Recent news has suggested that the use of disposable vapes has already seen a drop of around 30% ahead of the UK-wide ban of their sale on 1 June, primarily due to vape users switching to reusable products.
Despite this drop, alternative nicotine and tobacco products are on the rise, in particular, chewable nicotine pouches.
However, a recent Freedom of Information request to UK council Trading Standards teams has warned of the potential of a growing black market for nicotine pouches.
The request, led by online seller, Vape Club, has revealed a tenfold rise (+974%) in illegal nicotine pouches seizures compared to the previous year. Yet there are currently no specific regulations covering advertising, strength or age restrictions for such pouches, with the product’s accessibility risking increased numbers of underage sales.
Despite product regulations requiring appropriate labelling and warning for nicotine strength, plus clear use instructions, in English, tens of thousands of products are being seized for having foreign language labelling, going against General Product Safety Regulations.
Dan Marchant (pictured), director at Vape Club and a founding member of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), said: “Not content with flooding the market with unregulated, potentially dangerous illegal vapes, it looks as though nicotine pouches are the latest product being exploited by criminal gangs.
“As we’ve seen with illicit disposable vapes, a lack of substantial enforcement quickly leads to a flourishing black market, and we’re already seeing the signs of this with nicotine pouches. The Government has been slow to implement effective regulations restricting the sale of high strength pouches or to those aged under 18 and we’ve been left to self-regulate these as retailers abiding by a voluntary code.”
“We welcome the legal restrictions in the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill for nicotine pouches, although services like Trading Standards need much more support to stamp out rising black markets. This is why we’re strong supporters of a robust vape retail and distribution licensing scheme, where the funds generated are ringfenced for proactive enforcement of the laws.
“This much needed revenue could enable Border Force to catch a much greater number of illegal products from entering the country and for Trading Standards to flush out retailers flouting the law and to impose significant penalties.”
You can read Vape Club’s guide to getting rid of disposable vapes responsibly here.
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