Retailers have warned that the Government’s proposed vape display ban would be costly to implement and could drive former smokers back to cigarettes.
The UK Government and the devolved administrations have announced a 12-week consultation on proposals for tougher rules for vapes and nicotine products. Proposals include restricting shop displays in the same way as tobacco products; introducing plain white packaging; restricting flavour names; limiting branding and imagery; and standardising safety information.
The UK Vaping Industry Association slammed the proposals as “a reckless public health own goal that could drive adult smokers back towards cigarettes and undermine more than a decade of progress in reducing smoking.”
Jen Paton, Manager at SLR Smokeless Alternatives Retailer of the Year Finalist, Spar Greenock, told SLR that she did not think packaging or flavour restrictions would be too harmful to sales. “Pixl has already started bringing in plainer packaging, I don’t think that will be too much of an issue and the names won’t be that big of an issue either,” she said.
However, she claimed that a display ban would “cause massive issues”, potentially stopping smokers from making the switch to less harmful alternatives. “If they can’t see it, they don’t know it’s there, and they’ll just stick to what they know,” she said.
She also fears that a lack of visibility may lead vapers back to smoking or drive them towards rogue traders. “There are a lot of shops still selling disposables,” she said.” If they’re still getting away with that, then there’s nothing to stop them ignoring the other changes that are being implemented. The government needs to hammer down on that before taking the next step.”
The Association of Convenience Stores’ Chief Executive Ed Woodall said: “A complete ban on vape and nicotine product displays in shops will be costly and complex for retailers to implement in the limited space they have available behind the till point, and we question whether a display ban is necessary alongside proposed packaging restrictions.”
