United Kingdom

The e-cigarette market was not strictly regulated in its early development, with some vendors selling to minors, and there were no restrictions on the amount of e-liquid that anyone could purchase.

However, e-cigarette news has learned that in 2017, the UK introduced new laws and regulations to protect consumer rights and manage the e-cigarette market, from limiting the quantity of e-liquid that can be purchased to allowing places where vaping is permitted. Let’s take a look at the current e-cigarette laws in the UK:

One of the laws that took effect in May 2017 is the capacity of e-liquid. Initially, e-cigarette devices could store a certain amount of liquid, but due to new regulations, the e-liquid capacity is now limited to 2 milliliters.

This point is somewhat optional, especially for nicotine-free e-liquids, but UK law still stipulates that the nicotine content in e-liquids cannot exceed 20mg/ml. On average, a regular cigarette contains about 12mg of nicotine, so the new law significantly reduces the nicotine content in e-cigarettes.

Similarly, the maximum capacity of bottled e-liquid is also restricted. This measure has been described as the most “stringent” restriction, although many believe that the UK’s restrictions on e-cigarettes are relatively lenient. However, e-cigarette news indicates that the UK is considering imposing stricter limits, and now, the maximum capacity of a bottle of e-liquid is only 10ml.

While the first three points are the most important in the new law, there are also other restrictions regarding the packaging of e-liquid. All packaging containing nicotine must be designed to avoid appealing to minors and must be tamper-proof, which may lead to some e-liquids needing to be taken off the shelves for repackaging before they can be resold. E-cigarette news believes this could cost vendors a significant amount of money to address.

One of the main reasons for implementing the new law is to reduce the potential negative impacts of e-cigarettes on health (although e-cigarettes have now been proven to be healthier than cigarettes). To address this issue, the ingredients of e-liquids must not contain certain types of colorants, caffeine, and taurine, to further reduce the addictiveness of e-liquids.

For regular cigarettes, all packaging must provide specific warnings about product safety, and this is now also imposed on e-cigarettes and e-liquids. E-cigarette news has learned that before the implementation of packaging regulations, vendors could sell products with both old and new packaging together, but due to the new law, vendors must change the packaging and labels before they can sell.

The final regulation regarding e-cigarettes is that all products related to e-cigarettes, including e-cigarettes and e-liquids, must be reported to health regulatory agencies before sale.

Since the new laws were enacted in the UK, e-cigarette news has found that implementation has been very smooth, and sales of e-cigarettes in the UK continue to grow. It seems that the new regulations have not affected the British people's pursuit of a healthy, stylish smoking cessation and alternative lifestyle.