Suppliers ELFBAR and Lost Mary are encouraging retailers to respond to the vape consultation survey before it closes on 2 October.
They advise that the consultation gives retailers an opportunity to share their frontline experience of how the proposals would work in real-world retail environments.
The consultation, which is currently open, covers proposals including the ban on displaying vape products in stores, plain packaging on products and changing of name conventions. Put forward under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, the proposals are designed to reduce their appeal to children.
ELFBAR and Lost Mary warn that retailer insight is crucial to ensure any future rules achieve their intended objectives while remaining workable and proportionate.
A Government assessment on the display ban estimates £139.7m in restocking costs for convenience and small retailers and £19.2m for vape shops over the 10-year appraisal period, alongside storage costs of £6.6m for convenience retailers and £14.7m for vape shops.
The suppliers believe that in practice, these changes could mean staff spend more time retrieving products from behind displays and replenishing stock during shifts.
The analysis also models a £317.7m reduction in retailer profits from vape sales over the appraisal period, based on assumptions about how changes to product visibility could affect adult purchasing behaviour.
Meanwhile, the impact assessment on packaging requirements sets out further retailer costs, including £57.3m in reconfiguration costs as businesses adapt stockrooms, shelving and displays. The assessment also estimates £5.7m in retailer training costs.
The analysis models a £243.8m reduction in retailer profits from vape sales over the appraisal period, based on projected changes in adult purchasing following the introduction of standardised packaging.
Retailers were also warned that the latest ASH data shows that more than half of smokers mistakenly believe that vapes are as or more harmful than cigarettes, highlighting the importance of proportionate regulation that does not reinforce this misperception or unintentionally discourage smokers from switching, supporting the UK’s smokefree ambitions.
Eve Peters, director of government affairs for ELFBAR in the UK, said: “Taking part in the consultation is an opportunity to help shape regulations that strike the right balance between protecting young people without unintentionally adding to existing misconceptions about vaping among adult smokers.
“Retailers have first-hand experience of adult smoker and vaper purchasing behaviour and understand how the proposed regulations would work in practice. By responding to the consultation, retailers can contribute to proportionate, evidence-based measures and ensure policymakers receive the insight from those who will deliver it.”
No comments yet