A new online platform has been launched to help retailers keep on the right side of the law when it comes to supplying and selling disposable vapes.
VapeWatch, the brainchild of disposable vape manufacturer Geek Bar, comes as the industry is under increased scrutiny for rising underage sales of disposable vapes and challenged by UK non-compliant products and counterfeits entering the country.
The platform provides a range of advice for retailers including:
- making sure that distributors have contracts to sell products in the UK;
- checking the packaging of vape products makes it clear that they are only for adults;
- implementing a vetting process to ensure the products they put on their shelves are checked and verified with the relevant authorities, such as the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) prior to placing an order;
- insisting on the supplier providing them with a “compliance file” per product to ensure the manufacturers are doing their due diligence and making the regulatory filings;
- reporting illicit products using online facilities that some disposable manufacturers, such as Geek Bar, have put in place to enable retailers and wholesalers to check the authenticity of products and report suspected counterfeits and non-compliant products.
It also provides access to useful resources such as vaping retail guides produced by the UK Vaping Industry Association and the Association of Convenience Stores to ensure that retailers are complying with regulations.
Allen Yang, Chief Executive at Geek Bar, said: “VapeWatch provides all the information for retailers, wholesalers and distributors to do the right thing. And if they don’t, it provides the tools to empower parents and schools to take action against those vape traders acting illegally.”
He added: “Purposely, we have not associated our brand with VapeWatch on the actual platform as we did not want it to be perceived as a promotional vehicle for our business but a genuine move to support the industry and other audiences in ensuring vapes are only used by former or existing adult smokers and that only compliant products are supplied and sold via online and offline retailers.”
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA, added: “The vaping industry is united in its absolute commitment and support respectively to ensuring that vapes do not fall into the wrong hands and imposing heavy fines on those retailers that continue to break the law. The UKVIA and its members are committed to making our industry better through a whole host of great initiatives in the area of youth access prevention and we applaud Geek Bar for the idea of VapeWatch to call out the rogue traders.”
