Tobacco sales from vending machines – ban from October 1,
2011
Background
The ban is intended to contribute to the government’s public
health objective to reduce smoking prevalence generally and to
specifically reduce easy access to cigarettes by minors who obtain
a disproportionate quantity of cigarettes from these machines.
In a test purchasing survey we carried out in
August using a fifteen year old volunteer, at seven businesses with
cigarette vending machines, all of them (100%) sold cigarettes to
our volunteer without challenge.
The changes
From October 1, 2011:
- It is illegal to sell cigarettes (or any other tobacco product)
from an automatic vending machine in England to any person
regardless of age.
- After this date it will also be against the law to display
advertisements or pictures of tobacco products on vending
machines.
Who is responsible for compliance?
In most cases the machine is owned and
operated by the vending machine company and they will commit an
offence if tobacco is supplied. In addition any person who is
in control of the machine or is concerned with the management of
the premises where a vending machine is located may also be guilty
of an offence if tobacco products are sold from that machine.
Both the owner of the vending machine and the
owners and managers of the premises on which vending machines are
located, will be responsible for ensuring that there are no
advertisements of tobacco products on vending machines.
I have a vending machine, what should I do with it?
The legislation does not ban vending machines
themselves, only sales of tobacco from them. Vending machines
can stay in their current position if they are no longer used to
sell tobacco products and all advertisements of tobacco products
are removed from them or covered up.
From a practical perspective, prior to October
1, 2011 the operator, owner or manager should have chosen to
either:
- Remove the vending machine from anywhere the
public have access
- Make arrangements to remove the cigarettes
and cover the advertisements
- Make the machine inoperable and cover the
advertisements.
Can staff still use a vending machine to dispense
cigarettes?
Yes, the vending machine could, for example,
be behind the bar, provided that the machine is positioned where
the owner or manager of the premises can guarantee that it is
impossible for any member of the public to use it. The
advertisements or pictures of tobacco products on vending machines
will still need to be removed though.
What are the penalties if the law is broken?
The ban on sales from vending machines is
contained in the Protection from Tobacco (Sales from Vending
Machines) (England) Regulations 2010. The maximum penalty on
conviction is a fine of up to £2,500.
Advertising controls are contained in the
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Point of Sale) Regulations 2004.
On conviction for an offence the penalty could be an unlimited fine
and/or up to two years imprisonment.
Further information
If you require further assistance or advice on
any of the matters raised in this letter, or on age restricted
sales, then please look on our website http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/towerhamlets/
where additional information on this and age restricted sales can
be found, or contact us.
Trading Standards
Mulberry Place (AH)
PO Box 55739
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG
Tel: 020 7364 5008
Fax: 020 7364 6935
Email: tradingstandards@towerhamlets.gov.uk