Tobacco Issues. A Guide for Medway Retailers

Tobacco Issues A Guide for Medway Retailers Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers Summary & contents This guide is brought to you by Medway...
Author: Charity Fleming
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Tobacco Issues

A Guide for Medway Retailers

Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

Summary & contents This guide is brought to you by Medway Council’s Public Health and Trading Standards teams. Inside you will find information on a number of tobacco related topics which will keep you up to date on new government legislation and the local services.



E-cigarettes



E-cigarettes and the law New regulations Public health view



Illegal sale of tobacco and alcohol



Types of illicit tobacco Penalties & fines How to protect your business



Medway Stop Smoking Service



What support do they offer? Why it’s important for retailers to know about the service



Plain packaging



What is plain packaging? Impact on retailers Impact on illicit trade



Proxy purchasing



Changes to the law Why protect children from smoking?



Final Points

Shisha Point of Sale (POS) ban Smokefree legislation

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Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

E–cigarettes E-cigarettes are electronic devices that deliver nicotine within an inhalable aerosol.

Age of sale

As of October 2015 it is an offence to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 years old. If caught Enforcement Officers can issue a warning, a fine up to £2500 or refer an offence to court.

New regulations:

As of 20 May 2016 e-cigarettes will be regulated under the revised European Union Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). This means that e-cigarettes must: • Display health warnings covering at least 30% of the packaging. • Follow new laws on advertising, sponsorship and promotion. • Limit the strength of nicotine in e-cigarette liquid to 20mg/ml. Some manufacturers of e-cigarettes may choose to apply for a medicines license under the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). If approved they will be available on prescription only from a pharmacy.

Public Health view

Research suggests that e-cigarettes do help smokers to quit or reduce the amount smoked. However, there is very little research on the long term effects of using e-cigarettes. Despite this, using an e-cigarette is considered much safer than smoking tobacco. If customers are purchasing e-cigarettes to quit then they can greatly improve their chances of success by getting support from Medway Stop Smoking Service.

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If you have any questions about e-cigarettes call: 01634 333 333 3

Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

Illegal sales of tobacco

Illegal tobacco falls into three categories: • Counterfeit (fake) - cheap products made to look like genuine brands.

Fiscal mark

• Smuggled - brought in illegally from abroad in large quantities without paying UK duty.

UK DUTY PAID CIGARETTES

• Cheap whites - new brands of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco which cannot be bought legally in the UK.

Cigarette packets must:

CIGARETTES

Smoking seriously harms you and others around you

Text health warning

• Contain a fiscal mark • Contain a pictorial health & text warning in English

Pictorial health warning

Penalties and fines Selling tobacco without the fiscal mark

Up to £5000 fine

Sale of loose cigarettes

Up to £1000 fine

Failure to display the correct statutory notice

Up to £1000 fine

Selling to under 18’s

Up to £2500 fine

Breaching term of restricted premises order (RPO), a restricted sales order (RSO)

Up to £20,000 fine

Protect your business • • • •

Buy tobacco products from genuine suppliers. Check products to make sure they are authentic when delivered. Keep receipts & invoices of your purchases to show traceability. If someone requests a refund or returns a product check the packet in case it’s been switched for an illegal product.

Local enforcement teams carry out regular operations to seize illegal goods from retailers. In 2015, five retailers were evicted from their premises after being found to be selling illegal tobacco. Don’t let this happen to you! To report illegal sales call: 01634 334 455

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Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

Medway Stop Smoking Service Medway Stop Smoking Service is a specialist team that helps local people to quit smoking. The service welcomes all smokers, even if they have used the service before. It also helps people who are using e-cigarettes to stop smoking.

Why is it important as a retailer to know about the Stop Smoking Service? As a retailer you speak to the public on daily basis. Many smokers will come to you to buy tobacco and may mention that they wish to quit. You may even have conversations with smokers about their habit. Knowing about the Medway Stop Smoking Service means that you can help support your customers by telling them about the local service and helping them make a positive behaviour change. Medway Stop Smoking Service offers a range of free support options across Medway at various times and locations. To find out more visit www.abettermedway.co.uk

Stop

Smoking

Start Living Helping you cut out smoking for good

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Medway Stop Smoking Service: 01634 334 800 5

Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

Plain packaging As of the 20 May 2016 tobacco packaging in the UK will be standardised (plain). This means that the attractive promotional aspects of tobacco products will be removed, including the colour of the packs.

Other changes include: • • • •

Image sourced from ASH

All cigarette packs must be the standardised cuboid shape with a standard opening mechanism. The minimum packet size for cigarettes is 20, and hand rolling tobacco (HRT) is 30g. Cigarette and HRT packaging must include a combined picture and text health warning covering 65% of the front and the back of the package, placed at the top of the pack. Ban on characterising flavours, however Menthol ban delayed until 2020.

Impact on retailers

There will be a one year sell through period. This means that current stocks can be sold up until May 2017 but afterwards all products sold in the UK must follow the standardised regulations.

Impact on illicit trade

Standardised packs will have all the health warnings and other markings required on current packs so they will be no easier to counterfeit than branded packs. Contrary to industry claims, there is no evidence that standardised packaging will lead to an increase in the illicit trade in tobacco.

If you have any questions on plain packaging call: 01634 333 333 6

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Tobacco Issues: A Guide for Medway Retailers

Proxy purchasing Proxy purchasing is when a person over 18 buys age-restricted products like tobacco or alcohol for someone who is under 18. Children in Medway should be able to grow up without an addiction to smoking. We rely on people selling tobacco to act responsibly and protect children by not selling tobacco to under 18’s.

Change in legislation (Children’s & Families Act 2014)

As of October 2015 an individual who commits a proxy purchase witnessed by an Enforcement Officer will be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice of £90 (£60 if paid within 15 days). This is the same as proxy purchasing alcohol.

Why is important to prevent proxy selling? • The younger someone starts smoking the greater the harm is likely to be because early uptake is linked with heavier smoking, higher levels of dependency and higher mortality. • Children who smoke are two to six times more susceptible to coughs and increased phlegm, wheeziness and shortness of breath than those who do not smoke. • Smoking impairs lung growth and may lead to an increased risk of both lung and heart disease in adult life.

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If you have any questions about proxy purchasing call 01634 333 333 7

Final points Herbal tobacco: As of January 2014 retailers of herbal smoking products must ensure they pay UK duty this includes: • herbal cigarettes • smoking mixtures for pipes and hand rolling cigarettes • water pipe (shisha) containing no tobacco • blunt wraps (flavoured paper of rolling tobacco) • chewing tobacco These products must also display health warnings in English.

POS ban

As of April 2015 tobacco displays are banned from the point of sale for all large and small retailers, which the exception of Tobacconists.

Smokefree legislation

In July 2007 Smokefree Legislation came into force making it illegal for anyone to smoke in an enclosed public place. If you know someone or a public place not following this law please call 01634 333 333.

Quick reference contact numbers

Plain Packaging

01634 333 333



Proxy purchasing

01634 333 333



Smokefree Legislation

01634 333 333



E-cigarettes

01634 333 333



Illegal Tobacco & underage sales

01634 334 455



Medway Stop Smoking Service

01634 334 800



Medway Trading Standards

01634 333 170



Medway Public Health

01634 331 074

www.abettermedway.co.uk

| www.medway.gov.uk