We are concerned that some believe the “Save our Stores” website is connected to the Group, which it certainly is not.

Smoking tobacco imports have halved since 2012. It is welcomed that 154,000 Kiwis no longer smoke daily, and this is due to the accessibility smokers have to vaping and smokeless tobacco in dairies, service stations and supermarkets.

Our Group does have concerns with a 1 July 2024 end date for 5,400 outlets, but have said so through submissions and publicly.

We still do not know when licensing will open, the criteria or when businesses will be told. Maybe the new regulations will shed light when released.

We also agree with a smokefree generation policy.

The following would align with the Smokefree Generation Policy from 1 January 2027:

Remove the ban on General Vape Retailers ‘encouraging’ ‘notifying’ and ‘promoting’ vaping and smokeless tobacco vaping to smokers whenever they ask for cigarettes & RYO. We have a 94% compliance rate as sellers since 2019.

Instead of 1 April 2025, when low nicotine cigarettes will become compulsory, we recommend mid-2026 with the reduction in retail outlets pushed back to the end of 2026. As a smoked product, low nicotine cigarettes cannot be advertised or promoted. This is why it needs the earliest introduction but with wide legal sale.

The excise tax on less addicting low nicotine cigarette tobacco and far less harmful smokeless tobacco vaping, be set at zero from 1 January 2024. The excise on low nicotine cigarette tobacco should only go back up when it becomes the only “smoked product” sold in NZ.

Also see an opinion editorial we wrote from The Post (7 August 2023).

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