E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom

UK: Rebecca Pow, junior minister with responsibility for waste and resources, yesterday told a backbench debate on the environmental impact of disposable vapour products that the government had no immediate plans to ban disposables, but that it was concerned about their increased availability and improper disposal. “We are reviewing the current producer responsibility system for waste electricals and batteries, and plan to publish consultations on both areas next year,” Pow said. She said the current Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations were developed when the vaping industry was in its infancy, so the government would consider if the legislation required amendment to ensure that the vaping sector played its part in properly financing the cost of collection and treatment of the products when they become waste.

UK: Research commissioned by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) shows that in 2021 the UK vaping industry directly contributed £401m and 8,215 full-time jobs, or equivalent, to the economy. It also found that the total saving in healthcare costs as a result of smokers switching to vaping in 2019 was £322m. UKVIA director general John Dunne said: “We hope the publication of this economic impact assessment will give politicians, regulators and health professionals the hard data to allow them to support vaping even more.”

UK: Asked if and when the long-anticipated Tobacco Control Plan might be published, junior health minister Lord Markham told the Lords (Parliament’s upper house) the government was “taking stock” of whether a fresh tobacco control plan was the best way to respond to the recommendations in the Khan review. The same view was shared a few days earlier in the House of Commons by junior minister Neil O’Brien, bringing into question the future of the plan.

UK: Warwickshire Trading Standards officers have carried out test purchases of e-cigarettes at 13 vape stores, using a 15-year-old volunteer, the county council has reported. All retailers asked for ID, but at one store, which remains under investigation, a sale “was nearly made”.

UK: Oxfordshire County Council announced yesterday that two businesses in the county had been prosecuted for selling disposable e-cigarettes to children, following investigations by Trading Standards officers. One store was fined £666 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £67 and the council’s full costs of £2,124. The other was fined £600 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60 and a contribution of £1,000 towards the council’s costs. A third retailer is due in court in January over selling an e-cigarette to a minor and for continuing to sell e-cigarettes in non–compliant packaging following a warning.