The Fed Reacts to Passage of Tobacco and Vapes Bill

The Fed has reacted to the news that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has cleared Parliament, calling on Department of Business to communicate as clearly as possible with retailers on how they can prepare for the coming changes. The Fed has previously expressed concerns to Government in meetings, correspondence and consultations and will again engage with Government as it is confirmed no one born after 2008 will legally be allowed to buy a cigarette.

National President of the Fed, Hetal Patel, said: “Whilst this Bill has developed we have engaged closely with the Government and MPs from all parties about the potential impact of changes including the Generational Smoking Ban and licence of tobacco retailers.

“We welcome societal changes which have seen a dramatic fall in cigarette smoking over the past half a century – from about 45% in the mid-1970s, to less than a quarter of that today – but are concerned that a Generational smoking ban relating to cigarettes and taxation on vapes will lead to these products being driven underground into the black market. We also worry that Licencing will hit legitimate retailers with costs and red tape, unless it is properly used as a deterrent to restrict rogue traders which give our High Streets a bad name.

“We are calling on the Government to quickly engage more closely with retailers about how the measures in the Bill will be implemented – particularly on the Generational Ban and Licencing – and to provide extra resources for law  enforcement, especially local authority trading standards teams, so more can be done to tackle illicit tobacco.”