OUR PLEDGE TO YOUTH ACCESS PREVENTION IN OUR COMMUNITIES

At Vuse, we strive to be more responsible in any way we can – from implementing sustainable production practices to not including chemicals in our products that are known to be harmful. As members of the Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA), that responsibility means ensuring that our products are not marketed to or consumed anyone under the age of 18.

Because the updates to our Youth Access Prevention (YAP) measures will have an impact on some of our processes, we want to give our current consumers insight into what will be changing and how these changes will affect the way you order your favourite Vuse products. We know that the safety of our country’s youth is a cause that all of our customers care about, and we’re excited to include the Vuse vaping community in our journey to become the most responsible vaping brand we can be!

South Africa’s laws do not currently make provisions for the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems ENDS/ENNDS (or vapes, as we call them) to under 18s – but that hasn’t stopped us from doing our part to restrict the youth from accessing our products. Here are just a few of the ways that we’ve revised our marketing and business practices to adhere to international best practices for Youth Access Prevention – especially the standards set out by the United Kingdom Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA):

• Vuse marketing does not target persons under the age of 18.
• Vuse advertising and promotional content does not feature anyone under the age of 25.
• Vuse product marketing claims are supported by proven, fact-based evidence.
• Vuse online and face-to-face sales experience has been enhanced to include youth access prevention measures like age verification.
• Vuse staff and vendors are educated on all of Vuses’s Youth Access Prevention information, policies and requirements.

Once our latest YAP measures go live on 11 November 2021, here’s the process that our customers can expect to follow:

Remember that once your age has been successfully verified, anyone over the age of 18 will be able to accept delivery on your behalf.

While we know this may cause an inconvenience for you, we hope you understand how important it is to ensure that the youth remain protected. We also want to assure you that any personal information that you share with us will remain strictly confidential, and won’t be used for any other purpose than to verify your age. We know that our customers understand the importance of these changes and appreciate the steps that we have taken to be the most responsible vaping brand we can be. We value your help in keeping the youth of South Africa safe.

For those of you who are interested, here is the pledge that we took together with the other members of the VPASA:

• We believe that our products are only suitable for adult smokers who are looking for a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes.
• We commit to NOT sell to individuals who are under the age of 18.
• We commit to train our employees to ensure appropriate age verification at all points of sales.
• We commit to ensure that our courier partners do not deliver electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) to under-age persons.
• We are in favour of regulations that prohibit the sale of ENNDS to anyone under the age of 18.
• We are in favour of regulations that will have tough penalties for those who do not adhere to this position of ‘no under-age sales.’
• We recognise as an industry the growth in social media platforms as the preferred means of communication with our consumers, and to this end, care and due diligence is observed to ensure we do not promote vaping and/or ENNDS to under-age persons. We use these platforms to support adult smokers who are looking for a less harmful alternative to smoking.
• From 23 March 2021, we as members of the Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) pledge to support the Youth Access Prevention (YAP) campaign by displaying this pledge, YAP stickers for all our consumers to see; posting on our social media platforms materials and content to this effect.