Vape shops caught selling inappropriate Heated Tobacco Products

Despite new regulations coming into effect on Tuesday, e-cigarette shops across the country have been caught selling non-compliant Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs).

An undercover operation run by grassroots volunteer group Vape-Free Kids NZ has opened more than 20 stores selling IQOS heated tobacco devices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

It comes after calls from health leaders for the prime minister to stand down Deputy Health Minister Casey Costello over his “disastrous” tobacco control policy.

Philip Morris monopolized the HTP market in New Zealand with its IQOS product, in which tobacco sticks are heated into vapor rather than burned.

RNZ also visited several stores in Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon; IQOS devices and tobacco products were sold at a store in Linwood.

Another store in Papanui also had a large display of IQOS products, but a staff member interfered with a possible sale due to regulations.

The staff then reconsidered the sale unless the customer “worked for the government.”

IQOS tobacco products do not comply with Labor regulations requiring devices to have removable batteries and child safety mechanisms.

The rules came into effect on Tuesday.

Costello reduced the excise tax on HTPs by 50 percent to encourage people to switch to the product as an alternative to cigarettes.

But earlier Wednesday, Philip Morris forced to pull device from shelves because it was still classified as an electronic cigarette and therefore did not have mandatory functions.

Costello tried to delay the regulations for two years but the Cabinet only agreed to a six-month delay from the original date of 21 March.

Vape-Free Kids NZ said many retailers claimed they were unaware the devices could not be legally sold.

Some were also awaiting additional deliveries of IQOS products, and others stated that they had received no information to discontinue sales or send the devices back to their suppliers.

Group co-founder Charyl Robinson said it was “shocking” that most retailers were unaware of the legality of the products they were selling.

“Illegal products are being sold openly a few streets down from the Beehive with no repercussions,” Robinson said.

“Given that two dozen smoking ban enforcement officers face the powerful task of policing 8,000 e-cigarette shops, the government’s proposed new law does not go far enough.

“When 20 stores are caught trying to sell IQOS in less than a day and a half, there may be thousands more stores selling illegal products.”

In a sit-down interview with RNZ on Wednesday, Costello said: publish independent advice He learned about the benefits of using heated tobacco products to help people quit smoking.

Costello said he never claimed that HTPs were safe, “they’re just less harmful than smoking.”

Health Coalition Aotearoa said Premier Christopher Luxon must take immediate action after Costello’s series of moves against the tobacco industry at the expense of taxpayers.

Co-chair professor Boyd Swinburn called on Luxon to back down from Costello and roll back tax cuts on HTP products.

“We have a strange situation where the government has allocated $216 million from the health budget because of lost tax revenue from Philip Morris, a major tobacco company, and the products they were designed for are no longer legal,” he said. .

Health Coalition Aotearoa member and tobacco control expert professor Chris Bullen said the minister had failed to listen to health warnings from experts and his own officials.

“He has clearly failed to meet the standards expected of a minister in terms of transparency, integrity and residual competence,” he said.

“The deputy minister’s plan to reduce smoking rates by making another tobacco product cheaper was a dangerous and radical experiment from the start and should never have been approved by the Cabinet.”