UKVIA Puts up Recommendations to Protect Minors

Encouraging minors to smoke is a red line that can’t be crossed, thus the UKVIA has called to implement a series of tough measures to crack down on unscrupulous retailers who sell e-cigarettes to minors.

The proportion of minors (aged 11-17) who smoke has been rising in the UK, almost doubling from 4% to 7% from 2020 to 2022. is The main motivation for those who’ve never smoked to use e-cigarettes is “give it a try”, which 65% of those surveyed answered. It has made disposable e-cigarettes particularly popular, and the sale of disposable e-cigarettes has also risen more than seven-fold in market growth from 7% in 2020, 8% in 2021, to 52% in 2022.

Awareness of promoting e-cigarettes studied for the first time in this year's survey. More than half (56%) of 11-17 year olds reported being aware of e-cigarette promotions, often seen in stores or online. TikTok was the most frequently cited source of online promotions (45%), followed by Instagram (31%). Recently, the US FDA tried to take Juul e-cigarettes off the shelves, citing that Juul was focusing on selling its nicotine products to high school students. Juul is now faced with more than a dozen lawsuits from different states that claim it engages in promoting products to young people and has played a major role in the popularity of e-cigarettes among youths.

The deputy chief executive of ASH, Hazel Cheeseman expressed that they(vape brands) don't seem to be positioning e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, but promoting them as a pleasant experience. John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA, suggested: "The industry, regulators, the education sector and enforcement agencies have an important role to play in ensuring that e-cigarettes do not fall into the wrong hands." To this end, the director-general of UKVIA, John Dunne proposed tough measures on those who sell e-cigarettes to minors, including a fine of £10,000 for each case and a national retail licensing, which can be revoked under repeated infractions. He had put forward several recommendations to the Department of Health and Welfare of the UK:

• Introduce the plan of granting permission or approval to retailers and distributors. The e-cigarette retailers (online and offline) and distributors will pay administration fees and follow measures to verify the age of buyers strictly, inform the MHRA of their products, and their products must be line with the regulation of classification, labels, and packaging (CLP).
• A fine of at least £10,000 will be imposed on retailers who infringed on British law. If being fined for successively two times, the retailer will lose its status of “approved retailer”.
• Commissioning a national trial procurement scheme similar to the one UKVIA runs for its members to ensure all operations meet high standards in preventing minors from obtaining e-cigarettes.
• Ensuring trading standards are supported by effective resources to recruit and train officers to deal with illicit products and that its actions are an effective deterrent to rogue actors throughout the supply chain. Such funds will come from the proposed licensing scheme and, ultimately, from fines for illegal trade.
• Incorporating UKVIA’s guidelines of packaging, labeling and flavor name into legislation to prevent brands that inadvertently appeal to non-smokers or people under 18. These guidelines reflect the recommendations of the Khan review.
• Introducing nicotine-free e-liquids in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR). Regulating all e-liquids in this way will further reduce access for young people and improve the quality of products for sale.

The Director General of UKVIA John Dunne said in a statement: “UKVIA knows clearly that it’s necessary to maintain a right balance between supporting adult smokers to quit while discouraging those under 18 years old and who have never smoked.”