Compliance for vaping and other notifiable products

Notification requirements for general retailers of vape products

General retailers (not specialist retailers) of vaping and other notifiable products must notify the Ministry of Health that they are selling notifiable products – retailers can think of this like a registration. This is done in HARP.

Your notification lasts for 12 months, so you must re-notify annually to ensure your information is kept up to date. There is an assessment fee of $80 plus GST, excluding any card processing fees, for each notification. 

We may also publish a list of businesses selling regulated products on the Ministry of Health website.

Find out more about the application process on our HARP user guide page.

Each person (individual or legal company) that sells notifiable products must submit a Regulated Product Seller (RPS) notification in HARP. Each legal entity (company/person) that sells regulated products only needs to submit one RPS Notification, even if they have multiple stores operating under that same business.

They will therefore need to register for access using the ‘Manufacturer/Importer/Distributor/Retailer’ Registration in HARP.

Oral nicotine products

There are many different oral nicotine products. How they are dealt with under the law depends on whether the nicotine component is tobacco-based or synthetic-based, and the intended use.

What is the legal status of oral tobacco nicotine products in NZ?

Where the product is for personal use it can be imported into New Zealand by the person who is to use the product. Where the product is for retail sale or distribution it cannot be imported into New Zealand, unless approved as a medicine. 

To find out more please see our Overview of oral nicotine products.

Rules for retailers talking to their customers

General retailers:

• are prohibited from discussions with customers that encourage the use of vaping products, promote their sale, or notify store visitors of product availability
• can still identify products that are available for purchase, and their prices, and can encourage smokers to switch to less harmful products.

Specialist vape retailers may:

• talk to customers about vaping products inside their approved vaping premises
• provide guidance on the safe use of notifiable products that are available for purchase in their approved premises (provided they comply with any requirements in regulations).

Prohibitions on free, discounted and bundled distribution or supply

The rules around offering free or discounted vaping products are similar to those for tobacco products.

Vaping products must not be distributed or supplied for free or at a reduced charge, except:

• as part of a publicly funded smoking cessation programme
• if you are a specialist vape retailer, then you can supply free or discounted vaping products from your approved vaping premises or approved internet site.

Vaping products must not be packaged together with other types of products or distributed/supplied with other types of product at a single price (ie, as a bundle). They can be purchased at the same time as other products (as part of the same transaction) and then bagged or shipped together provided they are not sold as a package or sold together at a single price.

Only specialist vape retailers can offer someone buying a vaping product a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game, to encourage them to purchase, or reward them for purchasing.

Retailers cannot be offered a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game by anyone in return for the:

• purchase or sale of vaping products
• advertising of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or on their website
• location of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or in their website.

This includes manufacturers, importers and distributors who sell vaping products to retailers.

Prohibition on sale of products for chewing (or other oral use)

Vaping products must not be advertised, labelled or otherwise described as suitable for chewing or other similar oral use.

Any products where nicotine is absorbed primarily through the mouth by chewing or similar oral use must not be imported for sale, sold, packaged or distributed in New Zealand. This prohibition does not apply to products that have been given consent or provisional consent as a medicine under the Medicines Act 1981.

Prohibition on display of certain trading names for general retailers

A general retailer must not display its name or trade name on the outside of its place of business (whether that is a physical store or a website) if the name:

• signifies that vaping products can be purchased
• is a trademark of a vaping product
• is the name of a manufacturer or importer of a vaping product.

This only applies to general retailers, not specialist vape retailers.

Compliance with rules set out for notifiable products

Manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers of notifiable products (vaping, smokeless tobacco and herbal smoking products) are required to comply with certain rules. Non-compliance with the rules set out in legislation is committing an offence and risks prosecution and/or a fine.

Products need to be notified for sale in New Zealand

All vaping, herbal smoking and smokeless tobacco products (notifiable products) must be notified before they can be sold in New Zealand. This means that manufacturers and importers need to let the Vaping Regulatory Authority know about the notifiable products they intend to sell in New Zealand via the product notification process.

For retailers this means that you are prohibited from selling notifiable products that:

• do not have a current notification, unless it has been less than 3 months since the notification expired and there are no current safety concerns with the product
• do not comply with any product safety requirements set in regulations
• have been subject to a product recall.

Retailers do not need to notify the products they sell if they are already notified (eg, by the manufacturer or importer). Retailers cannot sell products that are not notified. You can find out what products are currently notified on the Notified Products Register

Rules for products that are no longer notified

Notifiable products must not be sold in New Zealand if their notification has been withdrawn, suspended or cancelled. If a notification expires, the product notifier must stop selling it immediately, but provided there are no safety concerns with the product, retailers can continue to sell-through their existing stock for up to three months.

The current status of all products can be found on the Notified Products Register

Product safety requirements for vaping products

A quick reference table of relevant requirements for notifications of vaping products is below.

Removable batteries 

The 2023 amendment to vaping regulations introduced a new requirement that all vaping devices must have a removable battery.

A removable battery means a battery that can be inspected, removed and replaced, without damaging the battery or the device, by a person using no more than a screwdriver.

Manufacturers and importers must notify vaping products that have a removable battery.

Manufacturers and importers, distributors, and retailers can only notify and sell single-use vaping products that have a removable battery.

From 1 October 2024, New Zealand manufacturers and importers, distributors, and retailers must only sell reusable and single-use vaping products that have a removable battery.

Child-safety mechanisms 

The 2023 amendment to the vaping regulations introduced a new requirement that all vaping devices must have a child safety mechanism to prevent the device being activated or accidentally operated by a child.

A child safety mechanism is defined, in relation to a vaping device, as a mechanism or combination of mechanisms requiring at least two simultaneous, or five sequential operations to activate the device, and automatically turn off (deactivate) the device within 10 minutes of the last time it was used.

Manufacturers, importers and distributors can only notify vaping products that have a child safety mechanism.

Manufacturers and importers, distributors, and retailers can only sell single-use vaping products that have a child safety mechanism.

From 1 October 2024, NZ manufacturers and importers, distributors, and retailers can only sell reusable and single-use vaping products that have a child safety mechanism.

Batch numbers

Batch numbers were an existing requirement for vaping devices, however, there was previously an exemption for single-use devices, allowing them to display the serial or batch number of the packaging instead. The 2023 amendment to vaping regulations has removed this exemption and extended the batch number requirement to cover all devices, including for single-use devices in instances where the device itself is the container, to ensure products can be traced in the event of safety concerns.

Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers can only notify and sell vaping products if they have compliant batch numbers.

Nicotine concentration

The 2023 amendment to the vaping regulations introduced new rules for the maximum allowable nicotine concentration in vaping substances.

The concentration of nicotine in reusable vaping products containing nicotine only in salt form must not exceed 28.5mg/mL.

For all other vaping products, the concentration of nicotine must not exceed 20mg/mL.

Additionally, the new regulations clarified that the nicotine concentration level in a single-use vaping product must be displayed on a product label in mg/mL. Displaying only as a percentage is not permitted.

Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers can only notify and sell single-use vaping products that meet the nicotine requirements for vaping products.

Prohibition on cartoons and toys on packaging

The 2023 amendment to vaping regulations introduced a prohibition on cartoons and toys on vaping and smokeless tobacco products. Those products must not have any feature that depicts cartoons or toys.

From 21 March 2024, manufacturers and importers, distributors, and retailers must not sell vaping products or smokeless tobacco products that have any feature that depicts cartoons or toys.

The prohibition also applies to the packaging of a vaping or smokeless tobacco product, and any inserts into that packaging.

Test report requirements

Section 69A of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 (the Act) requires notifiable products (vaping, smokeless tobacco or herbal smoking products) specified in regulations to be tested annually. No notifiable products are currently required to undergo annual testing.

Under section 69B of the Act, the Director-General may, by written notice, require a manufacturer or an importer of a notifiable product to conduct tests of the product in addition to any annual tests required under section 69A.

Section 100(1)(a)(ii) of the Act requires manufacturers and importers of notifiable products to prepare a report of all tests that they have carried out in each calendar year. These annual reports must be provided to the Vaping Regulatory Authority via the HARP portal by 31 January of the following year.

Contact details

Email: [email protected]