With vaping and the vape industry being so new as well as the potential for e-cigarettes to help support people stop smoking, the industry faces ongoing scrutiny and focus from government bodies.
Government response to latest e-cigarette report
The government have recently released (Dec 2018) their response to the latest Science and Technology Committees report on e-cigarettes. Here are some of the key points from the response
Health and popularity of e-cigarettes
Continued review of e-cigarettes – whilst it is widely recognised that vaping and e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoking – in 2018 Public Health England found e-cigarettes to be 95% less harmful than smoking – the response commits to a continued focus on reviewing the evidence. The response states that Public Health England will continue to review the evidence on e-cigarettes on an annual basis for the rest of the current Parliament.
Monitoring the appeal of e-cigarettes on young people – whilst the number of young people using e-cigarettes in the UK is at a low level, some evidence from the US suggests they have seen teenage vaping levels rise significantly in the past year. The government has therefore committed to monitoring the teenage levels of usage in the UK.
Vape advertising regulations
Look at the advertising regulations for manufacturers to advertise e-cigarette products – a commitment to looking at whether the current regulation placed upon the vape industry when it comes to advertising reflects the differing risks of harm from e-cigarettes. Whilst also acknowledging the importance of vape products being used to support the overall aim of getting people to quit smoking.
Cigarette pack insert regulation – currently inserts into tobacco cigarettes are banned but there is some thought that adding inserts which highlight vaping as an alternative to smoking could be of benefit to public health. The government response states that the current stance on this will be reviewed to see whether allowing this could have a positive or negative impact.
The impact of Brexit and tax
Impact of Brexit – following the UK’s exit from the EU the paper acknowledges that there may be scope to review regulation relating to e-cigarettes as well as tobacco.
Taxation – from the review it seems the government have no current plans to alter the taxation levels on vape products
You can read the full government response here
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