Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK, known to cause numerous different cancers as well as many other health complications. This is one of the reasons that the Government has set the target of being smokefree by 2030. This entails reducing the amount of UK smokers to 5% or less of the population, and the TRPR laws identify vaping as a crucial tool in helping realise this ambition.
What is TRPR?
The UK is a world leader when it comes to the development and implementation of tobacco control policies, and the legislation put in place has helped drive smoking rates to the lowest ever recorded.
The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) regulates the product standards and requirements of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. This includes the use of health warnings and standardised packaging on cigarettes, the point-of-sale display ban, and a ban on proxy purchasing of tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
TRPR was brought in to transition the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directory (TPD) into UK law in 2016, while modernising the regulations to reflect the new market and scientific developments.
With regards to e-cigarettes, TRPR has played a big part in allowing the UK to be one of the best examples of how implementing e-cigarettes effectively can help smokers make a successful quit attempt, and have a real impact on smoking rates. Some of the regulations you can see in effect when you buy vaping products are the nicotine warnings on the packaging, the 2 ml tank size limit, and the maximum nicotine content being 20 mg/ml.
Identifying the important role that e-cigarettes can play in harm reduction, the review states ‘Public Health England found that vaping poses a small fraction of the risk of smoking and that when e-cigarettes are used as part of a quit attempt, success rates are comparable with, or higher than, licensed medication alone.’
It also notes that e-cigarette use has continued to increase since the introduction of TRPR in 2016, with current and ex-smokers being the majority of e-cigarette users, and the number of young people and never-smokers regularly using e-cigarettes remaining low.
As of 25th March 2022 the Department of Health and Social Care has reviewed the TRPR laws and found that they ‘have met their original objectives and they could not be better achieved through alternative regulatory measures.’
Who contributed to the review?
A wide range of evidence was used to inform the review, including a public consultation where over 5000 individuals responded to a range of questions regarding the current regulations. The questions include ones around the health text and picture warnings on tobacco packaging, enforcement of regulations, and e-cigarettes, among other topics.
Some of the interviewees commented on the impact TRPR has had on the strength and legitimacy of e-liquids, by limiting the nicotine content and making it a legal requirement that all new nicotine-containing e-liquids are subject to vigorous testing before they can be approved for sale.
One interviewee who owns a business selling both tobacco and e-cigarette products stated,
“I think a lot of people who have gone from smoking to vaping are doing it purely and simply because the cost of smoking is just becoming untenable for them"
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) submitted their recommendations to the TRPR consultation, which included collaboration from Evapo as a founding member of UKVIA, and it was great to see these recommendations acknowledged.
John Dunne, Director General of UKVIA has said of the review,
“While at first glance this appears to be ‘status quo’, I see this as a win for the UK’s vaping sector as the review clearly states the positive impact that vaping can have in helping people to quit smoking."
Changes for the future
Many respondents suggested that the Government should do more to increase awareness of the benefits of switching from smoking to vaping, and commented on particular aspects of the regulations. There were suggestions that nicotine containing e-liquid bottles and tank sizes for e-cigarettes should be bigger, and that the allowed nicotine strength of e-cigarettes should be increased.
The regulations are due to be reviewed again before 2030, and we intend to continue to advocate for these changes to be addressed in the next review, to ensure vaping is as accessible, convenient, and effective for adult smokers who would like to make the swich to a less harmful alternative.
If you would like to learn more about making the switch from smoking to vaping, pop in to your local Evapo store or reach out to our online customer service team.
At a glance
- The TRPR review has concluded that the original regulations have met their objective and no amendments are needed
- The review has identified the crucial role that e-cigarettes can play in smoking harm reduction
- “While at first glance this appears to be ‘status quo’, I see this as a win for the UK’s vaping sector as the review clearly states the positive impact that vaping can have in helping people to quit smoking.” (John Dunne, Director General of UKVIA)
Sources
gov.uk 25/03/2022
gov.uk 04/03/2020
ukvia.co.uk 25/03/2022
