Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle underage vaping.

The European Union’s Tobacco Product Directive (2014/40/EU) legislates for, amongst other matters, the regulation of electronic cigarettes. It has been transposed into United Kingdom law by the UK Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The legislation introduced measures to regulate e-cigarettes to reduce the risk of harm to children through rules on product safety, labelling and restrictions on advertising for electronic cigarettes.

Furthermore, the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 makes it illegal to sell an electronic cigarette to any one aged under 18 years. Local trading standards have enforcement powers to take action on breaches of both sets of regulations.

We continue to monitor the evidence and data on youth vaping. Public Health England’s latest e-cigarette evidence review published in February 2019 indicates regular youth use of electronic cigarettes remains low. The Government has also made a commitment to review the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 by May 2021, and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 by May 2020.