Tag: UKVIA

UKVIA Highlights Achievements in Review

John Dunne
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has published its latest annual review highlighting the progression and achievements of the association and the industry during the past 12 months. It also looks at the key priorities for the new year, particularly the opportunity to shape the Tobacco & Related Products Regulations following Britain’s exit from the EU.
The review covers the efforts by the UKVIA to address the misinformation that continues to mislead consumers about vaping, the success of VApril 2020 despite the coronavirus, the 76 percent increase year-on-year in membership, the work that the association is doing with its international counterparts to protect the interests of the sector and progress being by the different committees, including policy and regulatory, youth access prevention, standards and marketing
In his foreword, UKVIA Director General John Dunne applauds members and the wider industry for rising to the challenge of the pandemic. “The vaping industry is disruptive at its core, and it has an enormous capacity for adapting to that disruption,” he said in a statement. “The industry can be proud of what it’s achieved during the last year despite the disruption and challenges it has had to face up to.”
December 18, 2020
MP Backs Special Status Vape Stores

Mark Pawsey MP (Photo: UKVIA)
U.K. Member of Parliament Mark Pawsey, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, has called for vape stores to remain open during the Covid-19 lockdown to safeguard public health.
“Given its vital role in smoking cessation, even when compared to NRT [nicotine replacement therapy], the case for vaping’s essential status is growing ever stronger,” said Pawsey.
“Vape retailers do not just provide the tools for harm-reduction, but also the expert advice and support which empowers consumers to make a positive change. Now, more than ever, we should be safeguarding the country’s public health; vaping is an important part of that. Let’s support this sector, and all those who rely on it, by keeping vape stores open.”
Earlier this week, the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) urged ministers to consider the essential status for vape stores.
Doug Mutter
“I have seen first-hand how U.K. vaping has risen to every challenge this year, with new safety measures, business practices and routines,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA in a statement. “The passion for helping people in this industry is unrelenting, no smoker looking to quit is on their own. However, with government help we can do even more, because for many people the support of a face-to-face experience is vital.
“If the government does not grant essential status to vaping the impact on sales from stores could be as much as 45 percent-50 percent down,” said Doug Mutter, manufacturing and compliance director at VPZ.
November 5, 2020
Plea to Classify Vape Shops as Essential

Photo: VPZ
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has asked the U.K. government to reclassify vape shops as essential outlets during the upcoming Covid-19 related national lockdown.
In a letter directed to Business Secretary Alok Sharma, Small Business Minister Paul Scully and Public Health Minister Jo Churchill, UKVIA Director General John Dunne urged the government to consider the role of the vapor sector in terms of health and the economy.
John Dunne
“With vape stores remaining closed for a length of time and without access to their vaping supplies, many vapers and ex-smokers will be at risk of relapse back to smoking at these stressful times,” Dunne wrote.
“Economically, as I am sure you will know, vaping has been a UK plc success story and has supported the high street through the challenging environment experienced in recent years,” Dunne added. “Ongoing closure of vape shops, which in our opinion are providing an essential service to current vapers and existing smokers, would be hugely detrimental to the sector’s contribution to the national economy and the health of the nation.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, the U.K. is home to around 7 million adult smokers. Data also shows that currently around 3.2 million people vape in Great Britain.
November 3, 2020
Vapor Sector Concerned About U.K. Lockdown

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) expressed disappointment that the U.K. government failed to recognize the vapor sector as an essential business as it announced a new Covid-19 related lockdown.
John Dunne
“Whilst we recognize the predicament that the government faces, with data highlighting the worsening coronavirus situation across the country, as an industry we feel extremely disappointed that the vaping sector has once again been overlooked as one providing essential goods and services,” said John Dunne, director general at the UKVIA, in a statement.
“Only earlier this year Public Health England acknowledged the contribution played by vaping in helping smokers quit and recent research has again highlighted that vape products are much more effective than NRTs in helping smokers give up,” he said.
“The worse thing that we need to avoid happening is people being tempted back to smoking or not trying to quit as a result of the stress caused by this latest development.”
Dunne said it would be important for the vapor industry to reopen for business in early December—the target date for the end of the second lockdown—so it can maximize sales in the lead up to the Christmas holiday and and safeguard the thousands of people it employs in the manufacture, wholesale, quality control and retail of vapor products.
November 2, 2020
UKVIA Appoints Dunne as General Director

John Dunne (Photo: UKVIA)
John Dunne has been confirmed as director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) after a vote by the trade body’s full membership.
Dunne was previously responsible for the UKVIA’s member recruitment activity, where he oversaw significant growth in membership levels. He is also the UKVIA’s primary media spokesperson on television, radio and in print.
Dunne has a long and well-respected background in European vaping and has held senior positions at some of the sector’s leading firms. In addition, he has advised industry analysts and financial institutions on the vaping industry, both in the U.K. and globally.
The new role has been established to support future planned growth of the UKVIA, as it extends its role and influence, while building its membership base significantly.
“I am honored that the UKVIA membership has put its faith in me.,” said Dunne. “The association is well placed to go from strength to strength, with membership growing consistently despite the challenges of the pandemic.
“The next 12 months are hugely important to the vaping industry, with the government review of the Tobacco & Related Products Regulations set to shape the future of our sector. It is crucial that we have a unified voice to influence these regulations, for the benefit of the industry and the public health of the nation. We have already started formulating our contribution to the government’s review, working closely with all our members.”
October 19, 2020
Advocates Welcome Cessation Findings

Photo: Sergey Shibut – Dreamstime.com
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has welcomed new research that has found that vaping is 70 percent more effective in helping smokers to quit cigarettes than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as patches and gum.
The study undertaken by Cochrane, which reviewed 50 studies across the world, with more than 12,000 participants, also showed that an additional 60 percent could potentially quit smoking with nicotine containing electronic cigarettes. In addition, the review found that “there was no evidence that people using nicotine containing e-cigarettes reported more serious health problems than people using nicotine-free e-cigarettes, NRT or no therapy at all.”
John Dunne
John Dunne, director general at the UKVIA, said the findings add to a growing catalogue of evidence supporting vaping’s role in smoking cessation.
“Quitting cigarettes can be difficult, which is why adult smokers must have access to the most effective tools available,” he said. “This review underlines the enormous potential vaping holds for public health, particularly as the government aims for a smoke-free U.K. by the end of the decade. We call on all stakeholders, from policymakers to health professionals, to seize the opportunity which vaping represents, and to give smokers the best chance of quitting successfully.”
According to Dunne, the recent review builds on research by the National Institute of Health Research and Cancer Research UK, which shows that vaping was far more effective than nicotine replacement therapy products.
October 16, 2020
Vaping Group Calls for Continued Pragmatism

The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has urged British health authorities to continue their pragmatic policies on vaping.
Last month, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that Public Health England (PHE) was being scrapped and merged into the new National Institute for Health Protection. PHE has supported vaping as a vital tobacco harm reduction tool.
In the nicotine business, PHE is best known for its 2015 assertion that vaping is 95 percent less harmful than smoking.
“Whenever responsibilities are transferred there is a risk that invaluable institutional knowledge and memory is lost. This would be to the detriment of the U.K.’s millions of smokers and vapers and cannot be allowed to happen in this case,” said John Dunne, director of the UKVIA.
“The UKVIA calls upon the custodians of PHE’s former responsibilities, in the event that they are indeed reallocated, to continue their positive approach towards harm reduction technologies. Independent reviews, studies and statements, all focused on facts rather than hearsay, have been a cornerstone of a successful British vaping industry which supports adult consumers to make a positive change for their health,” Dunne said.
September 1, 2020
UKVIA: Stanford Vaping Study ‘Fundamentally Flawed’

Photo: lexphumirat from Pixabay
Contrary to what its authors suggest, a recent study led by Stanford University fails to demonstrate a causative relationship between vaping and Covid-19 infection, according to the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA).
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine recently found that among young people who were tested for the coronavirus, those who vaped were five times to seven times more likely to be infected than those who did not use e-cigarettes.
John Dunne
“Whilst we welcome any research which can assist people in staying safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, the UKVIA is disappointed by the Stanford-led study which appears to dismiss the vital harm-reduction role of vaping for smokers. The study draws disproportionate conclusions, is fundamentally flawed and inconclusive,” said John Dunne, director of the UKVIA.
“While the leader of the study, Dr. Shivani Gaiha, has attempted to account for study participants ‘sheltering in place,’ this metric is self-reported and as such may be unreliable.
“Dr. Gaiha’s study also considers ‘ever-use’ to indicate that a person is a vaper. When this is corrected for those who were vaping within 30-days of a Covid-19 diagnosis, the connection between vaping and the virus is no longer significant. To suggest that any use of a vaping product dramatically increases the chances of contracting Covid-19 is therefore a gross exaggeration.”
“Furthermore, the UKVIA is concerned to see the researchers taking a partial approach to this research and calling upon regulation as a result of dubious findings. Putting such a call out on the back of the research seriously calls into question its purpose.”
Dunne also noted that the issue of youth vaping observed in some other countries is not representative of the situation in the U.K.
August 18, 2020
Campaigning Against Underage Access

Photo: VPZ
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has teamed up with Trading Standards to prevent the underage sales of vapor products across the country.
With the support of Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards, the association has published the Preventing Underage Sales Guide—the first of its kind published by the U.K. vapor industry.
John Dunne
The guide covers current vaping age legislation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; use and best practice enforcement of the Challenge 25 rule; and dealing with the issue of proxy purchasing where an adult buys on behalf of someone under 18. It also advises on different forms of ID that can be accepted and methods of deception to be aware of as well as points to consider with digital age verification.
“The legal age to buy vaping products is 18, and we want to keep it that way by making it as hard as possible for minors to get their hands on vaping devices and e-liquids,” said John Dunne, director at the UKVIA. “This guide is designed to ensure consistency and high-level standards across the industry when it comes to age verification.”
August 4, 2020
UKVIA Wants Tax Parity With NRTs for Vapor

Photo: Steve Woods | Dreamstime.com
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is calling on the U.K. government to treat vapor products as nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) when calculating value-added tax (VAT).
The call comes amid reports that the Chancellor of the Exchequer considering reducing the VAT rates to stimulate the economy in the wake of the coronavirus.
In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UKVIA urges the government to consider a level playing field for NRT and vapor products to help adult smokers who would otherwise not quit smoking switch to vaping.
The letter points to the recent Public Health England report that found that when vapor products were used to quit, either alone or with licensed medication, success rates were comparable to, or higher than, when using NRTs alone.
John Dunne, director at UKVIA, said the vapor sector has been a major retail success story this century and is playing a major role in getting smokers to quit, thereby helping cut the annual cost of healthcare associated with smoking.
“Yet according to research nearly one in 10 smokers do not switch to e-cigarettes because they considered them to cost too much,” he said. “Ensuring that the price of vaping products remains much lower than cigarettes is vitally important in continuing to encourage the some 7 million smokers in the U.K., who otherwise do not quit, to make the switch.”
July 5, 2020