Generational Tobacco Ban Likely To Become Law In The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is poised to implement a generational tobacco ban this year, which would make it the only nation in the world to have such legislation at the national level. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was originally introduced to Parliament under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party in late 2023, before stalling out as the United Kingdom’s elections approached this past summer. Then, under current Labour Party leadership, the bill was revived in November of 2024, when it was proposed by Wes Streeting of the Labour Party, representing Ilford North. If ed, the proposal would make it illegal, in perpetuity, for anyone born after January 1, 2009 to buy tobacco products, including cigars.
In the first vote in Parliament’s House of Commons, of Parliament voted 415 to 47 in favor of the bill, which currently sits in the Commons committee stage and is set to be voted on again in the House of Commons later this month. In committee sittings held this month, amendments were proposed that would have softened the impact of the bill, changing its parameters to prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 25, thereby removing the generational ban element and instead, implementing a new, higher universal age requirement. However, of Parliament convincingly voted against said amendments last week, keeping the generational ban component fully intact. The result does not remove the possibility for changes to the bill’s language and focus, though it certainly makes it far less likely.
Additional committee sittings are still scheduled for the remainder of this month, with the focus of concluding the committee proceedings next week, on January 30. The bill will then return to the Commons floor, where additional voting will follow. If it es favorably once more in the House of Commons, it would then move on to the House of Lords.
As expected, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has not been received favorably within the United Kingdom’s cigar industry. “Among the trade side of the business, the retailers, the importers, we’re very concerned,” says Eddie Sahakian, who runs London’s renowned Davidoff store along with his father, Edward. For Sahakian and others in the British cigar trade, much of the frustration lies with how this bill came to fruition. “The big problem for us is that, from our view, this has been such an undemocratic, uninformed piece of legislation,” says Sahakian. “We would have understood if the normal forms of consultation had taken place, if all stakeholders were consulted and opinions were taken.” Rather, he feels their perspective was intentionally left out as policymakers aimed to apply a one-size-fits-all label to all tobacco and nicotine products with hopes of pushing legislation through in one fell swoop.
The generic, wide-ranging categorization of tobacco products, which lumps cigars in with all products that contain nicotine, is an issue that is common with this kind of legislation across the globe. In the United States, this problem of universal categorization is currently at the forefront of the cigar industry’s ongoing lawsuit against the FDA and its attempts at stricter regulation. Nevertheless, Sahakian still hopes, in the very least, cigars will be treated differently than other tobacco and/or nicotine products. “Our preferred outcome here is that there is a carve out for handmade, cigars,” says Sakahian, though he isn’t hopeful on this front.
The opposition force is more or less nonexistent as it stands in the United Kingdom. Given the bill was first brought forth by the Conservative Party, then reintroduced by the Labour Party, there’s little any political resistance force could realistically accomplish. Added together, the two parties make up a large majority in both Parliament's House of Commons and House of Lords. The remaining parties, even if united, are vastly out-manned. As for public perception, Sakahian says the gravity of this legislation hasn’t kicked in for cigar smokers, who still see this bill as a mere proposal rather than a likely reality just on the horizon. The rest of the population, according to Sahakian, is either largely ambivalent or was ardently anti-tobacco to begin with.
The next month will be critical. Every possibility theoretically remains on the table, although all signs continue to strongly point to the ban proposal becoming law this year. But that’s not the only issue on the table in this piece of legislation. Part of the bill, as it was originally introduced, proposes adding plain packaging for all tobacco products, as is done with cigarettes. This, of course, could have a devastating, immediate effect on the cigar industry. “What issue it aims to solve, I’m not sure," says Sahakian, who notes that besides the disruptions it would cause to the cigar buying experience, such a measure would put the U.K. market at a serious disadvantage against other European cigar markets.
Generational tobacco bans have become a hot policy initiative across the globe in the last year or two. If a nation like the United Kingdom were to implement such a law, it’s a near certainty that many others around the world would soon attempt to follow suit. in the United States have begun proposing, and implementing, their own generational bans. Given the continued trend, it appears this is only just the beginning.
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