‘Tsunami’ of non-compliant vapes ‘mainly coming from China’

Millions of illegal and potentially harmful vapes have been seized in the last three years, data shows, with experts warning this is just the “tip of the iceberg” and they are “mainly coming from China”.

Freedom of Information requests to 125 local authorities revealed that more than two and a half million illicit e-cigarettes were collected since the beginning of 2020, reports stated, adding that figures show that 1,352,063 were seized by trading standards at Hillingdon borough council in west London alone. The council area includes Heathrow airport, where thousands of unlawful vapes are arriving. Kent county council seized 329,276 illicit vapes in 2022 and has seized 49,528 in 2023 so far.

Kate Pike, the lead officer at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, warned that the figures are likely to be the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of how many non-compliant vapes are being sold in UK shops.

“I get calls from colleagues at the port almost every day – it feels like there is a tsunami. They are mainly coming from China,” Pike said, adding that non-compliant vapes are particularly popular with underage consumers as they are cheap and could be bought in places that are less likely to check ID.

“We don’t need sniffer dogs to find these products as they are all on shelves in high-street shops, in full view of the public,” she said. “There is a significant number of illegal products on the market, which does not help when we are trying to support the public health response, which is to ensure the products are much safer than tobacco for smokers looking to quit.

“The main concern is that young people are getting their hands on these products … We do not want children or adults getting addicted to something at all like this.”

Phil Jenkins, a senior London Trading Standards officer who oversaw the seizure of 1 million illegal vapes at Heathrow last year, said they came in on commercial flights as standard cargo and were declared as atomisers on the paperwork. Businesses are factoring in that some vapes would be intercepted, so would over-order, Jenkins added.

Pike said that illegal vapes often did not have the right warnings or information on their packaging. “We know that legal compliant vapes pose a fraction of the risk of smoking but we do not know what the risk is from illegal vapes,” she said.