Guidance

E-Cigarette and Vape products Regulator Profiles

Updated 16 August 2024

The information below contains the contact details and responsibilities of each of the regulatory bodies involved in the regulation of e-cigarette and vape products.

Agency name	Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
Department	Tobacco and related products regulations
Email
Website	Tobacco products and e-cigarette cross-border sales: registration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Contact
Contact email	[email protected]
Responsibilities	Cross-border distance sales responsibilities - manages retail registrations to undertake cross-border distance sale of e-cigarette liquids, devices and components and tobacco products into and out of Northern Ireland. Retailers based in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the European Union, and other countries must register with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities at [email protected] to make these types of sales into and out of Northern Ireland.

Agency name	Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
Department	Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
Email	[email protected]
Website	National regulation: enforcement services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Contact	0121 345 1201 / 0121 345 1226
Contact email	[email protected]
Responsibilities	OPSS is the national regulator for consumer product safety (other than in relation to vehicles, medicines, and food), working with local authorities, other market surveillance authorities and border control authorities.

Agency name	Environment Agency
Department	Environment & Business - Producer Responsibility
Email	[email protected]
Website	Environment Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Contact	Becci Owen
Contact email	[email protected]
Responsibilities	Companies that place e-cigarettes/vapes on the market in the UK need to register as an electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) producer and a batteries producer. These requirements come from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 and the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, respectively. These companies may also need to register as packaging producers under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 and the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) Regulations 2023 (note: there are separate data reporting regulations for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland). Producers must register so that they can fulfil their legal obligations to finance collection and treatment of these products once they become waste.  The definitions of EEE, battery, and packaging producers are available in the following guidance links, along with information about how to register. Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE): producer responsibilities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Waste batteries: producer responsibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Packaging waste: producer responsibilities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Extended producer responsibility for packaging: who is affected and what to do - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Agency name	Natural Resources Wales – Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru
Department	Producer Responsibility - WEEE
Email	[email protected]
Website	Natural Resources Wales
Contact	Producer Responsibility Team  -  WEEE
Contact email	[email protected]

Agency name	Health and Safety Executive
Department	Chemicals Regulation Division
Email	[email protected]
Website	hse.gov.uk
Contact	Hannah Doherty
Contact email	[email protected]
Responsibilities	CLP - European Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures. This regulation was replicated in the UK with the changes needed to make it operable in a domestic context and is now known as GB CLP. Anyone who supplies chemical substances or mixtures which are classified as hazardous needs to classify and label those products appropriately. Chemical classification - HSE. REACH – European Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. This regulation was replicated in the UK with the changes needed to make it operable in a domestic context and is now known as UK REACH. REACH stands for registration, evaluation, and restriction of chemicals UK REACH - HSE.

Agency name	Trading Standards
Department	Local Enforcement
Email
Website	The Chartered Trading Standards Institute publishes e-cigarette advice for producers and retailers.
Contact	To report an issue to the appropriate local Trading Standards service, you can make a direct approach to your local authority or the local authority where the subject of concern is based. Use the Chartered Trading Standards Institute postcode search.
Contact email	See Reporting to Trading Standards - Citizens Advice.
Responsibilities	Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 - The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (legislation.gov.uk). Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 - The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (legislation.gov.uk). Some parts of the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals regulations where they relate to retail sales - The Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Chemicals (Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Regulations 2015.

Agency name	Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)
Department	Producer Responsibility
Email	[email protected]
Website	https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/
Contact	Producer Responsibility Unit - WEEE
Contact email	[email protected]

Agency name	Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Department	Producer Responsibility
Email	[email protected]
Website	Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Contact	Producer Compliance and Waste Shipment Unit
Contact email	[email protected]

Agency name	Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)
Department	Resources and Waste
Email	[email protected]
Website	Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Contact	Defra disposable vapes policy team
Contact Email	[email protected]
Responsibilities	Defra is responsible for the delivery of the waste prevention programme Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste, which includes waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and disposable vapes. The sale and supply of disposable vapes are to be banned in England, Scotland and Wales. The proposed ban follows a UK Government consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping published in October 2023. The government response to the consultation was published in January 2024. Enforcement of the disposables ban will be carried out through Trading Standards officers using civil and criminal sanctions.