The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has received Royal Assent, introducing restrictions on the sale and advertising of various tobacco and vaping products.

In addition to introducing a total prohibition on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Act 2026 grants the Secretary of State sweeping powers to make regulations about the retail packaging of tobacco and vaping products, addressing everything from the use of branding, trademarks or logos, to the size, shape, and appearance of the packaging.

The Act also widens the definition of a ‘tobacco product’ for the purposes of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 (TAPA) to include any product “consisting wholly or partly of tobacco and intended to be smoke, sniffed, sucked, chewed or consumed in any other way”.

Responding to this change, the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) note that this wider definition will likely bring more products (such as ‘heated tobacco products’) within the scope of the TAPA’s broad restrictions on advertising and, in turn, the CAP Code.

While businesses are encouraged to continue to consult the CAP’s existing guidance on tobacco marketing, CAP and BCAP have confirmed that they will consider the further advertising-related provisions of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 and “will likely consult on proposals for changes to the existing Code rules on tobacco and vaping product advertising to reflect the new restrictions”.

To read more about the Act, click here. To read CAP’s response, click here.