Australia’s Prescription-only Vape Approach Fuels Unregulated Black Market

Jonathan Devery, Chair, Vaping Industry Association of NZ (VIANZ)

When lawmakers in Australia classified vapes as ‘prescription-only’ in 2021 they inadvertently gave rise to an unregulated thriving black market that has exploded across the country.

The black market is well established and is estimated to make up around 90% of all vape sales in Australia. With Australian criminal gang networks already illegally supplying vaping products to thousands of stores across the country, it’s unlikely the recently announced crackdown will have an impact. Even NSW Premier Chris Minns has conceded ‘it will be challenging for the state to enforce a crackdown on disposable vapes’.

This situation is vastly different to New Zealand’s approach where we have robust legislation, with vaping being a controlled product, much like liquor. Action for Smokefree 2023 (ASH), has reported that in six short years vaping has caused the number of New Zealanders smoking daily to drop from 14.5% to record low levels of 8% for adults and 1% for young people.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of enforcement, many of our rangatahi are accessing vape products. VIANZ members are concerned that despite great intentions by authorities to protect our youth from vaping, negligible enforcement of the legislation is leaving the door open for youth to access vapes. As part of the recent government consultation on the ‘Smoked Tobacco Regulatory Regime’ we called for much stronger enforcement of the regulations by authorities and increased fines for those who fail to adhere to the legislation especially for sales breaches relating to under-18s.

Globally, public health authorities have confirmed that vapes and e-liquid devices are 95% less harmful than cigarettes. New Zealand’s public health should be applauded for the policies and interventions that have contributed to only 1% of Kiwi youth smoking cigarettes. Our regulatory approach is designed to support Aotearoa’s Smokefree 2025 ambitions with protections in place to ensure youth vaping is minimised.

If New Zealand policy makers attempt to roll out a prescription-only vaping model, this would not only be to the detriment of our smoke free success but would undoubtedly result in a thriving black market as seen in Australia, where it is now a significant gang related issue. Our primary focus should be on enforcement of the current legislative and regulatory framework.

In order to protect our rangatahi while ensuring quality vape products are available to support Kiwi’s attempting to quit smoking, VIANZ has called on Government to increase regulation and restrictions on Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs) through the introduction of a nine-point action plan.

VIANZ nine-point action plan to reduce youth vaping

1. As with the sale of other controlled products (liquor) a license must be required to operate as a Specialist Vape Retailer (SVR).
2. To obtain a license an SVR must be a stand-alone operating site.
3. Authorities to increase enforcement of the legislative and regulatory SVR requirements.
4. Heavier penalties for business that sell to minors or import or sell non-compliant products e.g., $10,000.
5. Battery testing certificates must be provided for all products to ensure product safety.
6. Emissions testing data to screen for harmful ingredients must be provided for all products to ensure quality and consumer safety – ingredients list must include all product materials.
7. All online sellers need to incorporate driver’s license and/or passport verification software into the sales process alongside additional measures to prevent youth accessing product.
8. Removal or complete ban of single use vaping devices from the New Zealand.
9. Introduction of minimum manufacturing standards for vaping products.

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