The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the government to scrap plans to introduce a tobacco-style display ban on vape and nicotine products, criticising the proposals as expensive and unnecessary.
The government is currently consulting on the introduction of a range of restrictions on the vape and nicotine category, including plain packaging on both vape boxes and vape devices, as well as a complete ban on the display of vape and nicotine products in shops.
£160m installation costs
ACS has estimated that a full vape display ban would cost the convenience sector over £160m in installation costs alone. This is in stark contrast to the government’s own impact assessment on the proposals, which suggested that the cost of fitting new gantries would cost each store just £151.20.
In its submission to the consultation, ACS has acknowledged the need to move vapes behind the shop counter, but does not support covered vape displays similar to those in place for tobacco products.
ACS chief executive response
ACS chief executive Ed Woodall said: “A full display ban on vapes is an expensive and unnecessary overreach. If the government is committed to plain vape packaging and devices to stop them being visually appealing, there’s no extra benefit to putting those plain packs out of sight. The right approach is a common sense one that doesn’t cost every local shop thousands of pounds and weeks of unnecessary disruption fitting additional gantries.”
The government’s proposals would not allow retailers to put vapes and tobacco products in the same gantry, as retailers would not be allowed to temporarily display tobacco when someone asks for a vape, and vice versa.
Timeline concerns
The proposed timeline for the introduction of these measures is also impractical. The government has suggested that a display would be introduced just six months after the regulations were introduced to parliament, giving retailers very little time to book in shopfitters and adapt their businesses.
Woodall continued: “The six month timeline for implementation is completely impractical. We know from the introduction of the tobacco display ban over a decade ago that shopfitters get booked very quickly, leaving thousands of retailers scrambling to find temporary solutions at short notice.
“If stores can keep their displays on and behind the till then a year will be sufficient to adapt, but a full display ban will need at least two years to allow everyone time to comply.”
ACS’ full submission to the consultation is available on its website.
