A Northern Irish retailer has spoken out about the steps that responsible retailers must undertake to prevent the sale of vape products to under 18s.
Eugene Diamond, owner of Diamond's newsagents in Ballymena, told Belfast Live that his store operates a challenge 21 policy which has seen his staff take some abuse after asking young people to produce ID to purchase the age-restricted items.
Across Northern Ireland, local councils undertake spot checks using underage teens to carry out test purchases of age restricted items to ensure that the law is being followed correctly with a maximum fine of £5,000 for those who fail to comply.
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"We always challenge on age and if someone looks under 21 then we will ask them for ID to buy the items but anyone over 18 is allowed to buy them," he said.
"You would be surprised how many young people carry their driving license or passport just for this purpose.
"We will check the ID and if you don't have any then we will refuse the sale."
Eugene said that in the past, this has led to confrontation with his staff as people have insisted that other shops have served them without having to produce ID.
"It is not an easy task because they will sometimes say, 'Oh, we can go here or there and get served' but you will find that most shops will ask for ID.
"I am on the National Federation of Retail Newsagents and we would always adhere to keeping our files of sales refusals up to date as they are very important."
Retailers are supposed to keep a log of every sale which is refused including the time of the refusal, a description of the product and a description of the person who was refused.
Council staff can request to view these logs at any time to prove that a retailer is undertaking their duty to prevent sales to underage kids.
"Local councils undertake checks where a young person will come into the shop and attempt to purchase an age restricted item.
"There will always be an adult nearby who is in charge of them and they will be watching what goes on, how you refuse the sale and such.
"After the transaction has been refused, they will identify themselves then you will get a letter in the post which will detail how you performed in the test purchase."
Eugene said he has had more than 20 test purchases and his shop has always passed.
Advising other retailers on how to keep themselves on the right side of the law, Eugene said that processes need to be put in place with shop staff.
"It is mainly to do with staff being aware of ages and such because if they fail to challenge for ID then that's where you will run into issues.
"There will always be places who turn a blind eye to what happens but I have ran my business to the best of my ability.
"Honesty is the best way to run any business," he finished.
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