23 March - The removal of overfilled ELFBAR and Lost Mary products from shelves highlights a glaring failure of the UK's regulatory framework for e-cigarettes, according to the UK's e-cigarette industry association.

UKVIA director general John Dunne said it was now clear that approving e-cigarette products without compliance testing before or after approval would not work.

He was speaking after a joint statement from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's e-cigarette regulator, and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) revealed that overrefill products that had been withdrawn from sale included the ELFBAR and Lost Mary brands.

Dunn said: While we know mistakes can happen, everything possible must be done to ensure they are rare because, as we have seen in recent weeks, the reputation of the entire industry depends on it.

"There should be an active testing programme in the MHRA approval 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 do not decline over time."

"When any non-compliance with the law is discovered, we also need to see swift and decisive action by the relevant authorities so that mistakes are rectified quickly and manufacturers, distributors and retailers know exactly what action they need to take."

He said the delay between the recent Revelations of overfilling and the announcement that noncompliant products must be taken off the shelves has caused widespread confusion within the industry and among consumers.

Dunn said that to maintain public confidence in the industry, retailers, distributors and manufacturers must be aware that any violations will be taken seriously.

He added: The MHRA should seriously consider suspending the ECID numbers of products found to be non-compliant until it is confident the problems have been rectified.

"It also highlights the need for common standards for compliance testing, such as vape volume."

"UKVIA has seen the results of independent testing of vcigarette products and it is worrying that we are seeing conflicting results, depending on the type of testing carried out."

The most recent joint statement from CTSI and MHRA said: On 23 February, CTSI and HMRA issued a notice to enforcement officers advising that all non-compliant Elf Bars must be stopped from sale under the vigilance requirements of Section 39 of the TRPR.

"This is in addition to the exchange of additional information between Elf Bar and MHRA to update the corrective action plan and identify additional affected lots, including some Lost Mary products."

"CTSI and MHRA are pleased to note that compliant alternatives have arrived in the country. We continue to expect all manufacturers to act responsibly and will share any further information received with law enforcement officials as soon as possible."

The joint statement added:

There is no indication that overfilled Elf Bars or Lost Mary products pose a greater risk to health when used normally.

The vigilance requirements in Article 39 explicitly apply to non-compliant products as well as unsafe products.

Non-compliant products shall not be sold to consumers.

If a non-compliant lot remains on the shelf, as always, it is up to the local community to decide whether to act on local priorities, competitive needs and available resources.

It said the affected batches were as follows:

Previously announced:

ELFBAR 600s has the following batch numbers: EP0I7693, EP020398, EP020250, EP019749, EP020257, EP019746, EP020120, EP020394, EP019893, EP019894

Additional batch:

Lost Mary BM600

Flavors: Watermelon, Double Apple, Kiwi Passion Fruit Guava, marshmallow Ice, Strawberry ice, blueberry Sour Raspberry

Batch:

LP017641 LP018253 LP019438 LP019923 LP020487 LP021149

Lost Mary QM600

Taste: Grape, Cola

Batch:

LP017906 LP016850