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The industry is aware of the critical need to prevent youth access, but this move appears to be more related to winning votes in an up-and-coming election than protecting youth.
This move will be counterproductive and will very likely super-charge the black market and put more pressure on an already under-funded Trading standards.
The government seem to have overlooked the fact that effective and proactive enforcement would be more successful in addressing the youth vaping issue than the route they have taken.
Removing disposables will also have huge economic repercussions and significantly impact the financial burden on the NHS, which foots a bill of some £2.4bn per year currently to treat and care for those with smoking conditions.
The UKVIA has long called for greater restrictions around flavour names and descriptors and agrees that products and packaging should not feature youth appealing imagery and language, however, a move to plain packaging conflates them with cigarettes and further deters adult smokers from making the switch.
The government must tread extremely carefully when it comes to flavour restrictions. A recent survey conducted by One Poll found that as many as 1.5 million vapers fear they would return to smoking if flavours were banned and 83% of vapers claim that flavours have helped them ‘pack in their smoking habit’.
In its submission to the recent vaping consultation issued by the government which has led to the decision to ban disposables, the Royal College of Physicians called for the use of a range of flavours, including fruit flavours to enable smoking cessation in adults, stating: ‘The use of flavours by adults trying to quit smoking is an integral part of the effectiveness of vaping as a quit aid. Government should restrict flavour descriptors rather than flavours themselves’”.
Lee Bryan is CEO and co-founder of Arcus Compliance
