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Tag: United Kingdom

  • ‘Boris Johnson’ to Keep Vaping Legislation on Westminster Agenda

    ‘Boris Johnson’ to Keep Vaping Legislation on Westminster Agenda

    Photo: Riot Labs

    E-liquid manufacturer Riot Labs delivered a life-sized replica of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Westminster in an attempt to get vaping legislation back on the agenda for the new Labour government.

    Ex Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tried to bring in some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules and wanted to ban disposable vapes, ban flavors and ban branding, which Riot Labs said would be “a disaster for the vape sector and the millions of adult smokers trying to quit cigarettes.”

    Rishi’s plan failed to become law before he called an election, but Labour recently expressing its commitment to the generational tobacco ban.

    A recent study conducted by One Poll and commissioned by the U.K. Vaping Industry Association found 83 percent of surveyed vapers say flavored vapes helped them ‘pack in their smoking habit’. It also found one in three respondents (an estimated 1.5 million vapers) believes a ban on flavors would lead them back to conventional cigarettes.

    The Royal College of Physicians too has warned against a wholesale limiting of flavors accessible to adults, arguing that “The use of flavors by adults trying to quit smoking is an integral part of the effectiveness of vaping as a quit aid.”

    “This year has been a tumultuous one for the vape sector, with the government trying—and ultimately failing—to rush through unjustified new vaping laws which would have been dangerous for millions of adult smokers trying to quit” said Riot Labs CEO Ben Johnson.

    “The reality of Sunak’s vaping legislation is giving people less choice, less value and ultimately less reasons to quit smoking at all. Now Labour’s in power, smoking and vaping policy will be back on the lengthy to-do list and we’ll be taking the fight to policymakers to stand-up for the vape sector.”

    The Boris stunt comes a month after Riot Labs and Right Vape, Northampton vape shop, took aim at the vaping legislation with the opening of the “The Flavourless Vape shop.” Opened by Rishi Sunak lookalike Sanju, the launch of the shop took an unexpected turn when “Rishi Sunak” was egged by an angry member of the public who mistook him for the real prime minister.

    “We are massively in favor of laws to tackle youth vaping, such as a fully funded license scheme for retailers, but we strongly disagree on the government’s approach to a flavor ban,” said Ben Johnson.

  • BAT to Introduce Vape Vending Machines

    BAT to Introduce Vape Vending Machines

    Photo: evannovostro

    BAT plans to introduce vape and nicotine pouch vending machines in pubs in the U.K., according to Better Retailing.

    The company is hiring at least 12 representatives to target on-trade establishments with the aim of “securing new locations for vending machine and other business development solutions to ultimately increase sellout of specific BAT-related products.”

    Areas being targeted include Basingstoke, Birmingham, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Coventry, Crawley, Edinburgh, Exeter, Maidstone, Reading, Royal Tunbridge and Sevenoaks.

    Six-month trial contracts are set to start on June 24 “with ambition to extend into 2025 and beyond.”

    “BAT U.K. is excited to be working on a project to sell our Vuse and Velo brands via age-gated vending machines,” said a BAT spokesperson. “At BAT, our purpose is bold: to build A Better Tomorrow. We will do this by reducing the health impact of our business, including by reaching our adult consumers where they use our alternative nicotine products. Vending machines represent an exciting opportunity to further deliver on our purpose.”

    In response to concerns about underage use, BAT stated that their “machines will use best-in-class age verification to ensure that this essential principle is maintained.”

  • ‘Trading Standards Underfunded’

    ‘Trading Standards Underfunded’

    Image: doethion

    Trading Standards, the agency tasked with enforcing U.K. consumer protection laws and fair trading practices, needs more money to enforce the country’s vape legislation, according to an analysis commissioned by the Association of Convenience Stores.

    The study found that the agency needs £168.34 million ($213.45 million) over five years to properly carry out its responsibilities. This figure represents a near 30 percent increase in net budgets for Trading Standards and takes into consideration the cost of enforcement officers, training, detection dogs, legal fees and product disposal.

    The U.K. government previously committed to a £30 million annual enforcement top-up; however, it appears only one-third of the funding boost would have actually been assigned to Trading Standards, according to the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA).

    “The ACS-commissioned analysis shows that a huge funding boost is needed if we are to rain down on illegal vape sellers with the full force of the nation’s dedicated, but under-resourced, Trading Standards officers—a cost that the U.K. government has yet failed to meet but one that could be covered by the sector’s comprehensive licensing framework,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne in a statement.

    “It’s rare for an industry to advocate for its own regulation, but we have and will continue to call on the government to introduce a vape licensing scheme because it is what is needed to back effective enforcement and to usher in a new age of accountability for our sector.”

  • Arcus Buys VapeClick

    Arcus Buys VapeClick

    Photo: Khanchai

    Regulatory compliance consultancy Arcus Compliance has acquired vape industry data platform VapeClick.

    VapeClick is a comprehensive online directory of U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency submitted and notified vape and e-cigarette product data.

    The platform enables vape industry stakeholders to search and identify appropriately published and notified products. VapeClick supports a wide variety of use cases, offering bespoke reporting and notifications from its vape intelligence application.

    “We are delighted to have agreed the deal to acquire the vape-click.com portal,” said Arcus Compliance CEO Lee Bryan. “The solution has become the go-to portal for U.K.-registered vape products and will become an important piece of the jigsaw for the cutting-edge Arcus software portfolio. We have exciting plans for integration, including development for other industries as well as providing valuable oversight for enforcement bodies throughout Europe.”

    “This is an important milestone in the growth and development of the innovative vape-click.com platform,” said VapeClick’s Chief Technical Officer Raphael Klimaszewski. “We have spent many years building the database that has revolutionized how vape products can be quickly and readily checked and monitored for their compliance status.

    “The acquisition of the portal by Arcus Compliance is a testament to the impact that the platform has made and its inherent value amongst its many users. We look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength under Arcus’ leadership.”

  • New Insights into Youth Vaping

    New Insights into Youth Vaping

    Photo: Daisy Daisy

    A new study has provided an in-depth look into the rising trend of disposable vape use among young people in the U.K.

    Led by the University of East Anglia and published in Addiction, the research reveals that young people see smoking and vaping as interchangeable, but are far more aware of the potential harms of vaping than they are of the dangers of smoking.

    The findings also suggest that banning disposable vape products or increasing their prices could lead young people to revert to smoking tobacco.

    Many of the young people questioned also believed that if disposable vapes were banned, they would be able to continue using them by stockpiling or purchasing illegally.

    “Youth use of disposable vapes has surged in recent years in the U.K.,” said lead researcher Caitlin Notley, a professor of addiction sciences at UEA’s Norwich Medical School, in a statement.

    “Despite this increase, little was previously known about the motivations behind this trend and the experiences of young people who use these products.

    “This study aimed to explore these aspects, providing valuable insights into the factors influencing youth vaping behavior.”

    The study recruited 29 young people aged between 16 and 20 and a range of methods were used to probe their motivations, experiences and perceptions of using disposable vapes.

    Each approach was chosen to best suit the needs of the participant—from individual interviews with researchers, to recorded conversations in friendship pairs using prompt cards without a researcher present, to small group interviews designed to support those with special educational needs.

    The key findings include:

    • Individual motivations: Participants highlighted key characteristics of disposable vapes that appealed to them, such as affordability, ease of access, and the attractive designs, colors, names, and flavors.
    • Behavior patterns: Many young people engaged in both vaping and tobacco smoking, viewing these behaviors as interchangeable based on the context. There was a common misconception about the relative harms of vaping compared to smoking.
    • Social and emotional factors: Experimentation with vapes was prevalent, and many young people used vapes to manage stress and anxiety. Vaping was also identified as a social activity, widely accepted among peer groups. Notably, participants were more informed about the potential harms of vaping than those associated with smoking.
    • Regulation: Strict regulatory measures, such as banning disposable vape products or increasing their prices, could lead young people to revert to smoking tobacco. Many of the young people believed that if disposable vapes were banned, they would be able to continue using them by stockpiling or purchasing illegally.

    “Disposable vapes are particularly attractive and accessible to young people in the U.K, contributing to the normalization of vaping within this demographic,” said co-author Ian Pope, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School. “Despite recognizing the potential health risks, young people continue to engage in both vaping and smoking, often interchangeably.

    “The widespread availability of underage vape sales and availability of illicit vapes further exacerbates this issue.”

    The researchers say the study suggests that young people’s use of disposable vapes could be reduced by tighter enforcement of age of sale and restricting packaging and marketing.

    However, they also say the evidence suggests these sorts of interventions have the potential for significant unintended consequences, including increased use of illicit vapes and increased tobacco use amongst young people.

    “Therefore any interventions to combat use of disposables may need to be accompanied by policy interventions to reduce access to illicit vapes and tobacco and increase awareness of the relative harms of tobacco compared to vapes,” said Notley.

    The research was conducted in partnership with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Nicotine, Tobacco and Vaping Research Group at London South Bank University.

    The study was funded by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust through the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Research Capability Fund.

  • Labour Committed to Generational Ban

    Labour Committed to Generational Ban

    Photo: sezerozger

    Britain’s opposition Labour Party, which is favored to win the July 4 national elections, has reiterated its commitment to the generational tobacco ban proposed by Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, reports Reuters.  

    The plan would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, after they turn 18. It would also provide powers to address vaping among young people.

    The generational tobacco ban passed its first parliamentary hurdle in April but was put on hold after Sunak called a national election.

    Labour leader Keir Starmer, whose party is far ahead in opinion polls ahead of the vote, published its planned policies on June 13, vowing to provide political and economic stability, and to improve health outcomes.

    “We must take preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers and support people to live longer, healthier lives. That starts with smoking,” the manifesto document said.

    “Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes … Labour will ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.”

  • UKVIA Warns Against Vape Taxes

    UKVIA Warns Against Vape Taxes

    Photo: VPZ

    The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has warned that the Conservative Party’s proposal to tax vapes based on nicotine strength, predicted to increase the cost of some products upward of 300 percent, threatens to undo the work that the category has already done in saving millions of smokers’ lives.

    In its submission to the government’s vaping duty consultation, the association argues that by making higher strength vaping more expensive, the proposed tax regime will place an unfair financial burden on nicotine-dependent smokers who are trying to quit. The UKVIA points to the fact that smokers are already significantly overestimating the risks of vaping compared to smoking and that a measure that discourages the use of sufficient nicotine to facilitate a quit attempt is likely to have the effect of decreasing the rate of successful quit attempts.

    The association also argues in its submission that as smokers are disproportionally from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, the effect of introducing an excise duty for nicotine-containing vapes, the most appealing form of e-cigarette for smokers, will be dramatic and potentially fatal.

    This conclusion is supported by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Research Report Number 740, Understanding the Vaping Market, which found that less affluent adults were “more likely than average” to report being current vapers and revealed that 32 percent of current vapers are motivated to use these products over cigarettes due to cost savings. The same HMRC report also highlighted that the doubling of the prices of vaping could result in 62 percent of current users reducing how much they vape.

    The UKVIA is calling for the proposed taxation of vapes to be based on e-liquid quantity and not based on nicotine strength. It believes a specific sales tax on all vaping products and nicotine levels at the rate of £1 ($1.25) per 10 mL would be far more effective in achieving the duty’s stated objectives.

    Smokers who smoke more or are more nicotine reliant need higher concentrations of nicotine, at least initially, according to the UKVIA. The association feels they should not be deterred from quitting by having to pay an extra premium to buy the higher concentration nicotine e-liquids that they need.

    While a tax on vapes may be inevitable, it does need to be effective and not counterproductive.

    John Dunne, director general, UKVIA

    “While a tax on vapes may be inevitable, it does need to be effective and not counterproductive,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne in a statement. “In recent years, millions of smokers have managed to quit through using vaping products, and discouraging others from making the switch would have disastrous, and in many cases fatal, consequences.

    “The industry therefore urges the government not to unfairly discriminate against nicotine-containing vapes, which are the most popular devices for a reason. It would be far more valuable for the government to instigate a vape licensing scheme, for which we have long been calling; such a scheme would deter rogue retailers, protect our children and help a heavily under-funded Trading Standards to police retailers by raising £50 million a year from the industry.”

  • Sunak’s Ban on Hold

    Sunak’s Ban on Hold

    Image: Mark

    Britain’s proposed generational tobacco ban will not become law before the July 4 election announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week, reports Reuters.

    The U.K. Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to phase out the sale of cigarettes. It would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, after they turn 18. It would also provide powers to address vaping among young people.

    The bill had passed its first parliamentary hurdle in April despite dozens of lawmakers in Sunak’s Conservative party voting against it.

    However, the government failed to put forward the tobacco and vapes bill as part of the legislation to be passed in the “wash-up” period before parliament dissolves.

    Unless ministers resuscitate the bill at the last minute with an emergency statement today, it will be up to the next government to re-introduce the smoking ban in a fresh bill. The Labour party is committed to the policy and could include it in its manifesto. “Our position hasn’t changed so if it doesn’t come through, then we will look at putting it in the manifesto and introducing a bill,” a Labour representative told The Guardian.

    The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) welcomed the news that the  bill would not be rushed through the legislative process. Earlier, the group had complained that the Department of Health and Social Care had failed to carry out any risk assessments into the health impacts of fewer people using vapes to quit smoking as a result of potential changes to flavor offerings, point of sale displays or packaging and product presentation.

    “It is wrong to rush any legislation through parliament without proper scrutiny but with a bill like this, where lives are quite literally at stake, it is even more important that the correct checks and balances are in place when considering what new powers to introduce,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne in a statement.

    “We believe that properly drafted new measures to ban child-friendly designs and flavor names and ensure that products, backed up by a powerful and effective enforcement regime will continue to see smoking rates fall while ensuring that youth uptake rapidly comes down.”

    Anti-smoking activists took the news in stride. “While the tobacco and vapes bill appears to be a victim of a snap election, all is not lost,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health. “This bill has the strong support of the chief medical officers of all four nations in the U.K. as well as the overwhelming majority of the public.”

  • Food for Thought

    Food for Thought

    (Photos: Stuart Mitchell)

    “You couldn’t make it up.” That was how Simon Clark, the director of the Freedom Organization for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (Forest), summed up the way in which the U.K. government had, in October last year, renegued on earlier assurances and announced a generational ban on tobacco sales.

    Clark was speaking as co-host of a Beat the Ban lunch held at the Boisdale Restaurant in London on May 21. The proposed ban, currently being pushed through parliament, would make it illegal in the U.K. to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.

    Clark pointed out that this would mean a person of a certain age would be able to buy tobacco while another person, one year, or, in some cases, just one day younger, would not be able to do so legally. Eventually, a person 70 years of age would not be able to buy tobacco legally.

    Forest is opposed to the proposed ban for several reasons, but mainly because it believes the ban would infantilize young adults and increasingly older adults, driving some of them towards the black market and criminal gangs, while doing nothing to stop sales of tobacco products to children, which are already illegal.

    What was extraordinary, Clark said, was that while, in April 2023, the government had made it clear it did not intend to raise the minimum age for the sale of tobacco, in October, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced plans for the generational ban.

    “In our view, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a desperate attempt by a desperate prime minister to leave a legacy—any legacy—however unconservative, before the next general election [due to be held this year or, at the latest, January 2025],” said Clark.

    Clark was scathing, too, about the way the bill is being “steamrollered” through parliament. Following a short public consultation before Christmas, the government had announced it would not consider any submissions from groups with links to the tobacco industry, which, for instance, included Forest and even retailers. “To the best of my knowledge, that has never happened before,” he added.

    After its second reading, the bill entered its committee stage, when 17 MPs were appointed to the Committee, 16 of whom had voted for the bill and the other of whom was known to support it. And when it came to inviting people to give oral evidence to the Committee, witnesses were almost exclusively supporters of the bill.

    “Not only has the process been absolutely scandalous, the bill as it stands is illiberal, unenforceable, and has significant unintended consequences,” said Clark. “It will drive the legitimate sale of cigarettes and tobacco underground,” he added, before calling on those so minded to write to their MPs in protest,

    Clark’s co-host, Ranald Macdonald, the founder and MD of the Boisdale restaurants, was unable to attend the lunch but sent a message of support along with a special pleading for the smokers of fine cigars.

    And the 60 lunch guests, who included MPs, parliamentary researchers, think tank staff, retailers, tobacco industry representatives and journalists, heard from a string of speakers representing or simply speaking up for retailers, young adults and a variety of tobacco products, including pipe tobacco and snuff that will also be covered by the bill should it go through. —George Gay

    Editors’s note:

    Hours after this story had been submitted, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a general election would be held on July 4, meaning that parliament was due to be dissolved on May 30 and leaving too little time for the tobacco and vapes bill to complete its passage through parliament. This is unlikely to be the end of the matter, however, because the policy underpinning the bill had cross-party support and could well arise like the phoenix in the future.

    George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.
  • ‘Generational Ban Not Enough to Level Up U.K.’

    ‘Generational Ban Not Enough to Level Up U.K.’

    Photo: Rawf8

    Although Britain’s generational tobacco ban will eventually increase “healthy life expectancy” (HLE) by 2.5 years, it will not be enough to let the government meet the targets of its “leveling up” agenda, according to new research.

    Local government secretary Michael Gove’s 2022 leveling up white paper pledged to narrow the difference in HLE between England’s most prosperous and most deprived local authorities by 2030 and to boost overall HLE by five years by 2035.

    HLE measures the number of years lived in at least reasonable health. In the U.K., it has risen more slowly than life expectancy in recent decades, meaning people are typically spending more years in poor health, with obvious implications for healthcare and social care budgets.

    The researchers, drawn from Bayes Business School, Heriot-Watt University and LCP, analyzed the likelihood of the 2035 target being met. They published their paper, “The Great Health Challenge: Levelling Up the UK,” in The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice.

    “It is clear that drastic smoking cessation intervention is necessary to increase healthy life expectancy across the population and to narrow pernicious health inequalities,” said lead author Les Mayhew, professor of statistics at Bayes Business School, in a statement. “The rolling ban proposed in the government’s current legislation is a good first step, but further research could strengthen the case for an outright ban.”

    The analysis confirmed that people who have never smoked typically enjoy an additional six years of HLE. Earlier research has shown that smoking kills around 78,000 people in England each year and leads to around 500,000 hospital admissions.

    Recent research by the International Longevity Centre concluded that smoking cuts U.K. economic output by £19.1 billion ($24.29 billion) due to shorter working lives. Welfare and healthcare costs would boost that figure significantly.

    “Our paper confirms that a smoking ban on those born in 2009 or later is one of the best ways to improve the health of people living in more deprived areas of the U.K.,” said Andrew Cairns, professor of actuarial mathematics at Heriot-Watt University. “The findings vividly illustrate the transformative impact of this measure on the health landscape.”