We are pleased to announce that we are now a member of the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), an association that shares not only our appreciation for the vaping sector but also our aims to professionalise the industry and commitment to addressing issues such as non-compliant products, underage vapers, the environmental impact of the industry, and more.
Who are the IBVTA?
The IBVTA were established to support the independent vaping industry by representing all responsible and ethical vaping businesses in the UK and giving the vaping sector a voice with government bodies, regulators, enforcement agencies, and other bodies.
They are a non-profit and non-political association founded by some of the UKs leading manufacturers, distributors, vendors, and importers, and is collaboratively owned by all of its members and supported by a steering committee of engineers, chemists, and pharmacists.
Their mission is to provide credible knowledge, guidance, and to promote and support the relationship between the vaping sector and regulators, policy makers, the scientific community, and with the general public.
Speaking on becoming a member of the IBVTA, Andrej Kuttruf Evapo’s Founder and CEO, has shared:
“We really look forward to working with the IBVTA and are thrilled to see that they share our visions for the future. Becoming a member will allow us the opportunity to not only share our knowledge and expertise from our many years in the industry, but to also assist with the continued spread of information on the benefits of vaping and work closely with policy makers and the public health sector to ensure we can maximise on these benefits and work towards our common goal of a smoke-free future.”
Tackling illicit and underage sales
We have joined the IBVTA as it is obvious that their work aligns with our own ethos and they share our aims for the future of the UK vaping industry.
The main issues that the industry currently faces are the illicit vaping market and non-compliant products and underage vaping. We hope to work together as an industry to find solutions for these problems while still being able to provide an effective and accessible alternative to smoking for adult smokers.
Unfortunately, the last year has seen a rise in the prominence of illicit and non-compliant vaping products, with high nicotine and counterfeit disposable vapes being the main focus. Cracking down on the sale of these products is of the utmost importance.
The UK has long been recognised as being ahead of the curve when it comes to utilising the potential of vaping as a way to drive down smoking rates and support smokers in making a quit attempt using an effective alternative.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have identified vaping as being at least 95% less harmful than smoking, and a plethora of research has found e-cigarettes to be more than twice as effective at aiding in a successful quit attempt than other nicotine replacement therapies, as revealed in the most recent Cochrane review.
For this reason, public health authorities have been able to endorse vaping and actively encourage smokers to make the switch, with the current Health Minister even announcing the new ‘swap to stop’ scheme which will see one million smokers provided with an e-cigarette, as discussed in our recent post.
The irresponsible retailers who are willing to sell these products which do not comply with UK regulations are not only damaging the reputation of the vaping industry as a whole, but are also possibly providing customers with illicit products which have not been subject to the appropriate quality and safety checks.
The IBVTA have expressed that there is also a clear association between retailers who are selling non-compliant vaping products and those who are willing to sell to underage people, as they are much less likely to verify the age of their customers in any meaningful way.
Cracking down on underage sales is another issue that both ourselves and the IBVTA feel strongly about. Those retailers who are selling to minors are not only breaking the law, but in doing so are also casting a shadow on the good that the vaping industry has done and continues to do in helping adult smokers to quit.
The IBVTA have helped to support enforcement agencies in tackling both the illicit vaping trade and underage sales, and will continue to do so with the Government’s newly announced ‘enforcement squad’ that will be formed specifically to combat the problem.
Minimising the environmental impact of vaping
A subject that is close to our hearts here at Evapo is minimising the environmental impact that vaping could have, especially with the rising popularity of disposable vapes.
We have worked hard to reduce our carbon footprint and make changes to ensure we are being as environmentally conscious as we can, we outline some of these in our post ‘Sustainability at Evapo’.
Fortunately, this is a subject that the IBVTA are also passionate about, and we hope to be able to work closely with them to raise awareness on the benefits of reusable vaping options vs disposable ones, and how vapers can responsibly dispose of their vaping products to help reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill.
Our work with UKVIA
As well as being a member of IBVTA, we are also a founding member of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s leading forum for supporting and promoting the vaping industry.
Our shared aim is to educate and inform the public about the benefits of making the switch to vaping, and to work with the public health sector to continue to drive down smoking rates. This includes campaigning for regulation and ensuring that the industry demonstrates the highest levels of quality standards and responsibility.
UKVIA are also responsible for the annual VApril campaign which helps smokers access all the information and support they need to make the switch from smoking to vaping. VApril is now in its sixth year and is the world’s largest vaping education campaign.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of making the switch from smoking to vaping why not pop in to your local Evapo store or take a look at our ‘Switching made simple’ guide.
Sources
gov.uk 29/09/2022
cochrane.org 17/11/2022
gov.uk 11/04/2023
