Vaping trade body calls for £10k fines for retailers indulging in underage sales

 UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the largest trade body representing the vaping industry, is calling for a range of get-tough measures to crack down on unscrupulous retailers who sell vapes to children and young people, including fines of £10k and a national retail licencing scheme.

A just released survey from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found that the proportion of children aged 11-17 who vape has risen from 4 percent in 2020 to 7 percent this year. It also found that disposable vapes are the most popular products among 52 percent of underaged vapers.

The UKVIA understands the need for the right balance between supporting adult smokers to quit without encouraging take up amongst under-18s and “never-smokers”.

This follows the association setting out a range of proposals to the Department of Health last week to address the issue of child access to vapes. These included the introduction of a licensing or approved retailer and distributor scheme whereby vape retailers (both online and in-store) and distributors on the scheme would pay a fee, adhere to strong age verification practices and commit that products they sell are both notified with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and compliant with Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation.

UKVIA also proposes serving increased penalties of at least £10,000 per instance on traders flouting UK law. Should two fines be issued, a retailer would lose its ‘approved retailer’ status.

UKVIA also recommend a national test purchasing scheme similar to the one UKVIA runs for its members to ensure all operations are performing to high standards when it comes to preventing youth access to e-cigarettes.

Ensure Trading Standards is effectively resourced, such that it can recruit and train officers, dispose of illicit products, and ensure its actions are an effective deterrent to rogue actors across the supply chain. Such funding would be sourced from the proposed licensing scheme and, eventually, from fines issued for illegal trading, says UKVIA, recommending adopting into UKVIA’s packaging, labelling and flavour names guidelines to prevent against branding that inadvertently appeals to non-smokers or under-18s.

The trade body has also called on to introduce non-nicotine containing e-liquids to the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR), saying “regulating all e-liquids in this way will further bear down on youth access and improve the quality of products offered for sale”.

“Its members work to strict supply chain and packaging, labelling and flavour name guidelines, but more is needed to bear down on rogue traders outside our membership who flout the law and have no qualms about selling vapes to minors,” UKVIA says.