Industry calls for clarity on consultation
INDUSTRY bodies have been setting out to clamp down on vaping concerns after the UK Government launched its own consultation on the matter.
The Westminster consultation launched on 12 October and is to last eight weeks. It includes proposals to restrict what the Government calls “child-friendly” flavours and bright coloured packs.
Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said: “Vaping is less dangerous than smoking but still has risks and can cause addiction.
“Vaping can be useful for smokers to quit, but should not be marketed to non-smokers and marketing them to children is utterly unacceptable.”
The UK Gov did note that vapes should be seen more as smoking cessation tool in its announcement and its aim was to crack down on youth vaping.
This sentiment has been echoed by retail industry bodies with Muntazir Dipoti, the Fed’s national president, calling for more clarity on what any restrictions on disposable vapes would entail.
He said: “Vapes help many people give up smoking and are part of life now. I am confident the existing black market will become even more active.”
The Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) has also been working with disposable vape brand Elfbar to help display effective alternatives to an outright ban with the rollout of 1,000 co-branded in-store vape bins to SGF members.
Chief executive Pete Cheema said: “The SGF promotes responsible community retailing and so the opportunity to provide, with Elfbar, 1,000 free in-store vaping bins to retailers is an important step forward and will feed into the process of providing easy waste and recycling options for disposable vaping products.”
