ILLICIT sellers ARE THE VILLAINS. NOT US.

Advocates urge UK ministers to maintain an openminded approach to vaping as rumours of worrisome policy changes set the industry on high alert.

Words: Oliver Smith

Alarm bells are ringing after a shock article claimed the UK government is considering a new tax on vape products.

The proposed policy shift would allegedly come as part of wider efforts to ‘crackdown’ on e-cigarette use and could see a shake-up in the rules for vape businesses.

Alongside a tax hike, the potential new regulations could reportedly also impact marketing, packaging and flavours as ministers work to curb illegal youth use across the country.

According to the article, these proposals are in response to last year’s Khan review; a document which looked at England’s smoke-free 2030 ambition and highlighted vaping as a ‘key pillar’ in achieving this goal.

The story was published by POLITICO – a ‘global authority on politics, policy and power’ – after hearing from ‘two people with knowledge of the plans’.

Soon after this potentially industry-shaking news hit the public, a cast of international advocates and business people shared their hesitation with the alleged proposals.

They warned that tightening restrictions and increasing vape taxes could unravel the UK’s harm reduction successes thus far and put the health and safety of ‘millions of consumers’ on the line.

One of the voices to speak out against the reported plans was Michael Landl of the World Vapers’ Alliance.

A leading activist, Landl commended the UK’s historically pragmatic attitude towards reduced risk alternatives, saying this has helped make the nation a ‘smoking-cessation champion’.

In a recent WVA blog post, he wrote: “The high adoption of vaping due to broad political backing is why the UK’s smoking rates decrease faster than in other countries.”

“It is important to do everything we can to keep nicotine products out of adolescents’ hands, but policies must go further to the root of the problem.

“Simple bans and tax increases will only create an illicit market without any age or quality checks… vaping is not the problem; knee-jerk reactions endanger all anti-smoking progress seen over the years.”

The WVA blog went onto say personality traits, social and environmental factors and genetic predisposition can play a role in whether or not a teen might smoke or vape….but claimed this explanation often goes ‘ignored’.

Landl added that politicians should ‘fight for better education, healthcare and economic conditions’ if they really want to help young people.

He said: “Unfortunately those goals are hard to achieve, therefore too many politicians revert to headlinegrabbing but ineffective policies.

“If the UK gets this wrong, millions of consumers could be pushed back to smoking or the illicit market.”

Echoing Landl’s concerns, Fadi Maayta of burgeoning brand ANDS also hit out at the potential policy changes.

He highlighted that taxes have driven the Middle Eastern vape market underground and have triggered a wave of illegal products.

According to the AND’s president, 85 to 90 percent of vapes in the ME sector are ‘non-compliant or fake’…an issue partly due to ‘punitive fiscal measures’.

He said: “This is a lesson that the UK government and those calling for taxes to be applied, need to take on board.

“Taxation is not the right route to go down now, nor in the future. Vaping plays a critical role as the most effective tool in helping smokers give up and in supporting the aim to make the UK smoke-free by 2030.

Maayta also acknowledged the negative implications born from the ‘meteoric rise in demand for disposables’ and suggested the industry may have been slow to address these.

However, he stressed this is no reason to just ‘get rid of them’, saying that the industry needs to increase responsibility by ‘doing what it does best…innovation’.

He added: “Regulators need to enforce the regulation that is already in place to ensure vape retailers and manufacturers obey the law and protect consumers effectively.”

“Our biggest and most unwanted competition is the producers of non-compliant products.”

The POLITICO article claimed that the UK government is ‘not expected’ to consider a disposable ban as part of these proposals.

With a passion for expanding the user experience, ZOVOO is taking the vaping world straight to the future with its latest advancements in ceramic coil technology.

Words: Emily Malia

ZOVOO has a strong focus on burgeoning ceramic coil technology, why is it important to adapt your products to these latest technologies?

“Across the vaping industry, ceramic coil devices have become a key indicator of a company’s technological advancements. “With this in mind, ZOVOO - alongside its sister brand VOOPOO - launched a brand-new, independently developed ceramic coil, named the ‘GENE TREE’ earlier on this year.

“Equipped with same technology solution, the DRAGBAR Z700 SE disposable was later launched, creating an advanced vaping experience for its users through nano-microcrystalline materials and technological innovation.

“It’s important that we continue to develop our products based on these innovations to allow for a new era of vaping, available for everyone.”

‘Long lasting taste’ is at the forefront of the DRAGBAR series, why are flavors so crucial to the vaping experience?

“With so many disposable vapes on the market, we want to offer our users a completely consistent flavour from the first puff to the last because we understand that flavours are critical to the user’s vaping experience.

“Our focus on taste continues to allow people to make the switch easier by combining nicotine with a range of flavours, giving a taste that cigarettes could never compete with.”

Since starting out its journey just three years ago, what has been the biggest challenges and achievements the brand has faced so far?

“ZOVOO has quickly risen to popularity with disposable e-cigarette consumers worldwide, since enriching our product matrix with our DRAGBAR, VINCIBAR and ZOVO POD series. Inevitably, there have been some challenges along the way.

“Moving forward, we aim to be the world’s leading compliant disposable vape brand by putting product quality and compliance at the forefront of everything we do.

“Through continuous technological innovation and deeper exploration of user needs, we will bring more surprises to vapers around the world, aiming to actively contribute to shaping a healthy ecology in the industry.”

Last year, ZOVOO won an impressive twelve awards - including the Vapouround Award, ‘Best Newcomer’ – does the brand have an eye on any other prizes this year?

“Yes, last year we were recipients of 12 awards internationally and several of our DRAGBAR products were recognised for the ‘best list’ by vaping media, which were both huge achievements for us showing our great potential in the vape industry.

Exciting news recently came out that our newly launched DRAGBAR Z700 SE, has surpassed two million sales in the first week and won a Ecigclick award on it’s ‘Best Disposable Vapes for 2023’.

DRAGBAR Z700SE is in the top three and has won the ‘Best for Flavour’ award, which is a very good beginning for ZOVOO annual goal.

We are so proud of our innovations with cermaic coil technology and with these new lanuches we hope to win ‘Best Disposable Brand’ and the ‘Industry Leader’ for our oustanding market performance this year.

The branding is recognised as minimalist and mature, what is the thought process behind this?

“ZOVOO’s design philosophy of “less is more” is based on simplifying methods, means and materials to the greatest extent possible, allowing us to express the most abundant brand concept, in the simplest form.

“With the DRAGBAR Z700 SE for example, its compliant, practical and sustainable character conveys ZOVOO’s innovative and leading brand identity perfectly.

“At the same time, simplicity is also in line with the needs of today’s consumers.

“It eliminates unnecessary information and allows consumers to understand - at a glance - what the product does and what our brand values are.”

ZOVOO claims that it will bring a ‘different and great experience’ to global vapers, what is it that makes it stand out in the market?

“Today’s global vape industry – especially in the disposable field – is extremely competitive and we aim to stand out and gain a high level of recognition from industry authorities and users based on three main factors.

“The first being - technological innovation, focusing on making meaningful changes for users. Alongside this, is our diversified product range.

“With a forward-looking design concept and varied product layout, ZOVOO creates professional devices, whilst meeting the needs of vape enthusiasts, in a multi-dimensional manner, covering the atomization experience of users in all scenarios.

“Another way in which we create a great experience is through the concept of “user-focus”. We focus on technological innovation while using the best craftsmanship to create the ultimate user experience.”