Policy paper

Tobacco and Vapes Bill: vapes and other nicotine products factsheet

Published 20 March 2024

The government will reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children by:

• providing powers for the government to regulate:
  • the flavours and contents of vapes
  • the retail packaging and product requirements of vapes
  • the point of sale displays of vapes
• extending the existing offence to sell a nicotine vaping product to a person who is under the age of 18 to non-nicotine vapes for England and Wales
• introducing a ban on the free distribution of vapes to under 18s for England and Wales
• updating the existing vape notification system to align with future regulatory requirements

Vapes are defined in the bill to cover both nicotine and non-nicotine vapes. E-cigarettes are vaping products which contain nicotine.

The bill also gives powers to extend the measures outlined above to other nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches.

Rationale for intervention

The health advice is clear - if you do not smoke, do not vape - and children should never vape.

Vaping can play a role in helping adult smokers to quit, but the government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last 3 years and 1-in-5 children having now used a vape.

We know that vaping products are regularly promoted in a way that appeals to children, both through the use of flavours, where they are displayed and their retail packaging.  

This is extremely worrying given the unknown long-term health impacts and the addictive nature of the nicotine contained in some vapes.

Vape flavours

In Great Britain, the ASH 2023 report Use of e-cigarettes among young people in Great Britain shows that the most frequently used vape flavouring for children is ‘fruit flavour’, with 60% of current children using them. Seventeen per cent of children who vape choose sweet flavours such as chocolate or candy.

Our call for evidence on youth vaping showed us that children are attracted to the fruit and sweet flavours of vapes, both in their taste and smell, as well as how they are described. Research also shows that flavours are an important factor in motivating young people to start vaping.

Therefore, regulating flavours has the potential to significantly reduce youth vaping. 

The bill will provide powers to regulate flavours and contents of vapes and other nicotine products in the future. To avoid unintended consequences on adult smoking rates, the scope of restrictions will need to be carefully considered.  

Further analysis and consultation will need to take place before any specific regulations are introduced. 

Display of vapes

Unlike tobacco products, vapes are currently allowed to be displayed anywhere for sale. It is unacceptable that children can see and pick up these products in retail settings easily due to them being displayed within aisles, close to sweets and confectionery products and on accessible shelves.

The ASH report Public support for government action on tobacco found that 74% of adults in England support the prohibiting of point of sale promotion of vapes.

The bill will provide powers to regulate where vapes can be displayed in retail outlets. Further analysis and consultation will take place before any specific regulations are introduced. 

Vape packaging

Vapes can entice children to start vaping through brightly coloured packaging, and imagery such as cartoons. The retail packaging of vapes can vary significantly, which can influence a child’s intention to try different vaping products. 

Research on standardised packaging shows that standardising vape retail packaging with reduced brand imagery can decrease the appeal of vape products among young people.

We know that there is strong public support for regulation of vape retail packaging and presentation. The 2023 ASH public opinion survey found that 76% of adults in England support limiting the names of sweets, cartoons and bright colours on vape retail packaging.

The bill will provide powers to regulate how the vape product is presented and packaged. Further analysis and consultation will take place before any specific restrictions are introduced. 

Non-nicotine vapes and other nicotine products

We have a duty to protect children from the potential harms of vaping, and there is evidence to indicate that non-nicotine vapes can serve as a gateway to nicotine vapes.

Non-nicotine vapes (otherwise known as nicotine-free vapes) are not currently subject to the same product standards and age restrictions as for nicotine-containing vapes. Maintaining this position risks providing loopholes to the restrictions on nicotine vapes, given that nicotine can be added to non-nicotine products by users. It is, therefore, important that we act to prevent this from happening and thus reduce the risk of non-nicotine vapes acting as gateway products to nicotine vapes.

That is why through the bill we are introducing a new age of sale restriction for non-nicotine vapes in England and Wales and providing regulation making powers for the government to introduce age of sale requirements for other nicotine products in the same way as vapes.

The regulations on vape flavours, retail packaging and displays will apply to both nicotine and non-nicotine vapes.

Free distribution of vapes to children

There is currently no restriction on the free distribution of nicotine or non-nicotine vapes in England or Wales to those under the age of sale. 

The bill will close this loophole and make it an offence to give away a vaping product or coupon in England and Wales, which can later be redeemed for a vaping product, to someone who is under the age of 18.

Disposable vapes

Disposable vapes are clearly linked to the recent rise in vaping in children - 69% of current vapers aged 11 to 17 in Great Britain used disposable vapes in 2023. Five million disposable vapes are either littered or thrown away every week. This has quadrupled in the last year.

The UK government already has powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to ban the sale and supply of items which cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health. Therefore these measures are not included in the bill, however draft regulations have been published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and, at the time of publication, are out for consultation. The Scottish Government and Welsh Government have also confirmed they intend to introduce legislation. We intend for the ban on disposable vapes to come into force at the same time as the measures in this bill.

The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly are considering whether to introduce similar legislation in Northern Ireland.

Adult smokers will still be able to access refillable and reusable vapes as well as other alternative methods to stop smoking.

Why are you not gradually raising the age of sale for vapes?

There is a fundamental difference in safety between vapes and tobacco products. There is no more dangerous product that is legally sold in our shops than tobacco - a product that will kill two-thirds of its users. 

Vapes are less harmful but are not harm-free and so should never be used by or targeted at children especially given the addictive nature of nicotine.  

This is why we have announced strong measures to reduce the appeal, availability and affordability of vapes to children.   

What changes are you making to the existing vape notification scheme?

Currently, to supply a nicotine containing vape (and a refill container) on the UK market, businesses must first notify their product to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This system helps ensure that products are in line with the high standards set by the UK government as set out by The Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 (TRPR) (Part 6).

Given the bill will include new regulation making powers on vapes (nicotine and non-nicotine) and other nicotine products, it is important for government, businesses and enforcement agencies that the current notification system aligns with future regulatory requirements.

Therefore, we will be taking the regulation making powers for Great Britain that will enable us to amend the information that needs to be notified (to include new requirements on flavours) and for exceptions to the duty to publish information to be included (for example where the required fee has not been paid).

Any technical changes to the notification system under TRPR in Great Britain will be subject to further consultation before regulations are made.

What is the vaping product duty and why are you introducing it?

Vapes are often sold at ‘pocket money’ prices, making them extremely affordable to children and young people.   

To discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping and to raise revenue to help fund public services like the NHS, the government will introduce a new excise duty on vaping products.

Registrations and approvals for the tax will start from 1 April 2026 and the tax will take effect from 1 October 2026.

To support the role vapes can play in helping smokers give up cigarettes, tobacco duty will also be increased to maintain the financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.

The vaping product duty is not included in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Implementation

Introduction of regulations on vaping to Parliament are dependent on the successful passage of the bill and those restrictions being subject to further consultation and analysis ahead of introduction. Any timeline on future restrictions will also reflect the need for industry to have time to implement any requirements before they formally come into force. It is our intention for any restrictions to align as closely as possible with the disposables ban in 2025.