Northern Ireland Guidance - Selling vaping and nicotine products

Summary

From 29 October 2026, the age of sale for all vaping and nicotine products will be 18 and over. It will be an offence to sell these products to a person under the age of 18 (that is, people aged 17 years and under).

It will also be an offence for anyone aged 18 or over to buy, or attempt to buy, vaping or nicotine products on behalf of a person under the age of 18.

From 29 October 2026, it will also be an offence for anyone to:

• give away a vaping or nicotine product for free where the purpose or effect is to promote the product
• sell a vaping or nicotine product at a substantial discount where the purpose or effect is to promote the product
• give a coupon or sell a coupon at a substantial discount for a vaping or nicotine product where the purpose or effect is to promote the product

This guidance explains:

• the age of sale restrictions for vaping and nicotine products from 29 October 2026
• restrictions on the free distribution of these products from 29 October 2026
• restrictions on selling these products at substantial discounts from 29 October 2026

This guidance is mainly intended for retailers, who need to understand the changes in the law. It may also be useful for:

• wholesalers
• business owners
• enforcement authorities
• people who use these products

Products in scope

The products in scope of the restrictions are:

• vaping products
• nicotine products

For vaping products, this includes but is not limited to:

• vape devices, such as vape pens
• substances to be vaped, such as e-liquid
• any related components such as coils and vape pods 
• nicotine pouches (tobacco-free pouches containing nicotine powder that are placed between the gum and lip)
• nicotine strips (dissolvable films containing nicotine that are placed on the tongue or between the gum and lip)
• nicotine pearls (small dissolvable balls containing nicotine that dissolve under the tongue)

All types of nicotine are included in the scope, including synthetic nicotine produced in a lab, rather than extracted from plants.

The restrictions do not apply to:

• components such as batteries, charging devices and electrical leads (these products are covered by wider consumer protection and safety legislation)
• medical devices
• medicinal products

Age of sale

From 29 October 2026, it will be an offence for retailers, including online retailers, to sell any vaping product or nicotine product to anyone under the age of 18.

This replaces the previous restriction which was only applied to nicotine vaping products. 

Before making a sale, retailers must be satisfied that the customer is aged 18 or over.

Selling to someone under the age of sale is a criminal offence and may result in formal action, including the issuing of a fixed penalty notice (FPN) or prosecution.

Customers attempting to buy vaping and nicotine products should expect to show ID if they are asked to prove they are above the age of sale.

For further information on age of sale, see article 4H of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1978:  https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1978/1907/article/4H 

Age verification 

If a retailer is unsure whether a customer attempting to buy vaping or nicotine products is aged 18 or over, they should verify the customer’s age.

Regulations will set out the steps that retailers can take to verify that the customer is aged 18 or over. By taking these steps, retailers may have a defence if they are accused of committing an age of sale offence. This means that if a retailer can prove to a court that they have taken these steps, the court should not convict them. These regulations will be debated by the Northern Ireland Assembly in due course. We will update this guidance with further information on age verification.

Retailers may also have a defence if they can prove they otherwise took all reasonable steps to avoid committing an offence.

Enforcement of age of sale

Penalties for selling to underage customers

From 29 October 2026, it will be an offence for a person to sell vaping or nicotine products to anyone under the age of 18.

If a person commits an offence of selling vaping or nicotine products to an underage person, that person can receive a £250 FPN (subject to Regulations specifying the FPN amount being made).

Alternatively, a person who commits this offence may receive a larger fine on summary conviction. A summary conviction is a finding or plea of guilt for a crime in a magistrates’ court, of which the fine can be up to level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000). 

For more information about standard scales, see The Fines and Penalties (Northern Ireland) Order 1984:

www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1984/703/contents

It will be for the relevant local council to determine the most appropriate enforcement action, including whether to issue an FPN or pursue prosecution.

For further information on FPNs, see the Northern Ireland guidance ‘Tobacco, vaping and nicotine products: fixed penalty notices’.

Reporting illegal sales

If you suspect that someone is selling vaping or nicotine products to underage people, contact your local council in Northern Ireland www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/local-councils-in-northern-ireland 

Proxy purchasing

From 29 October 2026, it will be an offence for anyone aged 18 or over to buy, or attempt to buy, a vaping product or a nicotine product on behalf of someone who is under the age of 18. This is known as proxy purchasing.

This replaces the previous restriction which only applied to nicotine products. 

All retail staff should be alert to prevent proxy purchasing. Staff should be trained to identify situations where a customer may be attempting to buy these products for someone who is underage.

If staff suspect proxy purchasing, they should refuse the sale. 

For further information on proxy purchasing, see article 4I Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (available from 29 October 2026)

Enforcement of proxy purchasing

A person who commits a proxy purchasing offence may receive an FPN, subject to Regulations specifying the FPN amount being made, a person can receive a £250 FPN for committing this offence.

Alternatively, a person may receive a larger fine on summary conviction. This can be up to level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000).

For proxy purchases, it is the person who buys (or attempts to buy) the product on behalf of someone under the age of sale that commits the offence.

For further information on FPNs, see the Northern Ireland guidance ‘Tobacco, vaping and nicotine products: fixed penalty notices’.

Free distribution

From 29 October 2026, it will be an offence to give away any vaping or nicotine product, or coupon, to a member of the public. This offence applies if the purpose is or effect will be to promote vaping or nicotine products.

A coupon is defined as anything that can be redeemed for a product, service, cash or any other benefit. This includes both physical and electronic forms. It can be redeemed either by itself or along with something else, such as an emailed code.

The ban on free distribution also applies to products that have the purpose or effect of promoting a vaping or nicotine product, without being one of these products. For example, a vape charger with vaping product branding.

Businesses must not offer free samples or promotional product giveaways to members of the public. This applies whether in-store, online or through third-party promotions.

Example scenarios that would constitute an offence include:

• giving away refillable pods as a free gift
• giving free samples to customers to try

For information on how this applies to tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers, see the Northern Ireland guidance ‘Selling tobacco, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers’

Substantial discounts

From 29 October 2026, it will also be an offence to sell vaping or nicotine products or coupons for these products at a substantial discount. This offence applies if the purpose is or effect will be to promote any of these products.

A substantial discount is a price reduction that significantly lowers the cost of a product compared with its standard selling price. Whether a discount is substantial can vary depending on the product and the type of promotion.

Selling products or coupons at a substantial discount is being banned to stop businesses trying to find a way round the free distribution offence. Selling e-liquid, vape devices or nicotine products to customers in-store or through online promotions at a nominal sum, such as 10p, would likely be an offence.

The substantial discount offence also applies to products that have the purpose or effect of promoting a vaping or nicotine product without being one of these products. For example, a vape charger with vaping product branding.

These restrictions do not affect normal discounting practices. Retailers can continue to sell unsold stock at a reduced price as part of normal business. Bulk and trade discounts may still apply.

Businesses must follow existing advertising and promotion rules, outlined in part 7 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, when discounting products until these are replaced by the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026.

For information on how this applies to tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers, see the NI guidance ‘Selling tobacco, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers’.

For further information on free distribution and substantial discounts, see article 4L of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (available from 29 October 2026)

Enforcement of free distribution and substantial discounts

Penalties for free distribution and substantial discount offences

A person who commits an offence of freely distributing a product or selling a product at a substantial discount may receive an FPN. Subject to Regulations specifying the FPN amount being made, a person can receive a £250 FPN for committing this offence.

For further information on FPNs, see the Northern Ireland guidance ‘Tobacco, vaping and nicotine products: fixed penalty notices’.

Alternatively, a person can receive a summary conviction or conviction on indictment. Conviction on indictment is a finding or plea of guilty in the Crown Court.  On summary conviction, the maximum punishment is 6 months in prison, a fine not exceeding the statutory limit, or both. A person found guilty on conviction on indictment can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 2 years and they may also receive an unlimited fine or face both penalties.

Who can sell vaping and nicotine products

There are no additional restrictions on the age a person must be to sell vaping and nicotine products beyond the restrictions for child employment generally. For more information see: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/employment-rights-young-people 

For information on how this applies to other products, see the Northern Ireland guidance ‘Selling tobacco, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers’

Non-retail sales

The new age of sale restriction applies to retail sales only. It does not apply to business-to-business sales (wholesale) or sales to an organisation.

For example, someone under the age of 18 can:

• work in a retail business and buy vaping and nicotine product stock from a wholesaler
• work for a research organisation and buy vaping and nicotine products for scientific purposes

However, a retailer cannot sell to someone underage for their personal use.

Enforcement for persistent offenders

Retailers may be subject to a restricted premises order or restricted sales order if they commit 3 relevant offences within a 5-year period. These orders last for a period specified in the order, which must not be less than 28 days or more than 3 years.

Payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice does not prevent that offence counting towards the persistent offending provisions of the Tobacco Retailers Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2014/4/contents. 

Where the statutory threshold for persistent offending has been met, a council may apply for a Restricted Premises Order (RPO) or Restricted Sales Order (RSO) irrespective of whether any relevant FPNs have been paid.