SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)-- Announced at an exclusive digital event, RELX International launched its initiative, RELX Pledge, centered around the protection of minors, consumers, and economic livelihoods respectively.
At the event, RELX International pledged to contribute to the communities in which it operates, under three key pillars: Guardian Program, Golden Shield, and Green Shoots.
Speaking at the conference, Leina Chedid, Head of Marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, discussed RELX International’s Guardian Program – a initiative that stretches from product development to sales, preventing and discouraging the use of vape products by minors through joint efforts with retailers to step up on-site identification.
Leina Chedid said: “Since our inception, youth prevention has been an integral part of RELX International’s core company values. Our Guardian Program applies across all our sales and marketing and supports effective legislation and regulation to prevent the purchase and use of our products by minors.”
Joining Leina, RELX International’s Global Head of External Affairs, Jonathan Ng, announced the steps the brand is taking to ensure that there is industry-wide action taken to prevent e-cigarette use among minors, including eradication of counterfeit products.
The vaping company says its Golden Shield initiative, a partnership with a number of its stakeholders including engagement of customs officials, is designed to safeguard consumers by helping to eliminate counterfeit, contraband, and compatibles from the e-cigarette market.
Jonathan Ng said: “RELX International is proud to ensure that its products are only manufactured to high quality standards with stringent inspection controls. Unfortunately, there are many counterfeit RELX and other smuggled products of unknown content out there. We are working closely with investigation firms, e-commerce platforms and local authorities to weed out such products from the market.”
RELX’s Golden Shield has assisted in 28 successful cases, removing over 550,000 fake products from the market and over 77,000 websites since 2019.
Jonathan also discussed RELX’s Green Shoots Program an initiative created to give back to the community, using the brand’s experience to help other aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners get their businesses on track to business growth and success.
He added: “Startups and small businesses are the economic backbone of societies around the world. As a company that grew from a startup ourselves, we understand the numerous challenges that small businesses encounter daily. Through the Green Shoots programme, we hope to share our experience and knowledge to help them get on the right track towards growth and success.”
As part of this scheme, RELX Academy will see the company sponsor courses curated by leading global universities to equip budding entrepreneurs with the skills to succeed in starting their own businesses.
The RELX Academy is currently in pilot phase in the Philippines. Each regular Philippines RELX Store partner receives support of up to PHP 300,000; RELX International will provide Academy participants with additional product support of up to PHP 1,700,000.
Jonathan Ng added: “The RELX Pledge is designed to help introduce a new era of responsibility and safety in the vaping industry.”
“We genuinely hope it will provide a better future for everyone, meaning that only genuine RELX products - all produced to high standards of reliability - are used by adult vapers or adults looking for an alternative to smoking cigarettes.”
“Protecting minors is an issue we take very seriously, as our Pledge commitment shows. We sincerely hope that others in the industry take this lead and also commit to this new era of responsibility.”
Components of the RELX Pledge will be rolled-out globally (excluding Mainland China and the United States) throughout 2021, and will be further enhanced in 2022. The RELX Pledge will be localized in countries in which RELX International holds a market presence to account for applicable local customs, cultures, and traditions.
Furthermore, the company will provide regular updates on the progress of the RELX Pledge intiative to ensure its strategic goals and objectives are being met. RELX International executives will be regularly measured on their performance on corporate and social responsibility metrics, of which the RELX Pledge will be a fundamental pillar.
For more information on the RELX Pledge, please visit: www.relxnow.com/pages/pledge.