Every penny generated from the government’s vape licencing scheme must be delivered to enforcement agencies to tackle the ‘impending black market explosion’ in the UK, campaigners have warned.
The demand follows correspondence from Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s office to campaign group We Vape, which confirmed a figure of just £3m over two years has been allocated to support “a range of vape enforcement activities, including the seizure of illicit vapes at ports before they enter the country, market surveillance and online enforcement”, as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
During its first reading on 5 November, the Health Secretary committed to key measures including much welcomed premarket testing and a vape licence for retailers. But he failed to confirm how much of the predicted £50m a year revenue from the scheme would be committed to Trading Standards.
There are 317 local authorities across England and Wales, with *around 400 Trading Standards offices throughout. This means If just the £3million were used over two years, each office would get just £312.50 per month - or £78.13 per week, We Vape claims.
The budget commitment was confirmed in a letter from the office of Wes Streeting to campaign group We Vape, who are now seeking clarification for budget allocation.
We Vape founder, Mark Oates, said: “Trading Standards is overwhelmed already and the disposables ban means an impending black market explosion will increase the burden upon them. We need to know that every penny of the revenue generated by the new licence, which is greatly welcome, will go straight to enforcement agencies to tackle rogue traders and illicit products. The woefully inadequate £3m committed by Mr Streeting is nowhere near enough to enforce even the current law, let alone the disposables ban and others in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.”
He added: “There should be no issue with adults enjoying any flavour they like but they must not be given names that appeal to children or marketed toward them. Research has shown how important flavours are to people looking to consume nicotine away from the foul taste of cigarettes. Protecting them will stop people returning to the death sentence of smoking.”
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