The New Zealand government has pushed tough new restrictions on vapes through parliament before Christmas under “urgency.”
The new legislation, announced by the Ministry of Health, means the “manufacture, sale, supply, and distribution of disposable vapes” will be banned from June 2025.
In addition, vapes and their packaging will no longer be allowed to be on display in general retail shops. This includes advertising and display in online stores and in automated vending machines.
Specialist vape shops must not display the products so they can be seen from outside their business, such as in a window, and must be at least 100 metres from early childhood services. This adds to the current 300-metre restriction from schools and marae (a complex of tribal buildings).
These shops (and their online stores) will also no longer be able to give away free vaping products, discount vaping products at retail, offer rewards, cash rebates or gifts for the purchase of vaping products, or offer lotteries or games to people who buy vaping products.
The law also increases the current $10,000 (€5,500) maximum penalty for retailers who sell to people aged under-18 to $100,000 (€55,000).
The House of Representatives in New Zealand sometimes goes into “urgency” to make progress on business that would be impossible to conclude under the normal rules for sitting hours and progress of business.
Vapes help adults stop smoking - but are ‘not for children’
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello acknowledged that vaping had helped many adults to quit smoking.
She has said previously: “There is further work coming, and there is further opportunity to do more in this space, but there is no denying that vaping is a less harmful product for smokers, and, therefore, we recognise it as a tool that has contributed to the smoking drop-off that we've seen.”
However, she said vapes are not for children and had gone unregulated in New Zealand for too long.
"The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping and puts in place practical changes and a much stronger regulatory regime," Costello said in a statement.
Penalties for breaching disposable vapes ban
She said penalties for breaching the disposable vapes ban would be put up to $400,000 (€220,000) for a manufacturer, importer or large retailer and $50,000 (€28,000) for any other person.
The new visibility restrictions will mean that vapes are treated in a similar way to cigarettes.
General vape retailers such as supermarkets, petrol stations and dairies would "be subject to the same rules that currently apply to other regulated products such as cigarettes", Costello said.
"This means any part of the product, or its package, must not be displayed in a way that means they are visible from outside the store or inside any area of the store where the public can enter."
She added that the measures would be welcomed by parents, teachers and health professionals.
The disposable vape ban and visibility restrictions will come into force in six months’ time to allow retailers to prepare for the changes.
"This will also allow for the recruitment and training of more dedicated smoke free enforcement officers so that the new rules and tougher penalties are supported by greater enforcement capability," Costello said.
Continuing to support adult smokers
New Zealand has a target of becoming smoke free - which means a smoking rate of less than five per cent - by 2025.
When announcing the Bill earlier this year, Costello said: “The Government is committed to achieving Smokefree 2025 and to stopping young people from vaping and this Bill will ensure we are able to protect our young people from vaping whilst continuing to support adult smokers to quit by maintaining access to vapes as a cessation tool.”
Poll shows youth vaping has fallen again
Meanwhile, a new poll has revealed the vaping rate among young people in New Zealand has fallen for the third year in a row.
The 2024 Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) survey of more than 30,000 students aged 14 to 15 found that 14.1 per cent reported vaping at least once a month. This compares to a peak of 20.2 per cent in 2021. Daily vaping also fell to 8.7 per cent after being at 10 per cent since 2021.
“We are pleased to see a third consecutive year of decline in regular vaping by year 10 students," ASH Director Ben Youdan said.
"This year-on-year decline follows a period between 2015 and 2020 when there was a rapid increase in youth vaping. During this time there were no laws regulating vapes. However, this trend appears to be reversing since new laws were put into place.”
Daily smoking remains at 1.2 per cent of students this year. This finding coincides with the recent NZ Health Survey which showed a smoking rate of three per cent for 15-24-year-olds, suggesting that low rates are being sustained into young adulthood.
“Youth smoking has almost been eliminated in the last decade. In effect, we have a smoke free generation, which is a cause for celebration,” Youdan said.
ASH said it supports the new Bill to further reduce the appeal of vaping to young people and penalise unscrupulous sellers.
"However, we are still missing evidence-based programmes that give young people the skills to navigate a world where vaping exists,” Youdan added.
“This is even more important when we see the huge role vaping has played in getting tens of thousands of adults off cigarettes and reducing the horrendous toll of smoked tobacco.”
