Notified, authorised or neither? How the UK, EU and US vape product lists work

Regulators in the UK, the EU and the US publish lists of e-cigarette products. This overview explains what a consumer can look up in each and what an entry does and does not mean.

Lüdenscheid, Germany, 30 September 2026 - Public product lists are the most direct way for a consumer to check whether an e-cigarette or e-liquid has gone through a regulator's procedure. The systems in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States work in different ways, however, and an entry means something different in each.

European Union: notification six months ahead

Under Article 20(2) of the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU, manufacturers and importers must notify the competent authorities of each Member State before placing an e-cigarette or refill container on the market. The notification is submitted electronically six months before the intended launch. A new notification is needed for each substantial modification. It covers ingredients, emissions, toxicological data, nicotine dose and uptake, and the components and production process. It also contains a declaration that the manufacturer and importer bear full responsibility for the quality and safety of the product.

Submissions go through the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG), an IT tool that became operational in May 2016. The European Commission describes it as a technical platform that delivers a message from a submitter to a Member State. Assessment and enforcement stay with national authorities. Publication is also a national task: Article 20(8) obliges each Member State to make the notified information publicly available on a website, taking due account of trade secrets.

Germany's Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) does this with a downloadable spreadsheet of notified e-cigarettes and e-liquids, updated monthly. A product appears only once its notification is at least six months old. The BVL states that a listing does not confirm that legal requirements are met. Compliance is the responsibility of the company placing the product on the market, and the authorities of the federal states carry out spot checks.

United Kingdom: the MHRA publication pages

In the UK, regulation 31 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 requires producers to notify the Secretary of State. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) runs the system. The general rule is notification at least six months before a product, or a modified product, is first supplied. Regulation 34 requires the information to be made publicly available. Since 1 January 2021, new notifications for Great Britain have gone through a domestic MHRA system, while products for Northern Ireland are notified through EU-CEG.

Consumers can search the MHRA's published list for Great Britain by ECID (the product identifier), submitter name, brand name, brand sub-type and product type. Separate lists cover Northern Ireland, UK products published up to the end of 2020, and withdrawn products. MHRA guidance states that products are not compliant for supply until their notification has been published. In its guidance on due diligence, the agency also tells suppliers that the information in a notification is not, on its own, sufficient to show due diligence regarding a product's quality.

United States: authorisation, not notification

The US uses a premarket authorisation scheme. A company needs a written marketing order from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it can legally market a new tobacco product, and the FDA regulates e-cigarettes within this framework. One route is a premarket tobacco product application under section 910(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It must include scientific data showing that the product is appropriate for the protection of public health.

The FDA publishes a page of authorised e-cigarettes. In its version dated 28 August 2026, it lists 48 products. The Searchable Tobacco Products Database includes the marketing order letters and can be searched by company, product name and submission tracking number. The FDA states that authorisation does not mean a product is safe, nor that it is "FDA approved".

Where authenticity codes fit in

Some manufacturers put an authentication label on the pack with a security code, in some cases under a scratch-off coating, and a QR code. The code can be checked on the manufacturer's own website. These are private systems run by manufacturers, not by regulators. In the EU, the mandatory unique identifier and security feature in Articles 15 and 16 of the directive apply to unit packets of tobacco products. The directive sets no equivalent for e-cigarettes. What it does require on e-cigarette packaging is, among other things, a list of ingredients and a batch number (Article 20(4)).

A code check can show whether a pack matches a manufacturer's records. It says nothing about whether the product has been notified or authorised in a given country. Anyone using such a code may prefer to type the manufacturer's web address themselves rather than rely on a link printed next to the code.

"A register entry and a pack code answer different questions. Neither is a test result," said Mustafa Celik, Managing Director of SOMUVA UG (haftungsbeschränkt).

About SOMUVA UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

SOMUVA UG (haftungsbeschränkt), based in Lüdenscheid, Germany (Iserlohn Local Court, HRB 11627), operates the German online retailer Vapechamp (https://vapechamp.de) for e-cigarettes and accessories.

Notes to editors / press contact

SOMUVA UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Karlstraße 4 58507 Lüdenscheid Germany Contact: Mustafa Celik (Managing Director) Email: kontakt@vapechamp.de Phone: +49 176 84749993 Web: https://vapechamp.de

Sources

• Directive 2014/40/EU, Art. 15, 16, 20(2), 20(4), 20(8) (Publications Office / EUR-Lex text) - http://publications.europa.eu/resource/celex/32014L0040
• European Commission, EU-CEG introduction (operational May 2016; GB reporting no longer via EU-CEG from 1 January 2021) - https://health.ec.europa.eu/eu-common-entry-gate-eu-ceg/providing-information-tobacco-products-e-cigarettes-and-refill-containers-eu-common-entry-gate-eu_en
• European Commission, EU-CEG contact details (technical platform; assessment and enforcement with Member States) - https://health.ec.europa.eu/eu-common-entry-gate-eu-ceg/contact-details_en
• BVL, Listung von Tabakerzeugnissen und E-Zigaretten (monthly update, six-month rule, listing does not confirm compliance) - https://www.bvl.bund.de/DE/Arbeitsbereiche/03_Verbraucherprodukte/02_Verbraucher/05_Tabakerzeugnisse/05_Listung-Tabak-EZigaretten/Listung-Tabak-EZigaretten_node.html
• BVL, Liste der mitgeteilten E-Zigaretten (Stand: September 2026, xlsx) - https://www.bvl.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/03_Verbraucherprodukte/Tabak/DE-ECigarette_sortiert.html?nn=693960
• Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, reg. 31 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/507/regulation/31
• Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, reg. 34 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/507/regulation/34
• GOV.UK/MHRA, E-cigarettes: regulations for consumer products (GB domestic notification, NI via EU-CEG from 1 January 2021) - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/e-cigarettes-regulations-for-consumer-products
• GOV.UK/MHRA, Advice for consumers (search fields, lists, "not compliant for supply until published") - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-for-consumers
• MHRA publication pages, ECIG list (GB notified products) - https://cms.mhra.gov.uk/ecig-new
• GOV.UK/MHRA, Chapter 9 - general advice on due diligence (Great Britain; notification information "not sufficient" to show due diligence on quality) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-9-general-advice-on-due-diligence-great-britain/chapter-9-general-advice-on-due-diligence-electronic-cigarette-devices-and-refill-containers-vaping-products
• FDA, Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (section 910(b) FD&C Act, "appropriate for the protection of public health") - https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/market-and-distribute-tobacco-product/premarket-tobacco-product-applications
• FDA, Tobacco Products Marketing Orders (written marketing order required) - https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/market-and-distribute-tobacco-product/tobacco-products-marketing-orders
• FDA, E-cigarettes authorised by the FDA (48 products, content current as of 28 August 2026, "not safe, nor FDA approved") - https://www.fda.gov/authorizedecigarettes
• FDA, Searchable Tobacco Products Database (search fields company name, product name, STN; order letters) - https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/searchtobacco/
• ELFBAR, Verify Product (authentication label, QR code or security code) - https://www.elfbar.com/verify.html
• LOST MARY, product verification (scratch-off coating, security code or QR code) - https://www.lostmary.com/verify