BAT youth access prevention campaign to increase retailer outreach

BAT UK said it will reach out to more retailers this year as part of its youth access prevention campaign VERIFY.

The campaign, which provides retailers and their staff with information and practical materials to help prevent the sale of tobacco and vapour products to those aged under 18, aims to reach over 17,000 retailers in 2022.

Last year, over 10,000 retailers across the country have been provided with posters, stickers and other materials to display at the point of sale, as well as training on how to prevent nicotine products from being purchased by under-18s.

“BAT takes preventing youth access to any of our tobacco, vapour and oral nicotine pouches incredibly seriously. We fully support laws and regulations that introduce a legal minimum age of 18 years, and go above and beyond those laws to safeguard our products against youth access,” commented Frederik Svensson, BAT UK’s general manager.

“Our new VERIFY awareness programme will help our retail partners prevent nicotine products from being accessed by under-18s. With over 300 trade representatives and VUSE store staff trained, as well as 150 VERIFY ambassadors, this programme supports our long-standing commitment to only market our products to adult nicotine consumers, as set out in our International Marketing Principles.”

While the Public Health England has confirmed that vapour products are 95 per cent less harmful than traditional cigarettes, a recent NHS report has found that misinformation about the safety of vaping remains one of the biggest hurdles preventing more people from making the switch.

Svensson said: “Vaping has already helped three million adult smokers in the UK quit. But with more than seven million people still smoking cigarettes it is imperative for manufacturers and retailers to work together to ensure that consumers have the confidence they need to make the switch from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives. Our VERIFY campaign will help ensure that minors do not get access to vapes and build wider public confidence in the positive role that vaping can play to help adult consumers to get away from cigarettes.”

Vaping has proven an incredibly successful smoke cessation tool for adults seeking to quit cigarettes, with the UK being considered as a world leader in this regard. Smoking rates have been decreased from 20 per cent to 14.1 per cent in the last ten years, and according to ASH, e-cigarettes are now the most popular quitting aid which smokers use in the country.