Trading Standards seize 2,500 illegal vapes in Ipswich

Suffolk Trading Standards has seized more than 2,000 illegal vapes from a shop in Ipswich.

Approximately 2,500 vapes were found in a storeroom when officers visited the premises following a successful test purchase of illegal tobacco.

Used properly, vapes and e-cigarettes can be a successful way of helping people to stop smoking.

But criminals are capitalising on this, leading to a rise in illegal vapes. In addition, some retailers are increasingly selling vapes to underage children, who are often enticed by the colourful packaging and sweet flavours.

The seized vapes are illegal because they supply over the number of puffs allowed under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

The regulations state that vapes should provide a maximum of 600 puffs, but these devices indicate between 3,500 puffs to up to more than 10,000.

Investigations into the retailer continue.

Graham Crisp, Head of Suffolk Trading Standards, said:

“Illegal vapes such as these breach the safety legislation and indicate that they could be unsafe to use.

“That legislation is in place to help protect the public, and businesses who break those regulations can expect tough penalties.

“We will continue to carry out checks on retailers across Suffolk, taking legal action where necessary.”

Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection, said:

"Vaping has an important role to play in helping smokers to quit, especially when used in conjunction with specialist support from a stop smoking service.

“However illegal devices such as these are nothing to do with helping people quit smoking, instead they exacerbate the problem of inappropriate vaping.

“This seizure is another example of the on-going excellent work being carried out by Suffolk Trading Standards in tackling this problem.”

Consumers can ensure the vape that they are purchasing is legal by checking the following:

• That the tank of a vape is a maximum size of 2ml, and the largest refill bottle is 10ml in size or less
• That all liquids come in childproof bottles displaying nicotine warnings and have an accompanying safety leaflet
• That vapes have a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml, or 2%
• That a maximum number of around 600 puffs is offered

Anyone who suspects that a business is inappropriately selling vaping materials can report this in confidence to Suffolk Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133.