PART 3Enforcement and civil sanctions

Enforcement

8.—(1) A regulator may authorise any person to exercise, for an authorised purpose and in accordance with the terms of the authorisation, any of the powers specified in regulation 10, if that person appears to the regulator suitable to exercise them.

(2) An authorisation under paragraph (1) must be in writing.

(3) In this Part—

“authorised purpose” means the purpose of determining whether an offence under Part 2 has been or is being committed, or any requirement of a compliance notice, a stop notice or an enforcement undertaking under these Regulations has been or is being contravened;

“enforcement officer” means a person authorised under paragraph (1).

Civil sanctions

9.  The Schedule (civil sanctions) has effect for the purpose of the enforcement of an offence under Part 2 of these Regulations.

Powers of entry and examination etc.

10.—(1) The powers which an enforcement officer may be authorised to exercise are—

(a)to enter at any reasonable time any premises (other than premises used wholly or mainly as a dwelling) which the enforcement officer has reason to suspect it is necessary to enter for an authorised purpose;

(b)when entering any premises under sub-paragraph (a)—

(i)to be accompanied by—

(aa)another enforcement officer;

(bb)any other person assisting the enforcement officer for an authorised purpose;

(cc)if the authorised person has reasonable cause to expect any serious obstruction in the exercise of that person’s duty, a constable; and

(ii)to bring any equipment or materials required for the authorised purpose in question;

(c)on entering any premises under sub-paragraph (a)—

(i)to make such examination and investigation as may be necessary;

(ii)to take such measurements and photographs and make such recordings as the enforcement officer considers necessary for the purpose of any such examination or investigation;

(iii)to require the production of, or where the information is recorded in computerised form, the furnishing of extracts from, any documents which it is necessary for the enforcement officer to see for the purposes of any such examination or investigation and to inspect and take copies of the documents; and

(iv)to seize and remove any documents found in or on the premises;

(d)as regards any premises which an enforcement officer has power to enter under sub-paragraph (a), to direct that those premises or any part of them, or anything in them, be left undisturbed (whether generally or in particular respects) for so long as is reasonably necessary for the purpose of examination or investigation under sub-paragraph (c);

(e)to take any samples, or cause samples to be taken, of any single-use vapes or components of single-use vapes found in or on any premises which an enforcement officer has power to enter under sub-paragraph (a), and to cause any such items to be analysed or tested;

(f)in the case of any single-use vape found in or on any premises which an enforcement officer has power to enter under sub-paragraph (a), to take possession of it and to retain it for so long as is necessary for all or any of the following purposes—

(i)to examine it, and subject it to any process or test, or cause it to be examined and subjected to any process or test;

(ii)to ensure that it is not tampered with before the examination, process or test is completed;

(iii)to ensure that it is available for use as evidence in any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations;

(iv)to ensure that it is retained for the purposes of compliance with any direction given by the Secretary of State under regulation 11;

(g)to require any person to afford the enforcement officer such facilities and assistance with respect to any matters or things within the person’s control or in relation to which that person has responsibilities as are necessary to enable the enforcement officer to exercise any of the powers conferred on the enforcement officer by this regulation;

(h)as regards any premises which an enforcement officer has power to enter under sub-paragraph (a), to make a purchase of a single-use vape or enter into an agreement to secure the provision of a single-use vape, without first giving notice, or obtaining a warrant.

(2) Where an enforcement officer proposes to enter any premises and—

(a)entry has been refused or the enforcement officer apprehends on reasonable grounds that entry is likely to be refused, or

(b)the enforcement officer apprehends on reasonable grounds that the use of reasonable force may be necessary to effect entry,

any entry onto those premises by virtue of paragraph (1)(a) may only be effected under the authority of a warrant.

(3) Nothing in paragraph (1)(c)(iii) compels the production by a person of any documents of which that person would on grounds of legal professional privilege be entitled to withhold production on an order for disclosure in an action in the County Court or High Court.

(4) An enforcement officer seeking to exercise a power under paragraph (1) must produce evidence of identity and authority if requested by a person who is, or appears to be—

(a)a supplier of single-use vapes;

(b)an employee of a supplier referred to in sub-paragraph (a);

(c)the owner or occupier of any premises in which the enforcement officer seeks to exercise the power concerned.

(5) If a justice of the peace, on sworn information in writing, is satisfied—

(a)that there are reasonable grounds to enter any premises in exercise of the power in paragraph (1)(a); and

(b)that any of the conditions in paragraph (2) is met,

the justice of the peace may by warrant authorise an enforcement officer to enter the premises, if need be by reasonable force.

(6) Where an enforcement officer proposes to exercise the power to seize and remove documents under paragraph (1)(c)(iv) without the consent of the person entitled to grant access to the documents, the power may only be exercised under the authority of a warrant in accordance with paragraph (7).

(7) If a justice of the peace, on sworn information in writing, is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that—

(a)there is material on or accessible from the premises which is likely to be of substantial value (by itself or together with other material) to an investigation under paragraph (1)(c)(i), and

(b)it is impracticable to communicate with the person entitled to grant access to it, or access is unlikely to be granted unless a warrant is produced,

the justice of the peace may by warrant authorise the seizure and removal of documents, if need be by reasonable force.

(8) Where an enforcement officer removes a document under the power in paragraph (1)(c)(iv) that contains information in respect of which a claim to confidentiality of communications could be maintained in legal proceedings—

(a)the information may not be used in evidence for the purpose of proceedings in relation to an offence under these regulations, and

(b)the document must be returned to the premises from which it was removed, or to the person who had possession or control of it immediately before it was removed, as soon as reasonably practicable (but the person may retain or take copies of any information contained in the document to which no claim of confidentiality could be maintained).

Disposal of single-use vapes

11.—(1) The Secretary of State may direct that single-use vapes of a description specified in paragraph (2) are to be treated as waste and disposed of or otherwise treated as the Secretary of State considers necessary.

(2) The single-use vapes referred to in paragraph (1) are any single-use vapes which have been supplied, offered for supply or held in a person’s possession for supply in contravention of Part 2, and include single-use vapes in respect of which a regulator has imposed civil sanctions under these Regulations in relation to the offence.

(3) A direction under paragraph (1)—

(a)may be given to any one or more regulators in connection with any enforcement action taken by a regulator under these Regulations;

(b)may be applicable in respect of single-use vapes retained by any enforcement officer who is—

(i)authorised by the regulator concerned, and

(ii)acting for an authorised purpose;

(c)must not be executed by the regulator concerned (or by a person acting on the regulator’s behalf) until any right of appeal conferred in relation to the offence concerned under the Schedule to these Regulations is exhausted.

Publication of information about enforcement action

12.—(1) Where a regulator imposes civil sanctions under these Regulations in relation to an offence under Part 2, the regulator must from time to time publish—

(a)the cases in which the civil sanction has been imposed;

(b)where the civil sanction is a fixed monetary penalty or compliance notice, the cases in which a third party undertaking has been accepted; and

(c)the cases in which an enforcement undertaking has been entered into.

(2) In paragraph (1)(a), the reference to cases in which the civil sanction has been imposed does not include cases where the sanction has been imposed but overturned on appeal.

(3) This regulation does not apply in cases where the regulator considers that publication would be inappropriate.