Crackdown on fake vapes to include digital QR tags

Police will have new powers to tackle the illegal vape trade

Rogue traders selling illegal vapes could face £10,000 fines and a potential prison sentence under new rules designed to tackle the booming business in unlicensed e-cigarettes, the government has said.

A raft of new measures is set to be announced in the Budget on Wednesday, including new powers for the Border Force and the tax authority, HMRC.

All vapes sold in the UK will be required to carry a digital stamp, including a QR code, so that consumers and enforcement officers can identify fakes.

Legitimate businesses will be able to register for the new scheme from April next year before it becomes compulsory in the autumn. They will also have six months to sell any unstamped stock.

The government said the measures were part of plans to protect Britain's high streets.

In recent years the number of vape shops in UK towns and cities has risen dramatically, and an estimated one in ten adults now use vapes.

In the summer the government banned the sale of single use e-cigarettes to limit litter and illegal trading.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill currently going through parliament will ban the advertising and sponsorship of vaping. It will also provide powers for regulating flavours, packaging and how and where vapes are displayed in shops.

Under the new crackdown the authorities will be permitted to seize illegal vapes, including at the border.

The government said the new measures would "disrupt criminal networks behind black market vapes, protecting the public from dangerous, unregulated products".

Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking and can help smokers to quit, but it has not been around for long enough for its long-term risks to be known, according to the NHS.

Health experts say vaping is not completely harmless, so children and non-smokers should never vape.

Campaigners for anti-smoking charities welcomed the additional measures.

Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health said ensuring the penalties for selling illegal vapes corresponded with enforcement rules around the sale of traditional tobacco sent the right message.

"Alongside the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to limit the promotion of vapes, the excise tax will further help to address youth vaping while keeping products available and affordable for adult smokers who want to use them to quit smoking," she said.

John Herriman, chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, told the BBC that tackling illegal vapes was something his organisation had a focus on, and that having HMRC and Border Force working on this would add "significant weight to the enforcement activity".

"That's going to make a real difference to something that has been a real scourge of the high street for too long now," he said.

Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, representing the vaping industry also welcomed the "concerted effort" to stamp out rogue trading.

"Illegal products and illicit traders have been a scourge on our high streets in recent years.

"This unfair competition for the legitimate vape trade has also caused reputational damage to the UK's most popular and effective aid to quitting smoking," she said.

She said the IBVTA would work with HMRC to make sure the industry was ready for the new vape duty.