Following the deadline of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations consultation closing, the UKVIA is encouraging vaping advocates to write to their local MPs calling on them to support the vaping industry at this critical time.
See letter template below:
March 2021
Dear [LOCAL MP],
The review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) – the regulations which govern e-cigarette and vape products in the UK – is an enormous opportunity to ensure that adult smokers get the support needed to help them switch to less harmful alternatives and to refocus efforts on achieving Smokefree status across England by 2030.
Whilst on the one hand the current regulations have allowed the vaping industry in the UK to flourish, on the other, they have hindered the ability of the vaping sector to promote vaping as an effective way of switching to a less harmful alternative.
The review of the TRPR, currently being carried out by the Department for Health and Social Care, should be used to further accelerate the potential role of vaping as an effective way of reducing smoking rates and potentially improving public health. Failure to take advantage of this opportunity would be a disservice to the contribution that vaping has already made to improving the lives of adult smokers and the good progress that has already been seen across the UK. This is an opportunity for the UK Government to allow for adult smokers to have appropriate access to less harmful alternatives and accurate information about the products available to them.
The TRPR is derived from the implementation of the EU’s Tobacco Product Directive (TPD). The UK Government should seize the opportunity presented by leaving the EU to build on and enhance the current framework and allow the UK to further develop its existing world leading position towards vaping, created using the wealth of knowledge held by some of the country’s leading health professionals and bodies.
This research continues to demonstrate that vaping is the most effective alternative for smokers looking to quit and has a significant role to play in improving public health outcomes.
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has set out fair and proportionate effective regulatory changes in their ‘Blueprint for Better Regulation’. It calls for the revised TRPR to:
- Fully recognise the public health benefits of vaping.
- Challenge the misinformation around vaping to build public confidence and to ensure that adult smokers and vapers get the facts about the alternatives available to them.
- Promote the smoke-free 2030 ambition, with the use of all reduced risk nicotine alternatives to combustible cigarettes.
I hope that you can support the vaping industry at this critical time by raising these objectives with Department for Health Minister, Jo Churchill, tabling a Parliamentary Question or providing a supportive quote to the UKVIA.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[NAME]