- within Food, Drugs, Healthcare and Life Sciences topic(s)
- within Cannabis & Hemp, Tax and Strategy topic(s)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill continues to make its way through the parliamentary process and is currently at committee stage in the House of Lords. In the meantime, the UK government has published a call for evidence on introducing new rules for retailers selling tobacco, vapes and nicotine products.
The government says that surveys have found that among 11 to 17-year olds in England, regular vaping more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, and in 2025 one in five have tried vaping.
The Bill will ban the advertising and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products, and provide powers for regulating flavours, packaging, and how and where vapes and nicotine products are displayed in shops.
It contains new regulation-making powers which the government intends to use as soon as possible after the Bill receives royal assent.
Call for evidence
The call for evidence will shape that secondary legislation under the Bill and covers the following topics:
- substances and ingredients used to create flavours in vapes and nicotine products;
- levels of nicotine that should be permitted in nicotine-containing products;
- size and shape of vapes, vape-like devices and tanks, and the role of technology in these devices;
- a proposal to introduce a new licensing scheme for selling tobacco, vaping and nicotine products; and
- a proposal to introduce a new product registration scheme in the UK.
The call for evidence ends on 3 December 2025.
Future consultation
The government has also indicated that it will also consult separately at a later date on proposals for:
- smoke-free, vape-free and heated tobacco-free places;
- rules on the display of products;
- restrictions to elements of devices such as branding and colour;
- the packaging of tobacco products; and
- the packaging of vape and nicotine products.
Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, retailers selling without a licence in England and Wales could face unlimited fines in court, or fixed penalties of £2,500, while in Northern Ireland, courts will be able to impose fines of up to £5,000.
Retailers need to ensure that they keep up to speed with the new rules. At the moment it is not clear when the Bill will become law, but we'd guesstimate the middle of 2026.
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