Support For Increased Regulation Of Vaping Products From Public Health Experts

The Aukati Tupeka Aotearoa (ATA), a national network of public health experts, endorses the Labour Party’s proposal to introduce more effective regulation of vaping products if re-elected to Government. Measures outlined in the policy factsheet include:

• Capping the number of vape stores nationally to 600.
• Requiring all retailers, including dairies, to obtain a licence to sell vaping products.
• Introducing harsher penalties of up to $15,000 for retailers who sell to youth.
• Assessing how to reduce vape products’ visibility from outside retail outlets.

ATA outlined several concerns about youth vaping in a submission on the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill in 2022. Members recognised the Bill aimed to introduce measures that will reduce smoking prevalence but felt rising youth vaping rates required urgent attention and called for restrictions on the availability of vaping products to help reduce the use of these products by tamariki and rangatahi.

ATA pays tribute to the #HASHTAGS, a Rangatahi Advocacy group from Wainuiomata, who have held successive governments to account and repeatedly asked for action, so they do not “inherit the issue of addiction from vape products that previous generations inherited for tobacco”.

“These recommendations will support the #HASHTAGS’ call for action,” ATA member Sue Taylor, recipient of the Dame Tariana Turia award in 2019 for her work in tobacco control championing Māori health and wellbeing, says.

ATA also acknowledges the Vapefree Kid NZ group, a collective of parents that presented a petition to Parliament last week calling for a ban on vaping product sales in general retail outlets, including dairies, supermarkets and service stations. The group also called for regulations that restrict specialist vape retail outlets’ density and proximity to schools.

Martin Witt, ATA chair, says: “No responsible adult wants to see young people vaping and we join with rangatahi and parents to call for regulations that recognise existing measures have failed to protect young people from aggressive marketing and highly addictive products.”

ATA members look forward to learning the policy detail and hope Labour’s plans will receive cross-party support and create an opportunity for politicians to work collectively and create a future where all young people enjoy lives free from nicotine dependence.

About Aukati Tupeka Aotearoa (ATA) National Tobacco Supply Reduction Group

The Aukati Tupeka Aotearoa group is a coalition of non-government, health and academic organisations, formed to address the abundance of tobacco in our communities and progress policies to phase out the commercial sale of tobacco in Aotearoa.

Aukati Tupeka Aotearoa members include representatives from organisations such as Te Mana Ora Hāpai Te Hauora, Takiri Mai te Ata Whānau Ora Collective, Cancer Society Canterbury-West Coast Division, ASPIRE Aotearoa and T&T Consulting Ltd.

The

Aukati Tupeka Aotearoa

group works with communities and decision-makers to support the Government’s responsibilities as a signatory to the World Health Organisation’s

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

(FCTC) and to our own world-leading

Smokefree Aotearoa 2025

goal, which aims to reduce smoking prevalence and tobacco availability to minimal levels for all New Zealanders.

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