Associate Health Minister Casey Costello says the measures will be welcomed by parents, teachers and health professionals. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government has pushed through smokefree changes under urgency overnight, banning disposable vapes and adding other restrictions on vape sales, including display restrictions.
It increases the current $10,000 maximum penalty for retailers who sell to under-18s, to $100,000.
Specialist vape retailers must be at least 100 metres away from early childhood services, adding to the 300-metre restriction for schools and marae.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said vaping had helped people quit smoking, but it was not for children and had gone unregulated in New Zealand for too long.
"The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping and puts in place practical changes and a much stronger regulatory regime," Costello said in a statement.
The four main changes in the bill are:
- banning the manufacture, sale, supply, and distribution of disposable vapes
- increasing penalties for unlawful sales of regulated products to minors
- imposing retail visibility restrictions for vaping products
- adding further proximity restrictions for specialist vape retailers.
Costello said penalties for breaching the ban would be up to $400,000 for a manufacturer, importer or large retailer and up to $50,000 for any other person.
The new visibility restrictions would mean that specialist vape retailers would be prohibited from displaying vaping products and their packages if they were visible from outside the store, she said.
General vape retailers such as supermarkets, petrol stations and dairies would "be subject to the same rules that currently apply to other regulated products such as cigarettes", she said.
"This means any part of the product, or its package, must not be displayed in a way that means they are visible from outside the store or inside any area of the store where the public can enter."
The measures would be welcomed by parents, teachers and health professionals, Costello said.
The disposable vape ban and visibility restrictions will not come in to force for six months to allow retailers to prepare for the changes, she said.
"This will also allow for the recruitment and training of more dedicated smokefree enforcement officers so that the new rules and tougher penalties are supported by greater enforcement capability," Costello said.
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