Sir, – The excise proposals for vapes and e-liquids announced as part of Budget 2025 are a welcome move from the Government. BAT Ireland believes that an excise framework for vapes and e-liquids could substantially improve the monitoring and controls over the market.
The sale of illicit and counterfeit vapes in Ireland is becoming glaringly obvious in mobile phone accessory and laptop repair shops around the country – missing Irish health warnings, containing more liquid and nicotine than allowed and no notification to the HSE as required before sale.
The widespread availability of black market vapes is also likely a major contributor to vapes getting into the hands of under-18s, with bad actors profiting from underage sales.
Ireland does not currently track illicit vape seizures, which means the Government does not have oversight of the scale of the problem.
The Government has indicated that it might consider this once a vape excise regime is in place. This would be a welcome step alongside last December’s long-awaited legislation to ban the sale of vapes to under-18s.
However, any new laws are only as good as their enforcement; to further support the clampdown on illicit vapes, we would like to see the Government roll out its promised retail licencing system for tobacco and vaping products immediately – this would provide much-needed oversight over phone shops, who will need to apply for a licence to sell vaping products.
Crucially, this licence could then be revoked if they are found to be selling non-compliant product or selling to underage customers.
Vape taxes must go hand in hand with additional measures like retail licensing and regular inspections, otherwise the only winners from this budget measure will be criminals. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MELINN,
Country Manager Ireland,
BAT Ireland
(PJ Carroll & Company),
Dublin 18.