Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Smuggling
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement powers available to county council Trading Standards services on tackling the sale of illegal tobacco and vaping products on the high street.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson
I refer the hon member to the answer on 27 October 2025 to UIN 84365 Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Smuggling.
Operation CeCe is a joint UK-wide initiative between HMRC and Trading Standards to target the illicit tobacco trade. Since it began in January 2021, the operation has removed more than 74 million illicit cigarettes, 19,750kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale [1].
In 2023 new sanctions were introduced to support the work that Trading Standards do at retail level. They allow Trading Standards to make a referral into HMRC in relation to their tobacco seizures. HMRC can then then investigate and issue civil sanctions, including penalties of up to £10,000.
At Budget 2025, the Government set out its plans to tackle rogue retailers who breach tobacco and vape regulations, by taking the power in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco and vape products. This will strengthen enforcement and support legitimate businesses. The government is also legislating to introduce the Vaping Duty Stamps scheme from 1 October 2026, which requires all vaping products manufactured or imported into the UK to have a duty stamp on packaging so illicit products are immediately identifiable.
[1] Over £1.4 million in penalties issued as crackdown on illegal tobacco accelerates
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