Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Testing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data the Department holds on testing of suspected illicit or non-compliant (a) cigarettes, (b) vaping products, (c) heated tobacco products, and (d) nicotine pouches in each of the last three years; what proportion of samples tested contained prohibited substances, nicotine concentrations above applicable legal limits, or other substances assessed as presenting a health risk; and whether those data are available for (i) West Sussex and (ii) Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.
Answered by Department of Health and Social Care
Under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR), tobacco products and nicotine vapes must be notified with specified information, including test data, before they are placed on the United Kingdom market. Non-nicotine vapes and nicotine pouches are not currently subject to equivalent notification requirements and are regulated under general consumer product safety legislation.
TRPR also requires the independent testing of cigarette emissions. The Department therefore commissions independent laboratory testing of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide emissions to assess compliance with the statutory maximum limits of 10 milligrams of tar, 1 milligram of nicotine, and 10 milligrams of carbon monoxide per cigarette. Based on the testing reports, one cigarette product was identified as exceeding the applicable emissions limits in 2023. Subsequent survey reports for 2024, 2025, and 2026 to date, did not identify any products exceeding those limits.
TRPR is enforced by local authority Trading Standards. As part of their regulatory compliance work, Trading Standards may undertake local testing of products. The Department does not collect this information centrally nor has available data for West Sussex or the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.
The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 provides powers to establish a new registration scheme for tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products, as well as new product testing requirements, to improve product safety and strengthen enforcement. The Department ran a call for evidence at the end of last year inviting feedback on the implementation of the registration scheme. We are carefully considering the feedback gathered and will consult on our proposals in due course.
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