NZ Vaping Regulations 2026: Everything You Need to Know
A plain-language guide to the current rules under the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and the Regulations made under it. Last updated September 2026.
In short: disposable vaping devices are prohibited. Devices must be rechargeable, refillable or re-poddable, and carry prescribed safety features. Nicotine is capped at 20 mg/mL in freebase e-liquid and 28.5 mg/mL of nicotine in nicotine salt e-liquid. Advertising and display of vaping products is heavily restricted. The minimum purchase age is 18.
Timeline of the main changes
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Vaping brought within the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act |
| 21 September 2023 | Flavour naming, nicotine concentration and device requirements amended |
| 21 March 2024 | Products not meeting the flavour-naming and labelling rules became unsaleable |
| 1 October 2024 | Child safety mechanism required on reusable devices |
| 18 December 2024 | Location restrictions for new specialist premises; advertising penalties increased |
| 17 June 2025 | Disposable device prohibition; retail display and website restrictions tightened; discounts and giveaways prohibited across all retailers |
| 1 September 2025 | Requirement for a removable battery removed |
The disposable device prohibition
Since 17 June 2025, s 20FA of the Act has prohibited the sale, offer for sale, manufacture, supply or distribution of a disposable vaping device. A device is caught if it is not designed to be refilled or to take a replaceable pod, or if it is not designed to be recharged. The penalty is up to $400,000 for a notifier or large retailer and up to $50,000 for any other person.
The prohibition applies to sale and supply, not to possession. The disposable vape ban covers this in detail.
Device safety requirements
- Child safety mechanism: two simultaneous or five sequential actions to activate. Since 17 June 2025 it must not be able to be overridden or deactivated by the user.
- Automatic deactivation: within 10 minutes of vaping stopping.
- Removable battery: no longer required, from 1 September 2025.
- Electrical safety: over-discharge protection, on-board charging circuitry, and compliance with the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010.
E-liquid rules
- Nicotine: up to 20 mg/mL in freebase e-liquid; up to 28.5 mg/mL of nicotine in nicotine salt e-liquid, equivalent to 50 mg/mL of nicotine salt. A container sold at retail may hold no more than 1,800 mg of nicotine in total and may not exceed 120 mL unless nicotine-free.
- Flavour names: a variant name must describe the actual flavour using one or two of the names listed in Schedule 4A of the Regulations. Invented and branded flavour names are not permitted.
- Labelling: nicotine concentration in mg/mL, the bilingual nicotine warning, the prescribed safety messages, ingredients, volume, batch number, expiry date, PG:VG ratio and manufacturer contact details.
- Prohibited features: a product, its package or an insert must not suggest the product is less harmful than other regulated products, or has vitalising, energising, healing, rejuvenating, natural or organic properties, or other health or lifestyle benefits. Cartoon and toy depictions are prohibited.
Advertising and display
Section 23 of the Act prohibits publishing a regulated product advertisement. The definition is wide: any words or pictorial representation used to encourage the use of a regulated product, notify its availability, promote its sale, or promote vaping behaviour.
- Websites: since 17 June 2025 the exemption that allowed retailers to display vaping products on their internet site has been removed. An internet seller may, in response to a product request, show text-only information that does no more than identify the product and indicate its price, in the format prescribed by reg 57. Product images cannot appear online.
- Discounts and giveaways: prohibited across all retailers since 17 June 2025. Free or reduced-charge supply, bundling, prize draws, competitions and rewards tied to purchase are all caught by ss 33, 34 and 36.
- Stock notifications: a retailer cannot notify customers of new arrivals, restocks or availability.
- Display: vaping products must not be visible from outside a specialist vape retailer's premises. General retailers may not display them at all.
- Links: an internet site must not link to material that would be a non-compliant advertisement.
The penalty for publishing a regulated product advertisement is up to $50,000 for an ordinary retailer, or a $2,000 infringement fee. This is why New Zealand vape websites look different from those in countries without these restrictions.
Retail, location and age of sale
Vaping products may be sold by approved specialist vape retailers, and by general retailers that have notified the Ministry — the latter limited to tobacco, menthol and mint flavours. New specialist premises must be at least 300 m from a school or marae boundary and at least 100 m from a licensed early childhood service.
It is an offence to sell a regulated product to a person under 18, or to deliver one to a person under 18. The maximum fine is $100,000 for a body corporate and $10,000 otherwise. A retailer cannot rely on a customer simply stating their age; an evidence-of-age document must be sighted.
Where vaping is not permitted
Vaping is prohibited in indoor workplaces, the indoor areas of licensed premises, certain enclosed public areas and public transport, on school and early childhood centre grounds, and in a vehicle carrying anyone under 18. Where you can and cannot vape sets this out in full.
Official information
The Act and Regulations are administered by the Ministry of Health. Current guidance is on the Ministry's website under "Vaping, herbal smoking and smokeless tobacco", and public information for consumers is at vapingfacts.health.nz. The legislation itself is at legislation.govt.nz.
Sources: Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990; Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (No 2) 2024; Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Regulations 2021; Ministry of Health, About the Smokefree Act, Recent changes to Smokefree laws, and Retail visibility and display of regulated products.