Series of prosecutions begins for illegal cigarette and vape sales

A discount vape and tobacco shop owner, as well as a cigar shop, and its owner, have received fines totalling $36,000 following enforcement and legal action by Health New Zealand and the Ministry of Health. These are the initial sentencings in a series of prosecutions being undertaken by the Ministry against retailers identified as repeat offenders.

Christchurch cigar and tobacco retailer, Canteros Limited and its owner were fined $28,000 for eight breaches of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. The breaches related to the selling, labelling, and advertising of cigars.

The owner and an employee of Discount Specialist were fined a total of $8000 in the Napier District court for repeatedly selling single cigarettes and allowing tobacco products to be visible to the public inside the store.

While infringement notices with fees of $500 are routinely issued for sales of regulated products to minors, this chain of prosecutions is some of the strongest action to be taken against illegal vape and cigarette sales to date. It follows New Zealand’s highest ever fine ordered under the Act, where a Christchurch dairy owner was fined $56,000 in August.

Chief Legal Advisor at the Ministry of Health, Phil Knipe, says “it’s important to ensure retailers that are in breach of the legislation are held accountable.”

“The Ministry and Health NZ have been working for some time to take strong action against retailers who are in breach of the legislation, and we are now beginning to see the result of that action. There is more work to do, and we expect to see more prosecutions in the coming months,” says Phil Knipe.

The Ministry is currently undertaking further prosecutions against two more retailers, and further sentencings are expected to take place over the coming months. These are related to alleged sales of vapes and cigarettes to minors.

600 retailers were targeted as part of Health NZ’s controlled purchase operations over July, where supervised volunteers younger than 18 years attempted to buy cigarettes or vape products from both general and specialised stores.

As a result of the operation, 64 retailers, the highest number ever, received infringement notices for selling to minors.

Jo Pugh, Compliance Manager at the National Public Health Service, Health NZ, says “we know a significant majority of retailers comply with the law and do not sell restricted products to young people, though it’s disappointing to see some retailers fail to abide by the law and sell cigarettes or vapes to children and young people.”

“This compliance work is a high priority for the health agencies. We will continue to monitor and identify retailers who are not complying with the law.”

The newly introduced legislation amending the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act, once passed, will significantly increase penalties for unlawful sales of regulated products to minors by businesses and individuals breaching the Act.

Health NZ is looking to significantly strengthen the smokefree workforce and compliance activity over the next year.