An urgent warning has been issued to residents after more than 1,600 illegal disposable vapes were seized from two shops in Sandwell.
Trading Standards officers found the illegal e-cigarettes – which retail for £5 upwards – being sold in two convenience stores – one in Cradley Heath and the other in Tipton.
They found various brands, some in brightly coloured packaging and with child-appealing flavours such as icy cola, cotton candy and blueberry bubble gum.
Concerningly, some brands such as Vapeman have not been authorised for sale in the UK by the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Under UK law, the legal capacity of an e-cigarette tank is 2ml. Many of those seized were more than double this, ranging from 4.5ml up to 9ml.
Products should also have the name and address of a UK contact if the producer is based outside the UK but many of the products were missing this information along with essential instructions for use and health and safety warnings.
All e-cigarette products must comply with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations minimum standards for the safety and quality of e-liquids and e-liquid containers. Other requirements under the regulations require tamper-evident and child-resistant packaging and toxicity warnings.
Officers are urging retailers to be on the lookout for products that don’t meet legal requirements such as Vapeman, have a tank capacity of more than 2ml or that do not have the name and address of a UK contact if the producer is outside the UK.
Retailers should remove these products from sale and return them to the supplier.
Councillor Bob Piper, Sandwell’s cabinet member for community safety, said: “Our trading standards team is working hard to get these illegal products removed from shop shelves, protecting the health and wellbeing of Sandwell consumers, and making sure that retailers and wholesalers are only selling legal vaping products.
“We’re are also seeing a worrying rise in complaints about shops selling vaping products to under 18s. It’s easy to see the attraction of a £5 vape which gives 3,500 puffs, compared to a packet of normal cigarettes at £10 plus.”
Customers and retailers can check if a product has been authorised for sale on the MHRA website
Anyone spotting illegal vapes for sale, or believing that a shop may be selling vaping products to under 18s should report details to Sandwell’s trading standards team at trading_standards@sandwell.gov.uk
