VIANZ Response To Todays Announcement By Min Verrall On Youth Vaping

VIANZ supports the Government’s desire to protect our young people from accessing vaping products. Vaping products are controlled over-18 products; however, it is our view a lack of enforcement of the current regulations has contributed to our youth vaping numbers rising across Aotearoa.

1. VIANZ supports the proposed proximity restrictions for Specialist Vape Retailers to ensure they are not operating near schools or in locations that may lead to unnecessary exposure to youth. We would like to see the same restrictions extended to the sale of tobacco products.

2. The requirement to have a removeable or replaceable battery appears to be effectively banning disposable devices – a move VIANZ members support as we called on this as part of the submission process, assuming appropriate timelines were given to industry.

3. The suggested 3-months for disposables and 6-months for reusable vaping devices to be compliant to the proposed changes is unreasonable for industry to adhere to – this does not allow enough time for manufacturers and retailers to sell through existing products nor does it allow sufficient time for the innovation needed to develop appropriate product solutions. We would ask the Ministry to revisit these timelines with urgency.

4. In principle VIANZ supports the introduction of a child safe lock. This appears to be aimed at protecting very young children who should never be accessing these types of devices. Currently, the vast majority of products do not have this functionality, so while we support the intention, the fact devices do not contain these mechanisms means industry would require more than 6 months to innovate appropriate solutions. We are asking Government to reassess the timelines outlined in today’s proposal to facilitate this change.

5. Flavoured products are restricted to over-18 retailers; youth should not even be able to see these products. The current regulations, if enforced, would prevent youth from seeing these flavours. Industry data shows that 85% of adults prefer flavours other than the traditional tobacco, menthol and mint flavours general retailers are currently restricted to. The generic flavour names are, in our opinion, too simplistic, and by seeking to restrict appeal to youth will inadvertently have a negative impact on legitimate adult vapers attempting to quit smoking.

As part of our submission, VIANZ made a number of additional recommendations to further protect our youth from accessing vaping products, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss these additional measures further with the Minister and her advisors.

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