The Scottish government has published a new six-week consultation on the implementation of the disposable vapes ban which outlines the fines that will be issued to businesses who continue to sell and supply disposables after a ban.
The ban, which is scheduled to come into force in April 2025, is subject to separate regulations in Scotland which closely resemble those in England.
The consultation revealed that those who commit an offence could be subject to receive a level five fine, which is equivalent to between £5,000 and £10,000.
This is in contrast to the regulations in England, which stipulate a range of notices which could be imposed on a business and an initial £200 fixed penalty notice for an offence, reduced to £100 if paid within 28 days.
In addition, the consultation referenced to the £30m enforcement budget, which the Scottish government states will “support enforcement in Scotland” through additional funding for HMRC and Border Force.
Scotland was also identified as the first UK nation to provide a more detailed definition of a disposable vape:
- Not refillable (for the purposes of this regulation, a vape is not refillable, unless it is designed to include a single-use container which is separately available and can be replaced by an individual user in the normal course of use, or a container which can be refilled by an individual user in the normal course of use)
- Not rechargeable (for the purposes of this regulation, a vape is not rechargeable if it is designed to contain a battery which cannot be recharged, or a coil which is not separately available and cannot be replaced by an individual user in the normal course of use, including any coil which is contained in a single-use cartridge or pod which is not separately available and cannot be replaced by an individual user in the normal course of use)
- Not refillable and not rechargeable.
Commenting on the new consultation, James Lowman chief executive of ACS revealed that one in four existing disposable users said they would carry on buying single-use vapes after a ban comes into force. He warned that a ban would provide a significant boost for rogue traders selling illicit products to meet this demand.
“We support the Scottish Government’s stronger approach to enforcement when it comes to the severity of the fines being imposed, but the £30m enforcement budget is being stretched extremely thin to cover not just Trading Standards, but also HMRC and Border Force activity across the UK.
“If the UK Government wants to support responsible retailers and get illicit product off the streets, it needs to provide significantly more funding for local enforcement and put in place serious sanctions for those committing an offence,” Lowman explained.
The consultation comes as enforcement activity has begun against retailers that do not provide vape recycling services in their stores. At the start of 2024, vapes were taken out of the WEEE Distributor Takeback Scheme (phase 7), which means that a retailer who sells any quantity of vapes has to provide a recycling service on a 1:1 basis.
The ACS has encouraged retailers to contact their MPs to highlight their concerns about the disposable vape ban and the impact that it will have on their business.
A template email is available for retailers to utilise here: https://www.acs.org.uk/disposable-vapes-ban.
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