Tag: UK

  • Analysts: UK Vape Tax Good for Tobacco Stock

    Analysts: UK Vape Tax Good for Tobacco Stock

    Image: James Thew

    Citi analysts have identified the U.K. government’s new excise tax on vaping products as an encouraging development for BAT and Imperial Brands, reports Proactive.

    Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in his Spring Budget speech that vaping products would be subject to a new tax from October 2026. According to media reports, this move is designed to maintain a financial incentive for choosing vaping over smoking, complemented by a concurrent increase in tobacco duty.

    The taxation framework will be based on nicotine content, with a three-tiered system imposing charges ranging from £1 ($1.28) per 10 mL to £3 per 10 mL in addition to the current 20 percent VAT.

    This structured approach aims to regulate the vaping market further and aligns with the government’s health strategy by providing a less harmful alternative to traditional smoking.

    Citi’s short research note said: “Although [Wednesday’s] confirmation of the planned levy on vaping comes as little surprise, we believe that alongside the proposed ban on disposable vapes from April 25, the regulatory risk/reward is skewing to the upside for both BAT and Imperial.”

  • Boost in Noncigarette Tobacco Use: U.K.

    Boost in Noncigarette Tobacco Use: U.K.

    Image: dusanpetkovic1

    The number of people in the U.K. who smoke pipes, shisha and cigars has increased fivefold over the past 10 years, according to The Guardian.

    Based on a study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, in 2023, there were 772,800 exclusive noncigarette tobacco users compared to 151,200 in 2013. The study is based on research by University College London academics who surveyed 1,700 adults a month between 2013 and 2023 on their smoking habits.

    Young adults showed the largest increase in use of noncigarette tobacco. Of the surveyed 18-year-olds, 3 percent used noncigarette tobacco while 1.1 percent of 65-year-olds used these products. Men and current vapers showed a higher prevalence of noncigarette tobacco use as well.

    Experts argue that use of noncigarette tobacco can be more harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes. The British Heart Foundation has stated that smoking a shisha pipe for 20 minutes to 80 minutes amounts to the same amount of smoke inhaled from more than 100 cigarettes. The organization also stated that tobacco-free shisha still produces dangerous toxins in the smoke.

    The increase in noncigarette tobacco use could be attributed to a belief that these forms of smoking are less harmful than traditional cigarettes or to financial reasons, according to the study.

    “Tobacco kills one person every five minutes in the U.K.,” said Ian Walker, executive director of policy at Cancer Research U.K. “Research like this shows that the issue of smoking isn’t just about cigarettes—all tobacco products are harmful and cause cancer, no matter what form they come in.

    “That’s why it’s crucial that the government’s age-of-sale legislation applies to all tobacco products. If implemented, this policy will be a vital step toward creating a smoke-free U.K., preventing future generations from ever becoming addicted to tobacco.”

    “This 10-year-long study captures the shift in trends of noncigarette tobacco use and paints a concerning picture,” said Sarah Jackson, lead author of the study. “Although rates of cigarette smoking have fallen, our data show there has been a sharp rise in use of other smoked tobacco products, particularly among young people.

    “It’s vital that smoking cessation services are adequately funded and available across the U.K. so that the around 772,800 people who use noncigarette tobacco products, and the millions who use cigarettes, are given the support they need to quit.”

  • Labour Could Make Vapes Prescription-Only

    Labour Could Make Vapes Prescription-Only

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    If the British Labour Party wins the next general election, it could follow Australia’s lead and make vaping products prescription-only, according to Vaping360. The next general election will take place no later than January 2025. The Labour Party has led in the polls for about two years.

    “I’m looking very carefully at what Mark Butler and the Australian Labor government have announced,” said Wes Streeting, the Labour Party’s shadow health secretary. Streeting speaks for the party on health issues and is the likely current choice for health secretary if the party gains a majority in Parliament.

    “Their policy is in part driven by the evidence here in Australia that vaping has become a gateway drug to smoking,” Streeting said. “So, I think we need to look carefully at what the U.K. evidence is on that front.”

    According to Streeting, the vaping industry has “peddled itself as an altruistic smoking cessation service at the same time as addicting a generation of children [to] nicotine.”

    “This whole business model is built on addicting people to one of the most addictive substances known to man or woman,” Streeting said, “so we’re going to go hard on marketing selling to children, but I also want the vaping industry to go back to its roots as a genuine smoking cessation tool.”

  • Elf Bar Removing Some Flavors from U.K.

    Elf Bar Removing Some Flavors from U.K.

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Vaping brands Elf Bar and Lost Mary will remove dessert, candy and soft drink flavored disposable vapor products from the U.K. market, according to Vaping360.

    The brands make up more than half of the U.K.’s disposable vape sales, according to data firm NielsenIQ. They are owned by the Chinese firm Shenzhen iMiracle Technology, and it is unclear if the Chinese company will remove these flavors from other markets.

    Elf Bar has already ended U.K. sales of Bubble Gum and Cotton Candy flavors and renamed Gummy Bear “Gami,” according to the BBC.

    The decision is meant to help curb claims that the popular vapes are marketed to youth following a panic over youth vaping that has seen an uptick in the past couple years.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proposed changes to the vaping laws in October. There is currently a public consultation to determine what actions to take.

    “The introduction of such a regime would mitigate children’s access to vapes and make it easier for the authorities to regulate the sale of vaping devices better. Furthermore, we believe it would help combat the growing illicit vape market and drive increased rates of vape recycling,” an Elf Bar spokesman said.

    Clive Bates of The Counterfactual questioned whether the move would silence the company’s critics. “Their detractors will take it as an in-principle admission of culpability and then build outward from that principle,” he said.

  • U.K. Mulls Vape Tax

    U.K. Mulls Vape Tax

    Image: Margo_Alexa

    U.K. ministers are considering a new vapor tax as part of the move to create a “smoke-free generation” that would also include a gradual total ban on smoking, according to The Guardian.

    Documents that were published along with Rishi Sunak’s first king’s speech show that an eight-week consultation on smoking and vaping is planned and will “explore a new duty” on vapor products.

    There is an “important balance” that needs to be met to make sure cigarettes are taxed higher than vapes, The Guardian noted, citing Downing Street.

    Ministers plan to introduce the new tobacco and vapes bill next month. It will include tighter restrictions on vaping and phase out the sale of cigarettes, making it so that children currently aged 14 or younger will never legally be able to purchase the products.

  • UK to Raise Cigarette Consumption Age

    UK to Raise Cigarette Consumption Age

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    The U.K. prime minister, Rishi Sunak, wants to raise the legal age for consuming cigarettes, gradually increasing it one year at a time until the next generation is no longer legally allowed to purchase the products, reports Bloomberg.

    According to Sunak, the move would make it so that “a 14-year-old today would never legally be sold a cigarette.” Sunak spoke on the age increase at a Conservative Party conference in Manchester Wednesday, where plans to restrict availability of vapes and look at packaging and flavors of vapor products were also discussed.

    Simon Clark, director of smokers’ rights group Forest, responded to the move, saying, “These are desperate measures by a desperate prime minister.

    “Raising the age of sale of tobacco is creeping prohibition, but it won’t stop young people smoking because prohibition doesn’t work. Anyone who wants to smoke will buy tobacco abroad or from illicit sources.

    “This is the opposite of leveling up; it’s dumbing down. Future generations of adults who are considered old enough to vote, pay taxes, drive a car and drink alcohol are going to be treated like children and denied the right to buy a product that can be purchased legally by people a year older than them.

    “This is now a conservative government in name only because the prime minister has just taken a wrecking ball to the principles of choice and personal responsibility,” Clark said.

  • UK Prime Minister Considering Cig Ban

    UK Prime Minister Considering Cig Ban

    Image: Pcess609

    U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering a ban on cigarettes that would effectively ban the next generation from purchasing cigarettes, according to the Guardian.

    Sunak has reportedly been looking into measures similar to those put in place in New Zealand, involving steadily increasing the legal smoking age, resulting in those born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, never being able to buy tobacco products.

    “At a time when people and businesses are crying out for stability, Rishi Sunak has poured fuel on the Tories’ economic bin fire in a desperate bid to keep Liz Truss and her fellow arsonists happy,” said Keir Starmer, Labour leader, referring to Sunak’s recent backtracking on his net-zero policy and confusion over his education policies.

    “Britain has a once-in-a-generation chance to reverse 13 years of decline and get ahead—to bring down people’s bills, create quality jobs and free us from the grip of Putin and over-reliance on China. Rishi Sunak’s weakness now stands between the country and proper national renewal,” Starmer said.

    “Smoking is a deadly habit—it kills tens of thousands of people each year and places a huge burden on the NHS and the economy,” said a government spokesperson about the New Zealand-style smoking ban policy. “We want to encourage more people to quit and meet our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030, which is why we have already taken steps to reduce smoking rates. This includes providing 1 million smokers in England with free vape kits via our world-first ‘swap to stop’ scheme, launching a voucher scheme to incentivize pregnant women to quit and consulting on mandatory cigarette pack inserts.”

    “Prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to future generations of adults won’t stop people smoking,” said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest. “It will simply drive the sale of cigarettes underground and into the hands of criminal gangs.

    “Treating adults like children by denying them the right to buy cigarettes legally would take the nanny state to another level.

    “Smoking rates have been falling for decades,” Clark said. “The idea that any government would prioritize tackling smoking at a time when the country faces far more important challenges at home and abroad is frankly obscene.

    “If it’s true that the prime minister wants to introduce some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures, denying millions of adults the freedom to choose, it will be a Conservative government in name only.”

  • Superdrug to Stop Selling Disposables in UK and Ireland

    Superdrug to Stop Selling Disposables in UK and Ireland

    Image: Nick

    Superdrug will stop selling disposable vape products in its U.K. and Ireland stores following environmental concern over the products, reports the Guardian.

    The retailer noted that it would have its stock completely cleared out by the end of the year.

    “The rate that consumers are using single-use vapes and discarding them is worrying and alarming for the environment,” said Lucy Morton-Channon, Superdrug’s head of environment, social and governance. “The lasting effects that single-use vapes are having on the environment needs to be addressed, and I am pleased that we’ve decided to remove them from all stores.”

    Superdrug also cited risk of fire from improper vape disposal as a reason for discontinuing sales.

  • UK Councils Want to Ban Disposables

    UK Councils Want to Ban Disposables

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Councils in England and Wales are urging the U.K. government to ban sales of single-use vapor devices by 2024, citing environmental and health concerns, reports Reuters.

    The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, argued that a ban needs to be implemented quickly to prevent disposables from flooding the U.K. market as other markets close. The European Union has proposed a ban in 2026, and France is implementing a ban in December 2023.

    “Disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes,” said David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s community well-being board, referring to disposable vapes’ inability to be easily recycled due to the batteries not being a separate unit.

    “Disposables have been around for well over a decade and provide a low-priced accessible product that helps smokers to quit smoking tobacco,” said John Dunne, director-general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association, defending disposable vapes. He said the industry is working to limit environmental impact, and he warned that a ban would lead to a larger black market.