The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has expressed concerns about impartiality and personal bias of a single-use vape review commissioned by the Scottish government.
In a letter to Lorna Slater MSP, UKVIA director general John Dunne questions why the public and the wider vape sector were not invited to contribute to the review, saying this contradicts government guidance which states ‘consultations are open for all citizens to reply to’.
In January 2023 the Scottish government commissioned Zero Waste Scotland to carry out a review of the environmental impact of and potential policy options for improving the management of single-use e-cigarettes, reducing pollution and enhancing the safe recycling of the products they contain.
The review shortlists nine policy options for further consideration, including prohibitive measures which the UKVIA states could have “serious unintended consequences on public health”, covering a proposed ban on single-use vapes which could see vapers “deprived of their chosen alternative to cigarettes and smoking rates driven up.”
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Dunne also said that the approach to this report differs from a previous Scottish consultation on the advertising and promotion of vaping products, which allowed consumers to ‘have their say’ and saw more ‘diverse’ responses.
Further, while the UKVIA and the IBVTA were permitted to provide submissions to the review, their individual members were not.
Dunne wrote the review gives the impression that the consultations were merely “a box-ticking exercise rather than a genuine attempt to engage with the views of both the vaping sector and those who have successfully transitioned from smoking to vaping.”
“This is reinforced by the fact that the report does not reference any comments from the UKVIA, the UK’s largest vaping association with an extensive membership in Scotland.”
“Unfortunately, it seems that this review could be used as a tool to push through anti-vaping policies without proper public consultation and scrutiny,” he added.
He also warned politicians must ‘seriously consider’ the dangers of prohibitive policy put forward in the review, especially considering Scotland has the highest smoking prevalence of any UK country at 14.8% and there are no plans to ban cigarettes – which are also a major pollutant and cause 200 deaths a day in the UK.
Elsewhere, the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, is calling for the government to ban the sale and manufacture of disposable vapes by 2024 over environmental concerns.
Councils are also concerned about the impact vaping is having upon children and young people, thanks to the marketing of vapes with designs and flavours that could appeal to children, in particular those with fruity and bubble gum flavours, and colourful child-friendly packaging.
Strict new measures to regulate the display and marketing of regular vaping products in the same way as tobacco are needed.
