The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has responded to the report published by the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) raising concerns about penalties for tobacco retailers.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “LACORS concerns regarding the penalties for retailers who sell tobacco to someone under 18 have been very recently addressed by a change in the law.
“Any retailer that persistently sells tobacco to an under-18 faces a ban from selling tobacco of up to one year as well as the fine of up to £5,000.
“Retailers take these penalties very seriously and many retailers faced with a large fine and tobacco ban could be put out of business.”
Lowman also commented on the report’s findings on test purchasing failures.
“Test purchasing figures are a poor measure of the performance of shops in preventing under-age tobacco sales.
“Trading Standards Officers generally conduct test purchases at shops that have been the subject of complaints or other local intelligence.
“So the figures in this report show that of the premises suspected of selling tobacco to those under-age around one in five were proved to be breaking the law, rather than one in five of all retailers.
“This is an important distinction.
“The figures do not show that the vast majority of shops do not sell tobacco to those under-age and work incredibly hard to be the first line of defence against young people getting hold of tobacco when underage.
“We agree with LACORS that the solution to the problem of under-age smoking is a partnership between retailers, government and the community to prevent access and change attitudes.
“We should not forget that this is working successfully.
“NHS figures show that the number of young people regularly smoking has dropped to 6% compared to 13% in 1996.”
Source: ACS
