London, UK – Yesterday, MPs voted in favour of the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone aged 15 and under. WVA warns the MPs to reconsider their vote as the bill is going to the next stage in the Parliament.

The proposed bill implies that anyone born after 2009 will not be able to purchase cigarettes or Heat-not-burn-tobacco products. The Parliament also agreed on possible restrictions on e-cigarette flavours and product packaging among others.

“Biztanleria erretzearen epidemia gero eta handiagoa saihesteko asmoa txalogarria den arren, tabakoa berotu gabe erretzeko produktuen debeku gehigarriak kezka sortzen ari da. Produktu hauek askoz kaltegarri gutxiago direla frogatu da, eta zaporeko lurrungailuekin eta nikotinazko beste produktu batzuekin batera, hala nola poltsekin, funtsezkoak izan dira milioika erretzaileri uzten laguntzeko. Lege-proiektuak aurrekari arriskutsua sortzen ari da biztanleria-talde desberdinen arteko legedian desberdintasunen ondorioz, eta arriskua dago erretzearen aurkako borrokan funtsezkoak izan diren beste produktu kaltegarri gutxiago batzuei aplikatzeko.” esan zuen Michael Landl, World Vapers' Allianceko zuzendariak.

“We are calling on Members of Parliament who voted for the bill to reconsider their vote. Approving such a bill carries many unintended consequences such as expansion of the cigarettes or flavoured e-cigarettes black market and youth indulgence in smoking habits", gehitu zuen Landlek.

“There are a few examples when legislators tried to implement generational bans which have not succeeded, such as Bhutan where the generational ban resulted in a huge black market growth and had to be eventually reversed. Let’s not risk the health of the UK population and focus on educational and risk-based approaches,”ondorioztatu zuen Landlek.

World Vapers Alliance has compiled a vast fact sheet on tobacco harm reduction, including data on nicotine, flavours, and taxation that is available hemen.