Trading Standards Officers Seize 787 Illegal Vapes at 6 Stores
As part of The Public Protection Partnership Vaping Education Campaign Trading Standards officers have seized illegal vapes from stores across the three districts.
In total officers visited 24 stores, across the 3 districts. From the 24, 6 stores were found to be selling non-compliant vapes and a total of 787 illegal vapes were seized.
- 24 stores were visited in total
- 9 visited in Wokingham (2 stores where illegal vapes were seized)
- 8 visited in West Berks (2 stores where illegal vapes were seized)
- 7 visited in Bracknell (2 stores where illegal vapes were seized)
Vaping products have seen a surge in popularity. However many vaping products available in UK shops do not meet the requirements of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The main area of non-compliance found during these visits were with regards to the capacity of the vapes i.e. the tank size exceeds the 2ml permitted by the regulations.
What the law says:
Disposable vapes:
- Should not contain quantities of more than 2ml (this equates to around 600 puffs)
- Must not contain nicotine in excess of 20mg/ml
- Must be labelled with a UK or EU address
The vapes seized did not comply with one or more of the above areas.
If local residents wish to make Trading Standards aware of areas of concern with regards to vapes, either potential illegal vapes or underage sales of vapes please contact our Trading Standards team on 01635 519930 or email tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk
