Fair Go has learned the Vaping Regulatory Authority (VRA) has the equivalent of just three-and-a-half staff, only one of whom is a full-timer, with a regulatory manager only paid to work 10 hours a week.
Asthma & Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia Harding said it's not enough staff.
“I don't see how they can actually monitor and regulate over 1200 specialist vaping retailer stores that we have now and the numerous amounts of ingredients that we have,” she said.
The health advocate fears a lack of resources has left the vaping industry in charge of rules for a highly addictive R18 product that more and more 15-year-olds are taking up.
Hundreds of vaping products were taken off shelves following a Fair Go investigation last year – but some high nicotine vapes are still for sale. (Source: Fair Go)
“We know there's kids now who are dependent on these nicotine vapes that didn't have to be, they weren't at risk of becoming smokers,” Harding said.
Fair Go has discovered 4% Vuse vaping pods supplied by British American Tobacco NZ and 4% pods from competitor Alt NZ are still sold widely in service stations, supermarkets and by specialist vape retailers.
Five months ago, Fair Go asked health authorities whether these products were, by their own admission on the labels, exceeding the legal limit for nicotine salts in vapes by 40%.
The questions sparked a nationwide alert and led to hundreds of products being deleted from the national register by suppliers and withdrawn from sale.
BAT, Alt and eight other vaping companies fought back, insisting that the Vaping Regulatory Authority had got it wrong – that they had successfully registered or “notified” the products to the VRA and that the regulations allowed vapes at that high strength.
The companies accused the VRA of changing the rules and asked for a 12-month grace period to keep selling stocks of the high-strength vapes before any changes took effect; the alternative was a warning they’d go to court.
In December last year, the VRA wrote to all the companies and asked BAT to stop misrepresenting the notification scheme as an approval scheme; products also need to be safe and meet all statutory requirements – like the limit on nicotine salts. It asked BAT to issue a correction.
BAT spokesperson Chloe Bartlett told Fair Go: “In December we supplied the VRA with all information requested as part of their review of more than 2000 vaping products, and all Vuse products currently available remain notified for legal sale in New Zealand.”
Alt NZ says a technical advisory group recommended allowing an even higher limit for nicotine when regulations were drafted and that its 4% pods are compliant and based on “the Government’s position that smokers should be supported to switch to vaping as it is 'substantially less harmful' than smoking,” according to Ben Pryor, a director of Alt NZ.
The VRA has refused to confirm to Fair Go whether the Vuse and Alt 4% pods are legal for sale.
“The Authority has ensured the products identified by Fair Go are part of its ongoing product investigations, but no information on any individual products will be provided while our investigations continue,” says VRA regulatory manager Matt Burgess.
That investigation has now taken at least five months and with such a very small and shrinking number of staff at VRA, Fair Go asked whether it had granted that 12 -month grace period, or effectively done so because it can’t complete the investigation quickly.
Burgess says no moratorium has been given and threats of legal action have had no impact, but explains: “The regulatory scheme for vaping products was established as a light touch, high trust model, where sector participants are expected to understand and comply with their obligations under the Act.”
Things may be about to change
“The Authority has identified potentially significant levels of non-compliance across the sector, and it is moving to a more proactive approach, which will be resourced accordingly. However, this change in approach cannot be achieved overnight,” Burgess told Fair Go.
Things may also change at the till. Mobil says it has asked its supplier of the BAT Vuse pods to please explain.
“We appreciate the seriousness of the concerns raised and have requested our supplier provide further evidence that the products do meet the required guidelines if we are to continue making them available for purchase,” says ExxonMobil Australia spokesperson Melanie Saliba.
New World says it understands the product is currently permitted to be sold in New Zealand.
“If the facts of this situation change, we would, of course, review our position,” says spokesperson Emma Wooster.
Countdown’s spokesperson says it has not received a “correction” from BAT New Zealand around the sale of the 4% Vuse pod, which it understands is “still on the notified products register and approved for sale”.
Z says it ensures its stores are fully compliant and “remain well connected to our suppliers to understand of any proposed changes to regulations”.
The VRA says no regulations have changed and are clear – but the products are still on sale.
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