By C. Chai, director, UIC International B.V. Published 2026-08-21, last updated 2026-08-21. How we write these.
The UK is not one market for product rules. It is two, and neither is the EU. Everything below is cited to GOV.UK or legislation.gov.uk, and where we could not verify a point we say so instead of filling it in.
Great Britain means England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is separate, the EU is separate from both, and GOV.UK keeps a distinct guide for each. Obligations split again inside Great Britain, because environmental law is devolved. Treat "the UK" as a shipping destination, not a regulatory unit.
Guidance written from memory goes wrong here. The GOV.UK guidance on placing UKCA or CE marked products on the market in Great Britain states that where product regulations meet the needs of the UK, the UK continues to recognise the CE marking, alongside or in place of the UKCA marking, for the Great Britain market, under the Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulations 2024. A product may carry both.
Three further points from that page change artwork rather than product design. The UKCA marking may sit on a label or on an accompanying document until 11pm on 31 December 2027. Markings must be at least 5mm high unless the legislation says otherwise. And the product must be accompanied by instructions that are clear, legible and in easily understandable English, a hard requirement on the insert card. Which rules sit behind the mark is the analysis in the CE marking guide.
Northern Ireland is a different answer. The GOV.UK guidance for Northern Ireland states that under the Windsor Framework, relevant EU rules on manufactured products apply there. UKNI is never used alone: it always accompanies an EU marking such as CE, where a UK-based notified body did the assessment.
This is the provision most likely to be misdescribed to you, so read the test, not a summary. The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024, S.I. 2024 No. 1216, came into force on 1 June 2025 and apply in England only. Regulation 4 makes supplying one an offence. Regulation 3 defines the term, and it turns on design, not contents:
Two things follow. Nicotine is not a criterion anywhere in that test. And the coil limb in regulation 3(3)(b) makes replaceable-coil availability part of the analysis, a design and supply-chain question rather than a labelling one. Read it against the device you intend to sell and take UK advice; we will not say which side of the line a given empty disposable falls on. Legislation.gov.uk lists parallel instruments for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which we did not verify.
The GOV.UK guidance on EEE producer responsibilities answers the question an EU wholesaler actually has, in two halves. Supply directly to the UK end user from a non-UK entity and you must appoint a UK-based authorised representative or join a UK approved producer compliance scheme first. Supply indirectly, to an importer, distributor or retailer, and the guidance says you do not register: the first UK-based entity making the equipment available registers and reports instead.
The volume split is a 5 tonne line: below it a producer registers directly with its environmental regulator as a small producer, above it it joins a compliance scheme. Products carry the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol and a date mark, and records are kept at least 4 years. The guidance's update history notes the categories moved from 14 to 15 to add e-cigarettes and vapes, so nobody has to argue this category into scope. The EU equivalent is in the WEEE registration guide.
Batteries are a separate scheme. GOV.UK's waste batteries producer responsibility guidance says you are a battery producer if you have a UK business presence and are first in your selling chain, importers included, to make batteries available on the UK market, even if your equipment falls outside the WEEE regulations. The companion guidance names the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 as amended and gives two figures worth writing down: more than 1 tonne of portable batteries a year means joining a Battery Compliance Scheme, and distributors supplying more than 32 kg a year must take part in take-back. Packaging is a third scheme again, with its own turnover and tonnage thresholds set out in GOV.UK's extended producer responsibility guidance, and it attaches to obligated UK organisations rather than to you.
We sell empty hardware and stop there, but the boundary matters. The MHRA's guidance on e-cigarette regulations states that the MHRA is the competent authority for the UK notification scheme for nicotine-containing vaping products under Part 6 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, that Great Britain uses a domestic notification system while Northern Ireland uses the EU Common Entry Gate, and that a producer is anyone who manufactures, imports or re-brands one of these products. It summarises the requirements as including a 2ml limit on tank capacity, 10ml on a nicotine-containing refill container, a maximum of 20mg/ml nicotine, and child-resistant, tamper-evident packaging. The 2ml figure reaches back into hardware selection; the EU comparison is in the TPD and empty hardware guide. One live change to note rather than rely on: legislation.gov.uk records changes to those Regulations not yet applied, made by the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026.
| Topic | Great Britain | Northern Ireland | EU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conformity marking | UKCA, or CE under continued recognition | CE, plus UKNI where a UK notified body assessed it | CE |
| Non-established seller, direct supply | UK authorised representative, or an approved scheme | As GB | Per the national register |
| Single-use vape prohibition | England instrument, in force 1 June 2025 | Separate instrument, not covered here | Varies by member state |
| Nicotine product notification | MHRA, GB domestic system | MHRA, via the EU Common Entry Gate | Member state authority |
It does not say a Dutch company needs a UK authorised representative, except in the one case GOV.UK states it. It does not restate the Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish instruments, because we verified only the England text. It gives no notification fee, and it does not summarise the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026.
Trade guidance for B2B buyers, not legal advice. We sell empty hardware only (no cannabinoids, no e-liquid), B2B trade only, 18+ / 21+ per market; you are responsible for the fill and for finished-product compliance in your market. UK product and environmental law changes on its own schedule, and the buyer placing the finished product on the UK market should take its own UK legal advice.
Browse the range in the shop, full specs, trade pricing after a free account, and CE and compliance docs on request.
Browse the catalogueGive us the hardware, the quantity and the market. We reply with a price, a specification and a lead time. A request for a quote is not an order.
Empty hardware only. No cannabinoids and no e-liquid. We sell to companies only.