Media release

Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ)

Sunday, 24 November 2019

Govt must tune into White House vape debate

“Our Government needs to take note of an hour-long exchange inside the White House yesterday where concerns were raised about banning vape flavours leading to more dodgy counterfeit products,” says Ben Pryor, spokesperson for the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ).

Mr Pryor’s comments follow a lively White House roundtable meeting on vaping which saw industry representatives sparring with anti-vaping advocates.

The White House is reconsidering its September announcement to ban vape flavours, now fearing it would lead to poorer public health outcomes and job losses.

At the publicised meeting, President Trump observed that if regulated flavoured products were banned ‘they're going to be selling stuff on a street corner that could be horrible. That's the one problem I can't seem to forget.’

The White House reconsidering a federal flavour ban comes as Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa is set to introduce the Smoke-free Environments (Vaping) Amendment Bill into Parliament soon. She has already indicated the Government will ban the most successful flavours for adults.

Fellow VTANZ spokesperson, Jonathan Devery, says vaping has played a major role in the 2018 Census data and recent A C Neilsen retail statistics showing New Zealand’s smoking rates and cigarette sales now at record low levels. He says 90% of adults transitioning from cigarettes to vaping rely on flavours to successfully quit tobacco.

“We are all for high safety standards, R18 sales being strictly enforced, and totally against youth marketing. However, if the Government wants to keep driving down smoking rates, making vaping less attractive to adult smokers will simply have the reverse effect,” says Mr Devery.

“Banning vape flavours would deliver some horrible outcomes in New Zealand as well, namely a black market. So we’re encouraging our MPs to just stop and think when they come to decide our vaping rules and regulations,” says Mr Pryor.

www.vtanz.org.nz

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