According to a report from Derbyshire Times on March 30th, the trading standards committee of Derbyshire County Council has seized over 8000 illegal electronic cigarettes from around 60 local businesses since June 2022. Their data reveals that public complaints about merchants selling non-compliant products have increased five-fold in the past year.
One third of disposable e-cigarettes in the UK are illegal products.
CTSI | Image Source: CTSI Official Website
According to a report from the UK's Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), the number of non-compliant electronic cigarettes being sold by retailers is overwhelming their team's workload.
According to the latest data from CTSI, more than 138 million disposable e-cigarettes are sold in the UK each year, with almost a third of these possibly being illegal products. This means that over 45 million illegal products are sold annually.
Trade standard officials in Derbyshire have shifted their focus from other areas of work in an attempt to tackle illegal trading and the sale of products to minors in the county.
Currently, UK law stipulates that the capacity of e-cigarette liquid cannot exceed 2ml; the nicotine concentration in the liquid cannot exceed 20mg/ml; and the outer label of the e-cigarette should display detailed information about the manufacturer and health warnings.
Any e-cigarette that surpasses these allowed restrictions is considered an illegal product and should not be sold to consumers.
The MHRA advises against using illicit products.
Although there are no apparent health risks associated with using non-regulated electronic cigarettes, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) strongly advises consumers not to use them. This is because the actual content of the e-liquid is unknown, which may pose health risks.
Trade standard officials in Derbyshire are not only investigating complaints related to the sale of illegal electronic cigarettes, but are also visiting businesses to provide advice and guidance on sales, including warnings about selling e-cigarettes to minors.
Carol Hart, a member of the Cabinet responsible for Health and Community, stated: "Our trade standard officers are working tirelessly to combat the sale of illegal electronic cigarette products, but the influx of products into our county and the nation is massive, making this a challenging task.
Carol stated,
Our job is to protect consumers while also protecting legitimate businesses. We are devoting as many resources as possible to try and solve this problem.
He believes that while it is obviously good for people to not smoke at all, it is important to note that electronic cigarettes, which comply with legal regulations, are much less harmful than traditional smoking and can effectively help people quit smoking.
According to previous reports by 2FIRSTS, law enforcement officials in Lincolnshire, UK removed 5417 unsafe products from the market between April and December 2022, of which 5062 were illegal e-cigarettes. Some of the seized e-cigarette products were advertised as having 10,000 puffs, which is 16 times the limit set by UK law.
Related Reading:
2FIRSTS London Report: UK lawmakers express stance on whether to ban disposable e-cigarettes.
Over 5,000 illegal electronic cigarettes were seized in Lincolnshire, UK, with some containing nicotine levels 16 times higher than what is legally allowed.
Reference:
An alarming increase in the number of illegal vapes has been reported in Derbyshire, with authorities seizing over 8,000 of them in just a few months.
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