The Federation of Independent retailers (the Fed) has this week written to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Yvette Cooper, to put forward its members’ concerns over proposed changes to vape packaging and display.
In a response to the Government’s consultation on changes to vape packaging and marketing, which ended on Friday last week, the Fed expressed concerns about the impact of certain key proposals.
In particular, the Fed’s National President Hemanshu Patel highlighted misgivings about the cost and disruption of placing vapes behind a display screen, in a similar fashion to that in place for cigarettes and tobacco.
Responsible retailers
In the letter to Cooper, Patel said: “Our members are local and responsible retailers. We also know our customers well and fully acknowledge concern about youth vaping.
“To that end, we already back measures to prevent children accessing vapes by proscribing under-18 access and through initiatives like Challenge 25.
“We’ve also been vocal supporters of recent government work to boost local authority Trading Standards with extra resources, as we feel this is important for enforcing effective age restrictions and for clamping down on the black market rogue trade.
“Placing vapes behind a shutter blind will limit consumer awareness…”
“However, as our own consultation response has said, we have concerns that placing vapes behind a shutter blind will limit consumer awareness and create obstacles for our shops, alongside unease about the introduction of plain vape packaging.”
Close engagement
Patel also expressed concern about the scope and variety of changes proposed in the large consultation, which concluded last Friday, and called for close engagement and sufficient preparation time for independent shops to prepare if the changes are enacted.
He went on to call for closer engagement between the Government and independent retail during a period of growing regulatory change, and has offered to meet directly with the Secretary of State for Business, Jonathan Reynolds MP, as well as Cooper, whose department led on the consultation.
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