THE SCHEME opened in April and charges apply from October 1. The rate is 22 pence per 1ml.

Businesses manufacturing, importing, or storing vaping products must apply to HMRC for Vaping Products Duty (VPD) and the Vaping Duty Stamps (VDS) Scheme by July 31.

James Stafford, divisional director LSP EMEA at logistics software firm Descartes, says: “HMRC made a lot of hires a little while ago, and we’re starting to see that come through. A lot more of the people we speak to are talking about audits actually happening, versus being this theoretical thing.”

James adds: “VPD isn’t just another form: it’s a structural change to how vape products move through the UK supply chain.”

James says the challenge for Descartes is preparing the solutions that can help customers continue to trade in a compliant way.

Discussing the emergence of AI tools, James explains: “The prize is what the human does instead: a customs specialist freed from rekeying can check a filing is right and compliant.

“But I would add the caveat: do not deploy an agent to shift data between systems when there’s already a way to do it, such as using an EDI message, with total accuracy at low cost. We have this powerful new technology, but is that overkill?”