Policy paper

Tobacco and Vapes Bill: enforcement factsheet

Published 20 March 2024

The government has announced several measures to strengthen the enforcement of tobacco and vaping products legislation in an effective and proportionate way.

The bill will introduce on the spot fines (fixed penalty notices or FPNs) for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products in England and Wales, to allow Trading Standards to take swifter action to fine those who sell to anyone underage. In Scotland and Northern Ireland there are already existing fixed penalty notice regimes.

Separately, the government:  

• will provide £30 million of new funding per year for enforcement agencies including Trading Standards, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force. This increased investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting enforcement capacity and help local Trading Standards enforce underage sales at a local level for tobacco and vaping products
• has published a joint illicit tobacco strategy, setting out plans to be at the forefront of tackling illegal activity and opportunities that criminals may seek to exploit. The strategy establishes a new Illicit Tobacco Taskforce, which will combine the operational, investigative and intelligence expertise of various agencies and enhance the ability to disrupt organised crime
• will work to enhance online age verification, to crack down on illegal online sales of tobacco and vaping products and make sure that young people under the legal age of sale cannot buy tobacco and vaping products online

Rationale for intervention

A strong approach to enforcement is vital if the smokefree generation policy is to have real impact. Underage and illicit sales of tobacco products, and more recently vaping products, is undermining the work the government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. 

The sale of illicit products frequently targets children and young people in disadvantaged communities, widening health disparities. The impact of the illicit trade is often the greatest in the most deprived areas of the country. Tobacco smuggling also costs over £2.8 billion in lost tax and duty revenue each year. This deprives the UK of vital money that could be used to fund essential public services - instead, putting it in the hands of criminals.

How will the changes be enforced?

This legislative change in England and Wales will be enforced by Trading Standards at a local level. Border Force and HMRC also have an important role to stamp out opportunities for criminals in the illicit tobacco trade.

Local Trading Standards Officers in England and Wales will be able to issue on the spot fines to tackle underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. In Scotland and Northern Ireland there are already existing fixed penalty notice regimes.

This won’t criminalise smoking or other tobacco products and they will still be able to be sold to people to whom they are currently sold legally.

Fixed penalty notices

The bill provides enforcement authorities in England and Wales with the power to issue fixed penalty notices of £100 for the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products.

The new FPNs will complement existing sanctions, supporting local Trading Standards officers by allowing them to take swifter action by issuing on-the-spot fines to retailers, instead of needing to take action through the courts. Setting the fine at £100 aligns with the UK government’s approach to limit any new burdens to businesses, while allowing for appropriate enforcement action to be taken.

Who will be subject to the FPNs?

Local Trading Standards will be able to issue on-the-spot fines to retailers and individuals as an alternative to taking action through the courts. 

For underage sales, the business or the retail worker are liable to receive the FPN, and the decision is made by the Trading Standards officer who issues the FPN.

For proxy purchases, a person who buys a tobacco or vaping product on behalf of someone under the age of sale is liable to receive a FPN.

Why are FPNs only £100?

Setting the fine at £100 aligns with the UK government’s approach to limit any new burdens to businesses, while allowing for appropriate enforcement action to be taken. Local Trading Standards must comply with the Regulators’ Code and take a proportionate approach to enforcement action on underage sales that reflects the level of offence committed.

It is also a similar level to the current FPN for a number of offences, including selling alcohol to those who are underage and theft from a shop (where goods are under £200 in value) which are both £90.

Additional funding for enforcement

The government has committed to increasing investment for enforcement agencies by £30 million per year. The additional funding in England will boost agencies such as local Trading Standards to enforce the new age of sale and vaping measures. It will also scale up HMRC and Border Force activity to stamp out opportunities for criminals in the illicit tobacco trade.

Of this funding, over £100 million over 5 years will support HMRC and Border Force’s new illicit tobacco strategy, published on 29 January 2024.

We are working closely with Trading Standards to consider how the new funding can best support their programmes of local-level enforcement.  

Illicit tobacco strategy

HMRC and Border Force have published the joint illicit tobacco strategy, setting out their continued commitment to reduce the trade in, and demand for, illicit tobacco, and to tackle and disrupt the organised crime groups behind the illicit tobacco trade. The new strategy supports the wider government ambition for a smokefree generation. The strategy:

• sets out our new root and branch approach - which targets the demand for illicit trade (the consumers that criminals seek to exploit) as well as the supply (the criminals themselves)
• is supported by over £100 million of new funding over the next 5 years to boost HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability
• establishes a new, cross-government Illicit Tobacco Taskforce - combining the operational, investigative and intelligence expertise of various agencies, and enhancing our ability to disrupt organised crime

Will the new measures place additional burdens on police capacity?

As is the case with existing age of sale legislation for tobacco and vaping products and other tobacco and vaping regulations in England and Wales, breaches of measures in the bill will primarily be dealt with by local Trading Standards rather than police forces.

Will the new measures just place additional burdens on retailers?

The government is already working closely with retailers and will continue to do so, utilising the lead-in time for implementation to best support them in preparing for and implementing the changes. This will include rolling out information campaigns for both the public and retail workers.

Enforcing the smokefree generation age of sale restriction will be no different from enforcing the existing age of sale restriction, and arguably more straightforward as the date of birth which needs to be checked by retail staff will remain the same for everyone (a check of whether someone is born on or after 1 January 2009), rather than needing to identify whether each individual is 18 years old.

We are also supporting retailers to implement the changes by strengthening enforcement through the additional £30 million funding for enforcement agencies, to help tackle illicit and underage sales.

Will the measures just encourage the illicit market?

There have been suggestions that implementing tobacco control measures will lead to an increase in the size of the illicit market and an increase in illegal sales of tobacco products. In fact, history shows that when we have introduced targeted tobacco control measures, whether through tighter legal controls or stronger enforcement, they have had a positive impact on tackling the problems of illicit tobacco. Consumption of illegal tobacco has gone from 17 billion cigarettes in 2000 to 2001 to 3 billion cigarettes in 2022 to 2023. When the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 in 2007, the number of illicit cigarettes consumed fell by 25%. 

The purpose of the smokefree generation policy is to stop future generations from getting addicted to tobacco in the first place. In the long run, lower demand for tobacco products will mean a reduction in the demand for illicit tobacco.

There have also been suggestions that future vaping regulations will lead to an increase in the size of the illicit vape market. To discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping, the government will separately introduce a new excise duty on vaping products. This will take effect from 1 October 2026.

The proposed policy design of the vaping duty includes measures to strengthen enforcement and tackle non‑compliance through:

• declaration and payments in digital channels to minimise fraud and error
• the introduction of civil and criminal powers for HMRC to assess for duty, seize products and equipment and/or vehicles used to produce or transport illicit product
• penalties for those who do not meet their obligations

HMRC will:

• collaborate with agencies such as Border Force and Trading Standards to build new capability around vaping for when the duty is introduced
• ensure that over 200 new operational staff are available to enforce the new duty, integrating with existing tobacco compliance teams and building on the government’s recent success in driving down the tobacco tax. This success includes reducing the illicit trade for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% in 2005 to 33.5% in 2021 to 2022 and for cigarettes from 16.9% to 11% over the same period. 

How will the government guard against illegal online sales?

The UK government is exploring how we can enhance online age verification, to make sure that online retailers sell only to those above the legal age of sale.

As a first step, the UK government will work with retailers that sell tobacco and vaping products to produce good practice guidance that helps retailers adopt online age verification to prevent underage sales. 

The illicit tobacco strategy sets out how HMRC and Border Force will tackle online sales of illicit tobacco on social media platforms, gathering intelligence on social media sales, and working with social media platforms to ensure we are effective in limiting criminal groups’ ability to sell illicit tobacco through these channels.

It is the responsibility of retailers to ensure they do not sell age restricted products online to people under the minimum age. Retailers must take reasonable precautions and exercise due diligence. Trading Standards services conduct underage sales test purchases on the sale of tobacco and vapes online, as well as in store.

The government has proposed legislation to make online identity and eligibility verification safer and easier through the Data Protection and Digital Information (No.2) Bill, which is currently being considered by Parliament. The government is creating a framework of standards and governance, UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, underpinned by legislation, to enable the widespread use of trusted digital identity services.

Will everyone have to carry around ID?

Retailers will need to ensure that they only sell tobacco and vaping products to those above the age of sale. Most retailers regularly ask for identification from customers as part of the ‘Challenge 25’ approach to tobacco sales. Customers will require ID to prove they are above the legal age of sale.

Valid forms of ID include:

• driving licence
• passport
• EU national identity card
• photographic card bearing the national Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) hologram

99% of current 18 to 29 year olds already have a valid form of ID. PASS cards are available for £15.