The withdrawal of over-filled ELFBAR and Lost Mary products from sale has highlighted a ‘glaring failure’ in the UK vaping regulatory framework, says the UK Vaping Industry Association.
UKVIA Director General John Dunne said it is now crystal clear that approving vape products without testing for compliance, either pre- or post-approval, simply doesn’t work.
He was speaking after a joint statement from UK vape regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) revealed that overfilled products being removed from sale included both ELFBAR and Lost Mary brands.
Dunne said: “Whilst we understand that mistakes can happen, everything possible must be done to ensure that they are few and far between because, as we have seen in recent weeks, the reputation of the whole industry depends on it.
“There should be an active programme of testing incorporated into the MHRA approvals process, backed up by random spot checks to ensure that not only are products fully compliant when they first enter the market but that standards are not allowed to drop over time.
“We also need to see swift and decisive action by the relevant authorities when any failure to comply with the law is uncovered so that mistakes can be rectified quickly and that manufacturers, distributors and retailers know exactly what action they need to take.”
He said the delay between the recent overfilling issue coming to light and the announcement that non-compliant products must be removed from sale had caused widespread confusion both within the industry and for consumers.
Dunne said that in order to maintain public confidence in the industry, retailers, distributors and manufacturers must be aware that any non-compliance would be taken seriously. He added: “The MHRA should give serious consideration to suspending ECID numbers from products found to be non-compliant until such time as it is satisfied that the problem has been rectified.
“This has also highlighted the need for one universal standard for compliance testing such as e-liquid volumes.
“The UKVIA has seen the results of independent testing of vape products and it is worrying that we are seeing conflicting results, depending on the type of tests being carried out.”
A recent joint statement from the CTSI and MHRA said: “On the 23 February, CTSI and HMRA issued a note to Enforcement Officers advising that all non-compliant Elf Bars must be removed from sale under the vigilance requirement of Regulation 39 in the TRPRs.
“Further to this note, more exchanges of information have taken place between Elf Bar and MHRA to update on the corrective action plan and to identify further affected batches including some Lost Mary products.
“CTSI and MHRA are pleased to note that replacement compliant products have been arriving in the country. We continue to expect all producers to act responsibly and will share any further information received with Enforcement Officers as quickly as possible.”
The joint statement added:
- There is no suggestion that the over-filled Elf Bars or Lost Mary products are a greater risk to health in normal use.
- The vigilance requirements in Regulation 39 clearly apply to non-compliant products as well as unsafe ones.
- Non-compliant products must not be made available for sale to consumers.
- Where products from non-compliant batches remain on the shelves it is, as always, a local decision whether action should be taken or not depending on local priorities, competing demands and available resources.
It said the affected batches were as follows:
Previously notified:
ELFBAR 600s with the following batch numbers: EP0I7693, EP020398, EP020250, EP019749, EP020257, EP019746, EP020120, EP020394, EP019893, EP019894
Additional batches:
Lost Mary BM600
Flavours: Watermelon, Double Apple, Kiwi Passion Fruit Guava, Cotton Candy Ice, Strawberry Ice, Blueberry Sour Raspberry
Batches:
LP017641 LP018253 LP019438 LP019923 LP020487 LP021149
Lost Mary QM600
Flavours: Grape, Cola
Batches:
LP017906 LP016850
ENDS