Correspondence
MHRA e-cigarette and vape products regulator profile
Information on the other regulatory bodies responsible for e-cigarette and vape products.
Documents
Details
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 |
| 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 protected] | |
| Website | National regulation: enforcement services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) |
| Contact | 0121 345 1201 |
| Contact email | [email protected] |
| Responsibilities | The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) provides enforcement services for a range of goods-based and standards-based regulations. OPSS is the policy owner for some of these regulations but also provides services on behalf of government departments including DBT, Defra, and DfT. OPSS enforces the Distributor Obligations in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Regulations & The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations. |
| Agency name | Environment Agency |
|---|---|
| Department | Environment & Business - Producer Responsibility |
| [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 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 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 |
| 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 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 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 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. |
Updates to this page
Published 2 October 2024Last updated 20 November 2024 + show all updates
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Updated contact details for Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
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First published.