The industry’s blunt message to Westminster: enforce harder, punish smarter
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has gone to Parliament with a blunt message: stop piling new rules on compliant businesses, and start hitting the rogue operators who flout the ones that already exist.
Dr Marina Murphy, a director at UKVIA and head of scientific affairs at Haypp, gave evidence to the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry into Revitalising High Streets on October 13, 2026. Her case: separate the legitimate specialist shops helping adult smokers switch from the rogue retailers selling non-compliant or illegal products.
Murphy objected to the government’s “unwanted shops” label, which groups specialist vape shops with betting outlets. Treating every nicotine retailer as an unwanted shop unfairly stigmatises legitimate businesses, she said, without fixing underage access or black market activity.
What UKVIA is asking for
| UKVIA’s demand | Current position |
|---|---|
| Substantially higher penalties for non-compliance, with fines ring-fenced to fund Trading Standards | Fines widely seen as a cost of doing business; Trading Standards remain underfunded |
| Specialist nicotine retailers as a distinct licensed category, conditional on staff training, consistent age verification, responsible sourcing and product compliance | Forthcoming retail licensing scheme will require licences for tobacco and nicotine sellers, but without a separate specialist category |
| Enforcement of existing rules before adding new ones | More rules layered on while rogue operators gain a competitive advantage by ignoring them |
Murphy welcomed the forthcoming retail licensing scheme, under which tobacco and nicotine sellers will need a local-authority licence, with powers to suspend or revoke. But she argued specialist nicotine retailers should form a distinct category, conditional on staff training, consistent age verification, responsible sourcing and product compliance.
She warned that writing more rules without enforcing existing ones has limited impact. Compliant retailers bear the cost of regulation, while rogue operators gain a competitive advantage by ignoring it.
“Government policy should focus on those businesses that are not compliant with regulations and hold them accountable.”
Why it matters for the high street
Legitimate vape shops argue they drive footfall and give smokers a legal, regulated off-ramp, which lines up with the broader evidence that vaping versus smoking is a public health win worth protecting. Stigmatising them as unwanted shops, UKVIA says, risks clearing the field for the very rogue sellers the government wants gone.
For retailers tracking the changing cost landscape, the tightening of the screw, from the new vape duty to the retail licensing scheme, is covered in our rundown of the UK vape duty rules.
Source: vapebusiness.biz report “UKVIA Urges Tougher Action on Rogue Vape Retailers UK” (published Oct 14, 2026), corroborated by Tobacco Reporter’s “UK Vaping Industry Calls for Stronger Retail Enforcement” (Oct 13, 2026).