Published on:
28
July 2011
Stirling and Clackmannanshire Trading Standards are reminding local tobacco retailers, including those who sell by vending machine, that they must be registered to sell tobacco products by 1st October 2011 or face severe penalties.
The new legislation for selling tobacco was introduced in April this year, and is designed to make tobacco products less available to under 18s and crack down on underage tobacco sales and underage smoking. Tobacco products consist wholly or partly of tobacco and intended to be smoked, sniffed, sucked or chewed.
Trading Standards are urging retailers to sign up as soon as possible because after the 1st October deadline it will be illegal for retailers to sell tobacco products and they face a fine up to £20,000 and/or prison for up to 6 months if they are not registered.
The registration process has been designed to be as straightforward as possible by either completing a form on line by downloading it from the website www.tobaccoregisterscotland.org or by completing a form available from Trading Standards or by calling the Scottish Executive on 0131 244 2169. There is no charge for registering.
Under the new legislation Trading Standards Officers have the power to issue fixed penalty notices to traders selling tobacco to anyone under the age of 18. Test purchasing of tobacco using volunteers under the age of 18 has been carried out recently and has resulted in £200 fixed penalty notices being issued for the sale of tobacco to the volunteers.
Traders are also required to display an A3 notice on their premises, which states it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. If any retailers need a notice please contact Trading Standards direct.
As well as introducing the Register the new legislation also makes it an offence for anyone under 18 to buy or attempt to buy tobacco products, which includes cigarette papers. If a person under the age of 18 is found to be in possession of a tobacco product in a public place and fail to surrender these items on request by the police, they will also be breaking the law. It will also be an offence for anyone over 18 years to buy tobacco products on behalf of anyone under 18.
If you require any further assistance or would like to request a form or a notice, please contact Lindsay McNeil on 01786 443322 or email tradingstandards@stirling.gov.uk