THE OWNERS OF Vuse vaping devices have backed plans by the Irish Government to introduce a new tax on e-cigarettes.

BAT Ireland, which distributes and sells Vuse, has said that the illegal vape market will “continue to thrive” unless the excise tax on vapes is introduced in the coming months and accompanied by strong enforcement measures. 

Last year, the Government announced that it would double the price of e-cigarette refill cartridges, placing a €5 duty on the products, and add a €1 tax to disposable vapes.

The excise on vapes in Ireland will place a fee on e-liquid at a rate of 50c for every millilitre of liquid.

This was due to be introduced by the middle of this year, but has run into difficulty and no date has yet been announced for when the vape excise will be implemented.

It’s expected that the excise will be in place early next year

Earlier this month, the Tax Strategy Group, an expert advisory panel at the Department of Finance, said that the additional duties would raise a “conservative estimate” of €17 million.

The report from the Tax Strategy Group cited a KPMG report that found that the KPMG the legal e-liquid market is worth around €550 million and that the illegal market is estimated at around €220 million.

The KPMG report also estimated that more than a third of vapes sold in Ireland are illicit.

In a statement today, BAT Ireland said the vape tax would “significantly improve market monitoring and controls, curb the illicit trade, protect consumers, and support responsible retailers if properly enforced”.

David Melinn, Country Manager at BAT Ireland, says he “fully supports” the new excise tax but that it “must be matched with clear and credible enforcement measures£.

“If implemented properly, the tax can help deliver on public policy goals, but without strong enforcement, there’s a real risk it could unintentionally further fuel criminal trade,” said Melinn.

He said the vape tax will help to bring the market under the control of Revenue but without proper enforcement, the illicit trade will increase.

Melinn also said tat until the tax is introduced, the Government “has no way to tell the scale of the illicit market”.

The HSE has an annual target of 40 inspections of manufacturers, importers, and distributors of vapes annually.

However, Melinn said this is “not sufficient given the size of the market and the scale of the illicit problem”. 

He called on the Government to “introduce a structured mechanism to track and measure the size of the illegal vape market”.

“Vape taxes must go hand in hand with additional market controls, including retail licensing and increased inspections, otherwise the only winners from this budget measure will be criminals,” said Melinn. 

He added that the restriction on vape flavours set out in the Nicotine Inhaling Products Bill could result in a “further demand for illicit vapes, as vapers who depend on flavours will look to source their e-liquids elsewhere”.

“With the introduction of the new excise and a potential vape flavour ban in the pipeline, it is critical that urgent enforcement measures are ramped up across the board via Revenue and HSE inspection,” said Melinn.

“If not, Ireland risks becoming an even greater target for criminal smugglers.”