Guidance

E-Cigarette and Vape products Regualtor Profiles

Updated 16 August 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-for-retailers-and-producers/e-cigarette-and-vape-products-regualtor-profiles

1. E-cigarettes: MHRA E-Cig Regulator Profile

Agency Name Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
Department Tobacco and Related Products Regulations
Email  
Website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tobacco-products-and-e-cigarette-cross-border-sales-registration
Contact  
Contact Email CBS.Tobacco@dhsc.gov.uk
Responsibilities Cross Border Distance Sales Responsibilities - Manages retail registrations to undertake Cross Border Distance Sales 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 CBS.Tobacco@dhsc.gov.uk 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 | Bubbly.sandhu@businessandtrade.gov.uk | | Website | https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-regulation-enforcement-services | | Contact | 0121 345 1201 / 0121 345 1226 | | Contact Email | OPSS.enquiries@beis.gov.uk | | Responsibilities | Legislation covered: 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.

OPSS covers a wide range of guidance on complying with the following areas of legislation can be found via these links:

This applies can apply to producers, importers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers depending on the regulatory area.

Guidance for businesses we regulate

These documents:

  • define what you can expect from us
  • set out our approach to addressing non-compliance and potential product safety risks
  • detail the specific enforcement actions available to us under certain regulations
  • explain how you can complain or comment about our service
  • clarify your statutory and non-statutory rights to challenge or appeal our regulatory actions or decisions

OPSS enforcement: service standards

OPSS enforcement: enforcement policy

OPSS enforcement: guidance on enforcement actions and associated rights

OPSS: complaints policy

OPSS enforcement: challenges and appeals guidance

| Agency Name | Environment Agency | | — | — | | Department | Environment & Business - Producer Responsibility | | Email | enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk | | Website | Environment Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) | | Contact | Becci Owen | | Contact Email | becci.owen@environment-agency.gov.uk | | 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 can be found 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 enquiries@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
Website Natural Resources Wales
Contact Producer Responsibility Team  -  WEEE
Contact Email oteg@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

| Agency Name | Health and Safety Executive | | — | — | | Department | Chemicals Regulation Division | | Email | CRDEnforcement@hse.gov.uk | | Website | hse.gov.uk | | Contact | Hannah Doherty | | Contact Email | Hannah.doherty@hse.gov.uk | | 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.

UK REACH is a regulation that applies to the majority of chemical substances that are manufactured in or imported into Great Britain (GB) (England, Scotland, Wales). This can be:

  • A substance on its own
  • A substance in a mixture, for example ink or paint
  • A substance that makes up an ‘article’ - an object that is produced with a special shape, surface or design, for example a car, furniture or clothes.

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 publish E-cigarette advice for Producers and Retailers here. | | 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. This can be located by use of the postcode search on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute website. | | Contact Email | This information can also be provided by 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 weee@daera-ni.gov.uk
Website https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/
Contact Producer Responsibility Unit - WEEE
Contact Email weee@daera-ni.gov.uk
Agency Name Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Department Producer Responsibility
Email Producer.Responsibility@sepa.org.uk
Website Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Contact Producer Compliance and Waste Shipment Unit
Contact Email Producer.Responsibility@sepa.org.uk
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