UK officials have seized more than four million illegal vapes weighing nearly 10 tonnes over the last year, according to figures released after a Freedom of Information request. This represents a fourfold increase from the previous year. The illegal single-use e-cigarettes have surged in popularity and there have been calls for their marketing to be restricted to protect children. It is illegal to sell them to under-18s. The UK government is set to introduce new rules governing the industry, including a potential ban on disposable vapes.
Illegal e-cigarettes, unlike legally registered vapes, do not undergo quality control processes and may contain harmful chemicals. Retailers willing to flout product rules may also disregard restrictions on selling to minors. The Border Force is responsible for intercepting vapes coming into Britain from overseas, with Trading Standards teams policing products once in the country. The government has pledged to crack down on the sale of illegal products including counterfeit vapes and harmful goods.
Chinese-made vapes containing much larger amounts of liquid and promising thousands of puffs are widely available in the UK. While disposable e-cigarettes in the UK have strict limits on their nicotine levels – they are restricted to 2ml of liquid with 20mg of nicotine per millilitre, providing around 500-600 puffs of vapour – illegal products have no such restrictions. Border Force seizes vapes mainly for breaching product safety rules, though it also confiscates fake versions of legal vapes and shipments breaching customs procedures.
Last year, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute seized more than one million vapes as part of Operation Joseph, while Vape Club conducted its own research and sent Freedom of Information requests to 389 councils. Among the 152 replies, the total number of seizures had risen from next to none in 2020 to more than 1.5 million. In Manchester, where the legal and illegal vape trades are centred, Trading Standards seized 158,000 illegal vapes in 2023, a more than tenfold increase on the previous year.
Supporters of a tax on disposable single-use e-cigarettes argue that imposing tight controls would help to reduce illegal imports. However, there are fears that a ban on the products could lead to a spike in demand for illegal vapes. Chief executive of anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health, Deborah Arnott, said that in the event of a ban on disposables, Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs would have a bigger job in preventing illegal imports, making it essential for there to be a properly thought-out and implemented strategy
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