down

India also banned Juul, along with all e-cigarettes in the country.

"These novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavours and their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children," the Indian government said in a press release. 

Under a new law, e-cigarette sellers, manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors or advertisers in the country can be punished with up to one year in prison and/or a fine. 

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Photo courtesy of Juul.