Penalties raised for unlawful sales of regulated products to minors
Casey Costello, associate health minister, has announced that vaping law changes implementing the pending portions of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) have taken effect this month.
The amendment bill was passed last December, Costello noted in a news release from the government. The recently effective changes include a ban on manufacturing, selling, supplying, and distributing disposable vapes.
The newly effective amendments also include retail visibility restrictions for vaping products. According to Costello, these restrictions:
In its news release, the government explained that it delayed the impacts of these changes by six months to enable businesses to get themselves ready.
“This also allowed for the recruitment and training of more dedicated smokefree enforcement officers – there are now 18 - so that the new rules and tougher penalties are supported by greater enforcement capability,” Costello said in the news release.
The government previously gave effect to increases in penalties for unlawfully selling vapes, cigarettes, and other regulated products to minors and proximity restrictions regarding where specialist vape stores can open, according to the government’s news release.
In its news release, the government noted that the maximum penalty for violating the prohibition is $400,000 for manufacturers, importers, or large retailers and $50,000 for others.
Costello said New Zealand has lacked vaping regulations for too long. According to Costello, with the changes introduced by the legislation, the government aims to:
“Vaping has played a key role in helping people quit smoking, and we want vapes available to adults as a cessation tool, but vaping isn’t for children and young people and that’s why the Government has taken action,” Costello said in the government’s news release.
