Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made (a) of the number of vaping products that have been seized by trading standards and (b) of those, the number that (i) were non-compliant with UK regulations and (ii) have gone through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency notification process.

The underage and illicit sale of tobacco, and more recently vapes, undermines the work the Government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. The Government is increasing investment for our enforcement agencies by £30 million per year. In addition, the Government also announced £3 million of investment to a new illicit vapes enforcement unit, led by National Trading Standards, building on existing work by trading standards officers across the country. They identified that 2.1 million illicit vapes were seized across England by trading standards in 2022 to 2023. These vapes often contain unknown ingredients, higher levels of nicotine, and are often made easily available through markets that target children. The Department does not hold data on the total number of vaping products seized by Trading Standards that have successfully gone through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s notification process.