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What Is the MHRA and What Role It Plays in Vaping?
Legal Guides
The MHRA, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, plays a central role in UK vaping regulation. Here is a clear guide to what the MHRA is, what it does specifically in relation to vaping products and how it protects consumers.
MHRA
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Product
Notification
Every UK Legal E-Liquid Must Be Notified to the MHRA
Public
Register
The MHRA Maintains a Publicly Searchable Register of Notified Products
What the MHRA is
What Is the MHRA?
The UK's regulator for medicines and medical devices, and for vaping products
The MHRA oversees the notification and compliance of vaping products in the UK
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK government body responsible for ensuring that medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy. In the context of vaping, the MHRA has a specific regulatory function under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016: it is the body that receives and processes product notifications for e-cigarettes and e-liquids before they can be placed on the UK market. The MHRA does not approve vaping products in the way it approves medicines, but it provides a notification gateway that creates a record of every legal UK vaping product and enables enforcement of ingredient and specification standards.
The MHRA's vaping role
What the MHRA Does in Relation to Vaping
Receiving and Processing Product Notifications
Under TRPR, manufacturers and importers must notify the MHRA at least six months before placing any new e-liquid or vaping device on the UK market. The notification must include the product's ingredients, their quantities, information on the manufacturing process, nicotine dose and intake information, toxicological data, and information about emissions. The MHRA reviews these notifications and can raise objections if the product does not meet regulatory requirements. Products that have been properly notified can legally be sold in the UK.
Maintaining the Public Product Register
The MHRA maintains a public register of notified vaping products that is searchable online. This register allows consumers, retailers and enforcement bodies to check whether a specific product has been properly notified and is legally on the market. The existence of this public register is one of the features of the UK system that distinguishes it from less regulated markets, there is a documented, publicly accessible record of what legal UK vaping products look like.
Enforcement and Compliance
The MHRA has enforcement powers in relation to vaping products. It can investigate products suspected of non-compliance, issue warnings to businesses, require product recalls and prosecute businesses that repeatedly sell non-compliant products. In practice, day-to-day enforcement of age restrictions and retail compliance is primarily carried out by local Trading Standards teams, but the MHRA has a broader enforcement mandate for product safety and compliance across the supply chain.
Adverse Incident Reporting
The MHRA operates a Yellow Card scheme for reporting adverse incidents with medicines and medical devices. A similar mechanism exists for reporting safety concerns with vaping products. Consumers and healthcare professionals who encounter a vaping product that they believe has caused harm can report this to the MHRA. This data contributes to the ongoing monitoring of vaping product safety at the population level.
01
How to check if a product is MHRA-notified
The MHRA's public register of notified products is searchable at gov.uk/mhra. You can search by product name or manufacturer to confirm notification status.
02
What to do if you find a non-compliant product
Non-compliant products can be reported to the MHRA via their website or to your local Trading Standards team. Reports help enforcement prioritisation.
03
MHRA notification is not endorsement
The MHRA notification process is a minimum gateway, it does not represent the MHRA approving or endorsing the safety of specific products. It confirms that a minimum information submission has been made and reviewed.
04
Buy from retailers who stock notified products
Reputable UK retailers stock only MHRA-notified products. If a product cannot be found on the MHRA register, this is a significant concern about its regulatory compliance.
Touch of Vape Leicester
All Touch of Vape Leicester Products Are MHRA-Notified
We only stock products that have been properly notified to the MHRA and are compliant with UK vaping regulations.
To find our Leicester store, visit our Vape Shop Leicester page.
From our Legal guide
Part of our Legal guide
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Our Legal guide covers the MHRA, TRPR and the full UK regulatory framework for vaping products.
Find more UK regulation guides in our Legal guide.
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