Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the regulation of packaging for liquid nicotine mixtures for electronic cigarettes to ensure that the packaging does not appeal to children.

The Government has put in place proportionate regulations of electronic cigarettes to restrict their use by children. The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 set out legal requirements relating to product safety, labelling and restrictions on advertising for electronic cigarettes. These regulations include a requirement that a unit packet and any container pack of the electronic cigarette or refill container may not resemble a food or a cosmetic product. The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 make it illegal to sell an electronic cigarette to any one aged under 18 years.

In addition, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for monitoring the marketing and advertising of non-broadcast communications for electronic cigarettes. Section 22 of the ASA Committee of Advertising Practice Code concerns the regulation of marketing communications for electronic cigarettes and includes a provision to ensure advertisers do not target or feature children, or include content which is likely to appeal particularly to children.

The Government is required to review the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 by 20 May 2021 and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 by 1 October 2020. The Government also committed in Towards a Smokefree Generation: A Tobacco Control Plan for England published in July 2017 to review where the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union offers opportunities to re-appraise current regulation to ensure this continues to protect the nation’s health.

A copy of the Tobacco Control Plan is attached.