The government of New Zealand through the Vaping Regulatory Authority has embarked on the process of reviewing 8038 vaping products sold in the country. This review aims to ensure that all products sold in the country meet the safety standards set by the government.
This comes only a week after the government sent a nationwide safety alert regarding some of the vaping products sold in the country. Some government officials believe that some vaping products sold in the country could be non-compliant with the set safety standards. This is particularly regarding those products imported by traders from other countries. Already the government has identified several products that contain higher nicotine levels than that set by the vaping safety standards in the country.
So far, the New Zealand Vaping Regulatory Authority has reported that it has reviewed thousands of products and found 2374 products that are compliant with the set vaping product standards in the country. However, 3413 of the checked products have been flagged for a further detailed review.
The authority says that it is working with manufacturers and distributors to make sure that the correct information regarding the contents of these products was provided to the authority during notification. This is important to ensure that the products are safe for use.
Seeking to dispel fears among consumers the Ministry of Health in a statement to the public stated that many of the products flag down for further review are safe for use and most likely have been identified because of unintentional errors on the part of the manufacturers or distributors. The ministry of health pointed to a report by the Vaping Regulatory Authority which said that the review seeks to ascertain the correctness of the information provided during notification. The ministry thus believes that many of those products will be back on the market after the incidental omissions and errors have been rectified.
The vaping laws in New Zealand allow vaping products to contain nicotine salts up to 50mg/mL. However, some players in the industry interpret this law to mean that they can distribute products with 50mg of nicotine. This is higher than what the law allows.
The urgent safety alert the government sent out recently asked retailers of vaping products to confirm that the labelling of the vaping products they sold mate the set requirements. Products that did not meet the health standards were to be removed from shelves pending the now ongoing review. Failure to heed the alert was to be followed the enforcement action.
The ministry of health confirmed that those players who ignored the safety alert could face a fine of $400,00 if their cases ended up the court. The Vaping Regulatory Authority has announced that it has communicated with all registered vaping retailers in the country reminding them of their legal duty to safeguard consumers by only selling products that are safe for human consumption. More emphasis has been put on the set limit for nicotine salts contained in those products.
The Vaping Regulatory Authority has further announced an improved testing regime that will ensure that all vaping products sold in the country comply with high safety standards set by the government. While announcing these new measures the authority said that currently no product sold in the country has been found to contain levels of nicotine that can cause health risks to users. However, the authority was quick to add that while most of the products in the country were safe to use, some contained higher levels of nicotine that could cause addiction. This, it noted, was especially bad for the youth who have begun experimenting with vaping products.
