UKVIA calls for meeting with ministers on smokefree ambitions

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has written to Wes Streeting, the new secretary of state for health and social care, as well as public health minister Andrew Gwynne and shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins, asking for a meeting to discuss how vaping can best support the nation’s smokefree ambitions.

In the letter addressed to Streeting, the UKVIA underscored the urgency of leveraging vaping to assist adult smokers in quitting, thereby reducing future NHS burdens from smoking-related illnesses.

“There is conclusive evidence that vaping is the most effective way to help adult smokers quit. Yet while millions of former smokers have made the switch already, there remains a significant opportunity for the country to get its smokefree goals back on track,” the letter reads.

The UKVIA expressed support for the Labour Party’s manifesto commitments to ban child-appealing vape branding and advertising, aligning with the broader goals of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The association called for a meeting to discuss regulatory and enforcement enhancements that would maximise vaping’s impact on reducing adult smoking rates while addressing youth vaping concerns.

The letter highlighted proposals for a self-funding licensing scheme to enforce vaping regulations and combat the black market and youth vaping. The UKVIA estimates such a scheme could raise approximately £50 million from the vaping industry to bolster enforcement efforts.