Figures show number of illegal vapes confiscated by Belfast City Council in 2023
Figures showing the number of illegal vapes confiscated in Belfast over the past year have been released.
Illegal e-cigarettes often have higher nicotine concentration levels, contain banned ingredients or have oversized tanks for nicotine liquid. Many also contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.
In 2023, Belfast City Council confiscated 671 illegal vapes, enough for two to be sold every day in the city alone. This comes as the Council has been conducting visits and test exercises in vape shops following public complaints of selling products to under-18s, resulting in multiple shop closures.
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To date, four shops in Belfast have been banned from selling tobacco and nicotine inhaling products following successful prosecutions taken by Belfast City Council.
The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by smoking cessation advocates Vape Club, has been released in the 2024 Illegal Vaping Report. The report analyses data from 152 UK local authorities, revealing five years of illegal vaping seizures, business possession, and enforcement insights.
Lack of enforcement and deterrence is an issue across the UK. The data shows illegal vapes were seized from nearly 3,000 sellers in 2023 across the UK, but only one in 20 were issued fines.
The vaping industry is now calling for stronger clampdowns. Experts in the industry recently launched the Vape Retailer and Distributor Licensing framework to engage the government and local authorities in developing methods to stop the vaping black market.
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “It is illegal to sell tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products including vapes/e-cigarettes to anyone under 18. Local councils are responsible for giving advice and enforcing the smoke-free and tobacco/nicotine age of sale restrictions in Northern Ireland.
“We routinely write to Belfast retailers advising them of their legal responsibilities and carry out advisory visits to premises in the city. In addition, our team carries out checks to make sure retailers are complying with the legislation. This includes random checks, as well as targeted checks in instances where we have received complaints about retailers illegally selling these products to children.
“In 2023, 671 illegal vapes were confiscated by Belfast City Council. To-date, four shops in Belfast have been banned from selling tobacco and nicotine inhaling products following successful prosecutions taken by Belfast City Council.”
Dan Marchant, director of vaping retailer, Vape Club, said: "The unregulated illegal vape trade mirrors the issues once prevalent in the cigarette black market, including youth usage, potentially dangerous products, and unregulated retail sales.
"The best deterrent for any crime is the likelihood of being caught and right now that is incredibly low, and rogue retailers are taking full advantage of this. We have to create an environment where there is much more chance of being caught.
"Currently, the maximum fine that can be handed out is £2,500 but in reality, the fines given out are much, much lower. We completely welcome the move to allow trading standards to issue on-the-spot fines, but we would like to see those fines increased to at least £10,000 and increase the fine for repeat offenders."
To spot an illegal vape, you should look out for the below signs:
Volume of e-liquid is over 2ml (not including refillable disposables)
Nicotine level is higher than 20mg/ml
Poor quality packaging with low-resolution photos or labels
Packaging doesn’t show required nicotine warnings
Packaging doesn’t display a full ingredient list. These should be visible with allergens highlighted
No authentication code or a photocopied fake in its place
Device name or labelling in a foreign language
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