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About the display of vaping and other notifiable products
From 17 June 2025 specialist retailers can only display vaping products within their stores in such a way that they are not visible from outside the store, this includes on websites and vending machines. General retailers of notifiable products (including vaping, smokeless tobacco and herbal smoking products) must not display products in-store or on websites.
‘Vaping products’ include vaping substances, also known as e-liquids or ‘vape juice’, as well as e-cigarettes and other vaping devices such as those used with heated tobacco products.
Smokeless tobacco and herbal smoking products must not be displayed in-store or on websites. Retailers may continue to display vaping products anywhere within their store or on their websites until 17 June 2025.
Notices and signage requirements
There are requirements to display health information or warnings and/or purchase age information for notifiable products. These are outlined below.
Retailers of notifiable products:
- must display purchase age (R18) at each point-of-sale for notifiable products in English and te reo Māori
- can display approved product availability notices in English
- can display approved harm reduction notices in English or an accurate translation of the messages in another language
Advertising requirements
Prohibition on the advertisement of notifiable products is similar to that of tobacco products. It is prohibited by section 23 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 (the Act) to encourage the use, promote the sale, or notify the availability of notifiable products or promote smoking or vaping behaviour.
However, there are some exemptions to this prohibition for vaping products, listed in section 24 of the Act. The prohibition on advertising does not include any of the following activities, provided the activity complies with any applicable regulations:
- price lists given to retailers, provided they display any required health messages
- advertisements published by a manufacturer that are intended only for their employees
- public health messages that are issued by the Director-General of Health and funded by a public service
- the display of vaping products that are available for sale within the retail premises or on an internet site of retailer (this exemption will be removed on 17 June 2025)
- information provided in a retailer’s place of business relating to vaping being a less harmful alternative to smoking
- advice given by a suitably qualified health worker to help people switch from smoking to vaping
- research relating to notifiable products, or about encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful products
- information provided by manufacturers or importers to retailers about the use of notifiable products
- communications about vaping products from specialist vape retailers to their existing customers (this exemption will be removed on 17 June 2025)
- price lists in a retailer’s premises, on their website, or on automatic vending machines, provided:
- they only identify the vaping products available
- they use only printed or written words (or spoken words, in the case of a retailer’s premises)
- public notices indicating that regulated products are generally available and the location(s) where they can be purchased, using only printed or written words, and provided that they comply with any regulations
- the retailer’s name or trade name at the outside of a retailer’s place of business, provided the name does not signify regulated products can be purchased, is not a trademark of a regulated product, and is not the name of a manufacturer or importer of regulated products (exception for specialist vape retailers).
The Law changes on 17 June 2025
From 17 June 2025:
- Specialist vape retailers will no longer be able to communicate about vaping products to their existing customers
- Internet retailers will no longer be able to display vaping products, including pictures of the products on their internet sites.
