The Federation of Independent Retailers’ (Fed) national vice president, Hemanshu Patel, has called on the government to provide better resourcing for trading standards in order to tackle the growing trade in illicit tobacco and vapes.
His call came during a panel discussion with fellow retail experts at the National Convenience Show in Birmingham on Wednesday (15 April).
While the discussion focused on the future of vapes, it touched on the wider issue of the Tobacco & Vapes Bill, which is likely to complete its Parliamentary passage shortly, bringing in a slew of changes including the generational smoking ban, the licencing of retailers and marketing restrictions on vape and tobacco products.
During the discussion, Patel said: “It feels like independent retailers are punished when illicit traders are not. Unless the Government invests in these resources, we won’t see change.”
Patel added that whilst tobacco sales had fallen in recent years, anecdotal evidence - backed by information from law enforcement and central government - indicated this was not just due to a cessation in smoking but by a growth in the illicit trade.
Whilst the Fed has said it is open to certain aspects of the bill, Patel said there was common concern about measures around licencing, marketing restrictions and the generational ban when taken as a whole in the absence of greater trading standards support for retailers.
Commenting after the event, Patel said “Whilst the goal of stopping smoking and vaping for children was right, there’s a chance some of the changes in the bill could unintentionally push adult customers to the black market. We will continue to call on the government to do more on this in this area in the coming months.”
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