UK Vaping Industry Association welcomes government crackdown on rogue companies selling e-cigarettes

The UK Vaping Industry Association has welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to crack down on companies that sell e-cigarettes to children or trade in illegal e-cigarettes, and is urging the government to impose fines of up to £10,000 on those who do so.

UKVIA Director General John Dunne said the new announcement echoes calls the association has been making for more than a year. He added that it is important to tackle the illegal youth use of e-cigarettes while also recognizing the enormous value of vaping products in helping many addicted smokers quit.

Dunne said: UKVIA fully supports the government’s action to protect minors and urges the Prime Minister to ensure that this tough stance is backed up by equally tough enforcement.

“For a long time, some rogue companies have believed they were free to sell products intended to help adult smokers quit to young people, because they knew the chances of being caught were minimal at best.”

“Even when they are caught, fines—as low as £26—have no deterrent effect. So we welcome the review of penalties and reiterate our call for fines of up to £10,000 per offence, alongside a retail licensing scheme that includes age-verification requirements and strong enforcement by Trading Standards departments across the country.”

“Sadly, many Trading Standards departments do not have sufficient resources to tackle illegal and illicit e-cigarette sales, and this is something the government really must take very seriously now.”

“Data held by UKVIA shows there are very few prosecutions nationwide for underage or illegal sales, and this issue must be addressed urgently.”

The Director General added that unless rogue traders understand that selling e-cigarettes to children will hit them financially, they will continue to do so.

“We also welcome the announcement that the government is reviewing its position on zero-nicotine e-cigarettes. UKVIA has repeatedly gone on record calling for nicotine-free e-cigarettes to be brought under exactly the same regulations, to prevent their sale to anyone under 18 in the same way as nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. We hope they will now also be included in the same testing and registration process required for nicotine-containing liquids and devices.”

“We completely agree that it makes no sense to provide free e-cigarette samples to children—whether or not they contain nicotine—but any new measures the government introduces in this area must not undermine the extensive work being carried out by stop-smoking services across the country.”