Tobacco: NIP illegal sales In this feature age-restricted products underage sales test purchases created for Rapid review: nicotine inhaling products The first rapid review of nicotine inhaling product sales to under-18s by trading standards in England has revealed that more than a third of businesses are not yet complying with new legislation Illegal sales in 2016 compared with 40% in 2014 NIP: a device intended to enable nicotine to be inhaled through a mouthpiece (regardless of whether the device is also intended to enable any other substance to be inhaled through a mouthpiece) 39 % 4 2 46 3 6 sale of s out Trading standards visits 634 73 carried out in total 9 trading standards regions in England took part trading standards services involved Illegal sales 1. By product 204 e-liquid 14 Disposable e-cigarette 22 Rechargeable e-cigarette It is an offence to sell a nicotine inhaling product to a young person under 18 (with certain exceptions for medicines and medical devices). The penalty for this offence is a fine of up to 6 Other NIP Child-appealing flavours identified: bubble gum, cherry cola and chocolate 2,500 2. By region East of England North East 59 % 26 18 30 a leg pu st 2 te of 11 14 37.5% 19% North West 19 59% 73 45 34% 23 % 66 68 South East Yorkshire and Humber 112 51 30% 22 East Midlands 74 60 46 Central England made in the North West highest rate recorded 35% 48 London rc ha ses l 66 i ls ale s out 48 74 54 25 29 22 26 Sales refused 46% 37 South West Total tests made Illegal sales 59 34% 46 72 36% 14 out of 74 made in London lowest rate recorded 3. By business type Premise type Percentage of test purchase attempts that resulted in an illegal sale to a young person under the age of 18 years Specialist e-cigarette supplier 50% (68 out of 137) Large retailer 30% (21 out of 70) Convenience store / grocer 27% (30 out of 111) National newsagent 20% (7 out of 35) Independent newsagent 34% (29 out of 85) Pharmacy national chain 43% (6 out of 14) Pharmacy independent 53% (8 out of 15) Market stall /car boot sale 68% (19 out of 28) Petrol station kiosk 27% (9 out of 33) Discount store 49% (28 out of 57) Mobile phone shop 18% (3 out of 17) Other 56% (18 out of 32) 33 % of businesses received advice from trading standards before an illegal sale was made 20 % had previously made an illegal sale of another age-restricted product Illegal sales of NIPs to children 10 bought by 14 year olds 49 by 15 year olds 113 by 16 year olds 74 by 17 year olds There was no significant difference found between sales to males or females The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 came into force on 1 October 2015. The regulations cover nicotine inhaling devices such as e-cigarettes, certain component parts and e-liquids that contain nicotine, and prohibit sales to under-18s (with certain exceptions for medicines and medical devices). This rapid review was carried out between three and six months post-implementation of the regulations, during a 12-week period between January and March 2016. To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like Smoking rates among pregnant women June 2016