Government launches consultation on tougher restrictions to reduce youth vaping

The UK Government has launched a consultation on new measures designed to reduce the appeal of vaping products to children and young people, including proposals for standardised plain packaging, simplified flavour names and restrictions on retail displays. The consultation forms part of wider efforts to prevent youth vaping while maintaining access to vaping products for adults using them to stop smoking.

The proposals would require vape products to be sold in standardised white packaging with strict limits on branding, colours, imagery and text. Under the plans, vape devices themselves would also be limited to white, black or grey finishes and would no longer feature cosmetic lights or decorative screens.

The consultation also proposes restricting flavour descriptions to simple, recognisable names such as “Apple”. References to confectionery, desserts, sweets, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages would no longer be permitted if the regulations are introduced.

Further proposals would require vape products to be kept out of sight in shops in a similar way to tobacco products. The consultation also seeks views on extending plain packaging requirements to all tobacco products, introducing quit-support messages inside tobacco packaging and removing display exemptions in settings such as airports and duty-free retailers.

According to the government, evidence suggests colourful packaging, prominent retail displays and child-appealing flavour descriptions contribute to the increasing number of young people experimenting with vaping. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) estimates that around one million 11 to 17-year-olds in Great Britain had tried vaping during 2025.

The consultation follows the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, which gives ministers powers to regulate the packaging, flavour descriptions and display of vaping products. The consultation will remain open for 12 weeks, after which the government will consider responses before deciding whether to introduce new regulations. No immediate changes to the law have been made.

Why it matters: While the proposals are primarily aimed at protecting children and young people from nicotine addiction, they also seek to preserve the role of vaping as a smoking cessation aid for adults by ensuring products remain available without being marketed in ways that appeal to children.

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