Restrictions on colours and flavours of vaping products

About flavour and colouring use

• The use of colourings in notifiable products is completely prohibited in New Zealand.
• Approved specialist vape retailers can sell any approved flavour of vaping substances from their approved vaping premises or approved internet sites.
• General retailers (dairies, supermarkets, service stations, etc.) can only sell the flavours of tobacco, menthol, or mint.

Restrictions on flavour descriptions

The variant name on a vaping product must only describe its actual flavour using one or two permitted flavour names listed in Schedule 4A of the Regulations (and in the table below).

Manufacturers, importers, retailers, and distributors must only notify and sell products that use permitted flavour names listed in Schedule 4A.

Approved flavour list

Flavour restrictions for general retailers

A general retailer is a retailer who is not approved as a specialist vape retailer and whose primary business is not the sale of vaping products.

General retailers cannot sell vaping or smokeless tobacco products with a clearly noticeable smell or taste (a “flavour”) unless that flavour is from the tobacco and mint categories listed in Schedule 4A.  

General retailers may sell products that combine one or two flavours from the tobacco and mint categories, such as “tobacco mint” or “peppermint tobacco”.  However, flavours like “spiced tobacco” or “creamy mint” are not permitted. 

Ice and non-menthol synthetic cooling agents

Regulation 69A of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) places restrictions on variant names that can be used on vaping products and their packaging.

• When a vaping product is notified, its variant name must describe the actual flavour of the vaping product using only one or two flavour names from Schedule 4A.
• Common descriptors for synthetic cooling agents such as “ice”, “polar blast” and “winter” are not recognised as flavours and cannot be used in product names. 

Defining cooling agents under the Act 

The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 (the Act) defines a flavour as a clearly noticeable smell or taste resulting from an additive. This means cooling agents that are essentially odourless and tasteless do not qualify as a “flavour” under the Act. 

Use of synthetic cooling agents  

Synthetic cooling agents may be used in vaping products as long as: 

• this descriptor does not appear as part of the flavour variant name
• the notifier assesses the risks and confirms that the product does not pose an unacceptable risk to people’s safety
• a toxicological risk assessment is completed to determine they are safe (as per Schedule 5, Clause 5 of the Regulations).
• safety data sheets for vaping product ingredients are available from product manufacturers and suppliers, providing toxicological information to support a risk assessment. 

If synthetic cooling agents are added to a product, the product’s packaging can include text or images depicting a “cooling” effect, provided it complies with all relevant legislation, including regulation 70 of the Regulations.