{"id":26848,"date":"2025-09-30T09:22:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=26848"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:23:00","slug":"licensing-shake-up-could-block-access-to-vapes-warn-retailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/licensing-shake-up-could-block-access-to-vapes-warn-retailers\/","title":{"rendered":"Licensing shake-up could block access to vapes, warn retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Access to vapes could be cut off for thousands of smokers under new government licensing rules. Retailers and the vaping industry warn the move risks fuelling smoking rates and boosting the black market.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill<\/a>, currently in the House of Lords, would force every shop selling tobacco or vapes to apply for a licence, with rules expected to take effect from January 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Licensing consultant Jane Gilliead said the framework is likely to mirror the Licensing Act of 2003, which blocks alcohol sales in \u201ccumulative impact zones\u201d linked to antisocial behaviour or near schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No \u2018grandfather rights\u2019 for vape sellers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking at [the 2003 Act] as a guide, you\u2019ve got stringent conditions under the four licensing objectives, and you\u2019ve got things that marry in, like planning,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking at those rules that have been promoted from the basics of the Licensing Act and taking that into scope, they\u2019re talking about areas where they won\u2019t allow smoking areas, or they won\u2019t allow people to have the licence due to them being in the vicinity of schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike alcohol licensing, existing sellers are unlikely to benefit from \u201cgrandfather rights,\u201d which automatically protected alcohol retailers in 2003. Gilliead said councils do not hold registers of shops currently selling tobacco or vapes, meaning all outlets may need to make full applications. She predicted a six-month lead-in from July 2026, with implementation on 1 January 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scheme shouldn\u2019t punish responsible retailers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman warned: \u201cWe expect the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to include details of a licensing scheme that could restrict the licences given to retailers due to their proximity to schools and to other similar businesses on the grounds of cumulative impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConvenience stores\u2019 ability to offer various products and services would be undermined if they did not get a licence to sell these products. It is crucial that a licensing scheme works effectively to stop rogue traders without unduly punishing responsible retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) also hit out at Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s \u201cPride in Place\u201d programme, which proposes giving communities powers to block vape stores alongside betting shops and other \u201cunwanted\u201d businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UKVIA director general John Dunne said: \u201cThis announcement may make good headlines, but we need to prioritise sound policy over soundbites when it comes to protecting public health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cVaping is the most effective method of helping adult smokers quit, poses only a tiny fraction of the health risks of smoking, yet nearly six-in-10 adults wrongly believe that it is as harmful or more harmful than smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Harming communities <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cLinking vape stores in the \u2018unwanted shops\u2019 category with the likes of betting shops and fake barbers, will harm communities by driving up smoking rates. Specialist vape stores provide a much-needed service to their communities by educating smokers on much safer ways of consuming tobacco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunne said licensing could be a force for good if designed to target rogue traders: \u201cVape licensing could fund dedicated squads of trading standards officers to the tune of more than \u00a350m a year with no additional cost to the exchequer and, if backed by fines of \u00a310,000 for those who sell to children or who sell illicit products, rogue retailers would have a huge incentive to remain within the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

He warned: \u201cCreating unnecessary barriers to responsible vape retailing risks pushing people back to smoking or into the hands of the illicit market, which is what no one wants.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Access to vapes could be cut off for thousands of smokers under new government licensing rules. Retailers and the vaping industry warn the move risks fuelling smoking rates and boosting the black market. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently in the House…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":26849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[313],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-26848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-guide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26855,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848\/revisions\/26855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26848"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=26848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}