Shops selling energy drinks to under-16s in Wales face fines of up to 2,500 pounds

Retailers in Wales could be fined for selling high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16, under Welsh Government plans now out for consultation. Selling to an under-16 would be a criminal offence, with a fine of up to 2,500 pounds on conviction. The consultation opened on 5 November and closes on 17 December. No start date for the restriction has been set.

As an alternative to prosecution, councils would be able to issue a fixed penalty: 1,500 pounds for an individual, micro or small business with fewer than 50 staff, and 2,500 pounds for a medium or large business. Local authority food authorities would enforce the rules, with the work shared locally between trading standards, environmental health or another service.

The ban would apply to all sellers regardless of size, including newsagents and clothes shops as well as food outlets, and to online sales to people in Wales. Ministers intend to prohibit sales through all automated vending machines, in line with tobacco, because of the difficulty of stopping underage purchases. The consultation asks how online age checks should work.

Nerys Evans, the Deputy Minister for Public and Preventative Health, said the consultation now seeks views on implementation, how a restriction should be enforced, how compliance should be assessed and how proportionate sanctions should be applied. Testing compliance through test purchases would need changes to surveillance powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which the government is also asking about.