Review on packaging, appearance and display of products
THE Scottish Government has opened up a new consultation to seek views on proposals aimed at restricting tobacco, vaping and wider nicotine products across stores.
The new consultation offers the chance for people across Scotland to provide their views on restrictions on the appearance of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products in stores, how they are packaged and how they are displayed in stores in a bid to “make them less appealing to children and young people”.
Maree Todd MSP, public health minister for the Scottish Government, said: “Scotland has been a world-leader on a range of tobacco control measures, and while there has been a steady reduction in smoking rates, we know it still damages lives and kills more than 7,000 people a year in Scotland.
“The use of vapes has increased in recent years, particularly among children and young people – with almost one in five children saying they have tried vaping.”
The consultation will open from 10 July and will run for a total of 12 weeks to collect as many viewpoints as possible from across Scotland.
The UK Government has also specified its ambition to restrict flavour descriptors across packs. This will include setting vape products to a single, recognised flavour name such as apple or strawberry and would include the restriction of hyphenated or combination names, such as blueberry-apple.
Additionally, concept names to any flavour that does not directly describe a recognisable food, drink or natural flavour will also be restricted including such names as “Unicorn Dream” or “DC100”. This would also apply to restricting descriptor names that are aligned with certain food and drink categories that may appeal to children including confectionery, desserts and cakes or alcohol and other such drinks including “cola”.
This follows the introduction of the Tobacco & Vapes Act earlier this year, which has included new powers to regulate the displays, contents, flavours and packaging of nicotine products across the category.
Todd said: “We know that colourful packaging and displays are used as an enticement to children and young people, which is why we are taking action and consulting on options to address this issue.
“We urge everyone to have their say on how these products are marketed and sold in the future to help protect children and young people and reduce preventable harm in Scotland.”
Speaking on the new consultation, Eve Peters, director of government affairs for Elfbar in the UK, warned that ministers must strike a careful balance to ensure that these potential measures will protect children without “undermining the role of vaping in helping adult smokers quit”.
She said: “We advocate for a more robust approach to vape retailing alongside an enhanced regulatory framework, including restrictions on packaging such as an end to the use of inappropriate imagery and flavour descriptors.
“Vaping products differ from tobacco and should not be concealed behind shutters. Displays should be responsibly positioned behind the counter, ensuring age verification to prevent youth access while remaining visible to adult smokers to support cessation.
“Protecting children is vital, but so too is not inadvertently confusing adult smokers with packaging and display restrictions that equate vaping with tobacco. The latest ASH data show that 61% of smokers mistakenly believe that vapes are as or more harmful than cigarettes.
“This underlines the importance of striking the right balance to reduce youth appeal while avoiding measures that reinforce misperceptions about vaping, discourage smokers from switching and undermine progress towards a smoke-free UK.”
