Legal services
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025
Here, licensing solicitor Elizabeth Varley explains what the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025 is and what retailers will need to do.
If you have seen news about the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025 (‘the Bill’) and are wondering what this is, how it will impact retailers and what you will likely need to do, this article should be of help.
What is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025?
This Bill introduces a new licensing scheme for retailers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, covering tobacco, vapes and nicotine products.
The Bill also strengthens Scotland’s existing retail register. The Bill aims to develop a licensing framework for the sale of nicotine products which is very similar to the framework which regulates the sale of alcohol, something that we have been advising on for over 30 years.
However, as the final draft of the legislation has been delayed, is not possible to fully understand certain elements, such as if there is to be any eligibility requirements for applicants and how long licences last. We await the finalised Act for confirmation of these questions.
Why is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill being introduced?
The rationale for this legislation is that smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in the UK. The Government report that smoking causes around 80,000 deaths a year and kills 2/3 of its long term users.
The Government have therefore called the Bill the ‘biggest public health intervention in a generation – breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage and putting us on track towards a smoke-free UK.’
What will retailers have to do?
Under the Bill, any person selling tobacco and nicotine products will need a personal licence and premises licence.
Under the Bill, any person selling, exposing for sale or possessing for sale, vapes, tobacco and other nicotine products will need a personal licence. If this is managed in the same way as the alcohol regime, an exam will need to be taken and passed for the person to obtain their personal licence.
In addition, the premises where such products are sold, exposed for sale, supplied for sale (including dispatch) will need a premises licence.
The Regulations may make provision for the grant of premises licences subject to conditions, as they do with alcohol and gambling licensing. Though nothing is specified yet, conditions could include the need to display the licence at the point of sale or specific hours that nicotine products are allowed to be sold.
As mentioned earlier in this article, if you are experienced in the alcohol licenced trade, you will notice parallels between the two regimes.
Enforcement
At present there are two enforcement powers:
- Restricted Premises Orders: available upon conviction for repeated sales to underage persons. These prohibit the sale of tobacco products from a named premises.
- Restricted Sale Orders: which prohibit an individual from selling tobacco or vape products, whether at the premises or elsewhere.
To what products does the Bill apply?
The Bill applies to retail sale of ‘relevant products’, and these include:
- Vapes
- Cigarettes
- Hand Rolled Tobacco
- Cigars
- Cigarillos
- Pipe Tobacco
- Chewing Tobacco
- Heated Tobacco
- Nasal Tobacco (Snuff)
- Herbal Smoking Products
- Cigarette Papers
- Waterpipe Tobacco Products (For Example, Shisha)
Who will this effect?
Premises that will be caught include:
- Supermarkets
- Corner shops
- Vape and tobacco shops
- Petrol stations
- Hospitality premises offering shisha and/or similar products
- Digital retail including websites, apps etc.
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Tobacco and Vapes Regulations
Once the Bill becomes law, further regulations from the Secretary of State will provide when the Act will come into effect.
When is this becoming law?
The Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and the Regulatory Policy Committee forecast that the Bill could become law from 2026 onwards.
Important: once the Bill becomes law, further regulations from the Secretary of State will provide when the Act will come into effect.
How can you apply for the licences?
Premises licences will be granted by the Local Authority so you will need to make an application to the Local Authority with jurisdiction over your premises.
We are expecting the whole process to be similar to, if not the same as applications made under the Licensing Act 2003 for personal and premises licences. If this is the case, we are very well placed to do this having successfully dealt with 1000s of applications in 2005 when the Licensing Act 2003 came into force.
Personal licences are likely to be obtained from a training provider, or a specialist such as ourselves.
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Stay updated
We will continue to keep you updated with further details as and when they become available.
As always the devil will be in the detail so we await the finalised Act, and secondary legislation to see how the reality will unfold.
If you have any questions or comments about The Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025, contact licensing solicitor Elizabeth Varley on 0115 953 8500