Strengthening enforcement is key to unlocking the true potential of vaping

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In March, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute published a report stating that one in three vape products in the UK may be non-compliant and that a third of shops knowingly sell vapes to those under the legal age of sale. This should alarm all those who recognise the role that vapes can play in bringing down smoking rates.

Vaping misinformation is a pernicious problem that the NHS has identified as a serious barrier to helping smokers switch. As the expert independent evidence review published by Public Health England (now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) found, the current best estimate is that e-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than smoking. Despite this finding, 32% of smokers wrongly believe that vaping carries the same risks or is more harmful than smoking.

If non-compliant vapes continue to dominate the news, this will diminish trust in all vapes – even those that are fully compliant with the safety measures that rightly exist to protect consumers. BAT UK believes that one of the most effective means to give smokers the confidence they need to switch to vaping is to tackle underage access and non-compliance head on. 

With the government’s response to Dr Javed Khan’s independent review on Tobacco Control due in the coming weeks, it is vital that the government presents solutions that can tackle underage sales and non-compliant vapes. Here’s our simple two-point plan to ensure vaping remains a safe and trusted tool to achieve our smoke free 2030 goals: 

• Strengthen vaping regulations to protect young people

Following the UK’s exit from the EU and the review of the UK’s tobacco and vaping product regulations, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen vaping regulation. Marketing and flavours are vital for helping adult smokers to switch, yet both are being abused by unscrupulous operators to target children and young people. This must stop.

While vaping flavours play a critical role in encouraging adults to switch from smoking, flavour descriptors and packaging that resemble confectionary and are clearly targeted at youth must be prohibited. Images and advertisements designed specifically to appeal to children must also be banned.

• Increase enforcement of existing laws

Tightening regulations will not solve the problem if it is not matched by enforcement efforts. The number of illegal supersized or super-strength vaping products seized in raids by Trading Standards has soared in the past year, with Trading Standards itself estimating that a third of all products on the market now are non-compliant. 

BAT UK supports measures to increase the powers and resources of Border Force and Trading Standards so that non-compliant products can be removed before they enter the UK market. The Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency also has a clear role to play and must step up its efforts to ensure non-compliant vapes are removed from sale.

No time to waste

Vaping is the key to delivering on England’s smoke free 2030 target and overcoming the health inequalities that divide the country. Labour must support action by authorities to enforce existing laws. Without this, trust in vaping will diminish and the incredible progress made in helping smokers switch could be at risk. The time to build A Better Tomorrow™ is now. 

BAT UK is a UK subsidiary of BAT. BAT is building A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of our business. From launching our first vaping device in the UK in 2013, non-combustible alternative nicotine products accounted for almost half of the revenue of BAT’s UK business in 2021.

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