Generational smoking ban will have 'serious impact on legitimate, visible traders', warns Fed

More than nine in 10 independent retailers have said that the government’s proposed generational smoking ban and a ban on disposable vapes will fuel demand for illicit products even further, a survey of members of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has shown.

Seventy-eight per cent of respondents said more of their customers than ever were buying illicit tobacco and vapes from other sources and just over half (55 per cent) were aware of specific places near their shops where illegal products were on sale.

However, only 33 per cent said they had reported people peddling illicit tobacco to the authorities, with two thirds (67 per cent) said they had not. Nearly eight in 10 (77 per cent) said Trading Standards were not doing enough to tackle the problem in their area.

Nearly 400 retailers participated in the survey, which ran over 10 days during November, to help the Fed to better understand the impact that sales of illicit tobacco have on members’ stores and how the introduction of the generational smoking ban, which bans the sale of tobacco products across the UK to anyone aged 15 or younger, will fuel this black market.

Commenting on the results, the Fed’s National President Mo Razzaq said, “The government’s plan to stop young people smoking and vaping may look good on paper and in headlines but as our survey shows it will have serious impacts on legitimate traders.

“Just like shoplifting, selling counterfeit and non-duty tobacco is not a victimless crime. It damages legitimate retail businesses and communities. The people who peddle illegal tobacco couldn’t care less whether the customer is 18 or over. They just want the profit.”

Fed National President Mo Razzaq Fed National President Mo Razzaq

Razzaq continued, “To make matters worse, the illicit tobacco market is often linked to organised crime, with the profits used to fund the smuggling of weapons, drugs – and even people.

“Making it an offence for anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, to be sold tobacco and banning the sale of single use vapes in legitimate retail outlets will mean the governments of the four nations are simply handing a blank cheque to rogue dealers on social media, street corners and by school gates.

"The legislation will impact on visible traders rather than the less visible ones who trade on a larger scale.”

The Fed released the findings of its survey in the week that the Tobacco and Vaping Bill returned to parliament for its second reading.