Britain’s vape industry finds out tonight where the regulatory wind is blowing. The government’s 12-week consultation on the packaging, appearance and retail display of vapes launched 10 July by the Department of Health and Social Care closes at 11:59pm today, 2 October 2026.
The proposals, made under powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, are the most sweeping yet for how vapes look and sit on shelves.
What the government is proposing
- Plain white packaging for vapes, with tight restrictions on branding, font colours and imagery.
- Devices limited to white, grey or black no images, limited branding, no “cosmetic” lights. Screens would only be allowed to show safety information like battery level.
- Flavour-name rules, not a flavour ban. “Concept and sensory” names (think Unicorn Dream or Mint Blast) would go, as would names evoking confectionery, sweets, desserts and alcohol. Packs would carry a single recognisable descriptor “apple”, “berry”, “mint”.
- Hidden displays. Vapes would have to be kept out of sight in shops, the same way tobacco already is.
- Standardised tobacco packaging extended to cigars, pipe tobacco, rolling papers and heated tobacco, plus quit-line inserts in packs.
Health Secretary James Murray said the aim is to make vaping “less attractive for children and young people,” pointing to colourful packaging and youth-oriented names. Action on Smoking and Health figures cited in the debate put the share of 11- to 17-year-olds who have tried vaping at 19%.
What is NOT happening
No flavours are being banned. The liquids themselves are untouched this is about names and packaging, not what’s inside the bottle. And nothing changes immediately: the consultation only gathers views. If ministers proceed, packaging changes carry a minimum 12-month notice period, so the earliest realistic start date is late 2027, with the wider package potentially arriving in stages through to 2029.
Industry pushback
Retail and vape trade groups warn the display ban could “kill off the responsible dedicated vape shops already struggling to compete with the illicit trade,” in the words of the Independent British Vape Trade Association. Vaping firms argue the restrictions could push some former smokers back to tobacco or into unregulated markets.
The bigger picture
This lands one day after the UK’s £2.20 Vaping Products Duty took effect on 1 October, and ahead of the Act’s advertising ban in June 2027. The government is also putting £30 million a year until 2028-29 into Trading Standards, Border Force and HMRC enforcement against illicit and underage sales.
Once the consultation closes tonight, the government will publish its response and final rules. VapeFeat will cover them the day they land.
Source: GOV.UK consultation page