Politics

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) has called on the Government to focus on effective enforcement to deal with the huge illicit trade in vapes that will receive a £645m boost if disposable vapes are banned next year.

In response to the Government’s short consultation on the proposals to ban disposable vape devices from April 2025, ACS has highlighted a number of fundamental issues with DEFRA’s own impact assessment on the ban, warning that it has significantly underestimated the losses that will be felt by retailers.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the Government’s decision to continue exempting small shops from unit pricing regulations.

In its response to the consultation on improving price transparency and product information for consumers, the Department of Business and Trade has concluded that there is no compelling case for removing the exemption. The majority of respondents to the consultation, including ACS, supported this outcome.

The Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed an update from the Competition and Markets Authority on competition in the grocery market, reiterating the financial pressures that convenience retailers are facing with extraordinarily high costs.