The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the largest trade body representing the vaping industry, is proposing three hard-hitting measures to prevent children accessing vapes and dramatically reducing youth vaping.
The trade body says that despite a ban on the sale of vape products to under-18s, “unscrupulous” retailers continue to sell to children and the scale of the issue has left regulators struggling to police the problem. As a result, UKVIA is proposing:
- On the spot fines of up to £10,000 for retailers who sell to under-18s with directors and owners of retail businesses.
- A compulsory retail registration scheme, with stringent qualifiers to join, education programmes for those selling vapes and the ability for trading standards to rescind registration for repeat offenders.
- A national test purchasing scheme, whereby retailers are regularly tested to see whether they are selling to under-18s.
The UKVIA proposes that fines are ploughed back to ensure adequate financing for trading standards to enable them to effectively police the growth of rogue traders who sell vapes to children. Mandating that all retailers are registered adds a further tool to enable trading standards to police them; not only will all retailers be compelled to put in place age checks, but will also be made aware of the potential penalties for getting it wrong, including losing their ability to sell vaping products. Both the registration and fines would also cover distributors selling illegal or non-compliant vaping products.
In addition, all retailers will be regularly tested to see whether they are adequately age checking customers. The test purchasing cost would form part of the registration fees which would also be used to fund heightened enforcement by trading Standards, UKVIA added.
The proposals come in the same month that the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards issued a statement calling for urgent support and clarification from the government “as the scale of non-compliant vapes and the concerns around underage sales are snowballing and getting out of hand”.
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA, said: “It’s time to get tough on those who are getting away scot-free and making lots of money from continuously breaking the law. No more knuckle wrapping, time to hit the offenders where it hurts hardest – in the pocket.
“By allowing trading standards to police the retailers more robustly and more effectively, I believe we can make a dramatic difference to the issue of vaping amongst young people.”
He added: “These proposals are designed not only to deter rogue retailers, but to allow the government, through trading standards enforcement officers around the country, to properly police the problem.
Adam Afriyie, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, said: “These proposals are just what is needed. Youth vaping has no place in today’s society and greater restrictions on access to these products must be the focus of addressing the issue. The government banned the sale of vapes to children back in 2015, but the worrying rise in usage amongst young people means that more must be done to effectively police the sale of these products in accordance with the law. Coming down hard on retailers who sell vapes to children is the right thing to do.”
