New Zealand has turned the corner on youth vaping, and changes in government laws will reinforce that trend.
“The ASH survey of youth vaping and smoking shows that smoking rates for year ten students remain very low; they have turned their backs on smoking and that vaping rates peaked three years ago. This is great news,” said Associate Health Minister Casey Costello.
The ASH survey showed daily vaping rates for year ten students falling to 8.7 percent. This aligned with the recent NZ Health Survey results that showed a significant reduction in daily vaping rates for 15 to 17-year-olds.
“For too long, New Zealand didn’t have vaping regulations in place.”
Vaping has played a key role in helping people quit smoking, and Costello said the government wanted vapes available to adults as a cessation tool.
At the same time, vaping was not for children and young people, and that’s why the government has taken action to address this.
“It’s timely that legislation that bans disposable vapes and significantly increases penalties for illegal sales was passed by Parliament.”
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) has aimed to prevent youth vaping and put practical changes and a much stronger regulatory regime in place. Single-use vape devices will be banned outright.
“We are getting rid of vapes that are most popular among young people, and that can only be positive.
The four main changes in the Bill include banning the manufacture, sale, supply, and distribution of disposable vapes, increasing penalties for unlawful sales of regulated products to minors, imposing retail visibility restrictions for vaping products and adding further proximity restrictions for specialist vape retailers.
The penalty for breaching the ban is up to NZD 400,000 for a manufacturer, importer, or large retailer and NZD 50,000 for any other person.
Costello said penalties for retailers who illegally sell vapes, cigarettes and other regulated products to young people have also been significantly increased.
The maximum fine for selling vapes or other regulated products to under-18s will increase from between NZD 5,000 to NZD 10,000 up to a maximum of NZD 100,000.
The penalty for infringement offences will rise from NZD 500 to NZD 1,000 for individuals and NZD 2,000 for businesses.
In addition, vaping products and their packaging have been subject to new visibility restrictions. Specialist vape retailers have been prohibited from displaying them if visible from outside the store.
General vape retailers, mainly supermarkets, petrol stations, and dairies, will be subject to the same rules currently applicable to other regulated products, such as cigarettes. No part of the product or its package may be displayed in a way visible from outside the store or any area where the public can enter.
The Bill has also tightened related advertising restrictions on vaping products to ensure the visibility restrictions are not undermined.
Under the new legislation, those applying to set up a new specialist vape retail store must be at least 100 metres from the boundary of a licensed early childhood service. This has been built on the requirement to be at least 300 metres from a marae or school.
“This is a package of common-sense and practical measures that will be welcomed by parents, teachers and health professionals.”
There will be a delayed commencement period of six months before the disposable vape ban and the retail visibility restrictions come into force to allow time for businesses to prepare for the changes.
Costello added that this would allow for recruiting and training more dedicated smoke-free enforcement officers, thereby enhancing the enforcement capability to support the new rules and stricter penalties.
