Tobacco or vaping product businesses - age verification policies: guidance for retailers

Guidance on Age Verification Policies for Retailers

This Guidance is published by the Scottish Ministers under the powers in section 4B(5) of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 – “the 2010 Act”. Under section 4B(6) of the 2010 Act, a person who carries on a tobacco or vaping product business must have regard to this guidance when operating an age verification policy. From 29 October 2026 anyone carrying on a herbal smoking product business or nicotine product business must also have regard to this guidance.

The sale of tobacco products, cigarette papers and vaping products to anyone under the age of 18 is an offence in accordance with the 2010 Act. From 29 October 2026 the sale of nicotine products or herbal smoking products to anyone under the age of 18 will also be an offence in accordance with the 2010 Act.

It is currently an offence for a person to carry on a tobacco or vaping product business without operating an age verification policy in respect of the premises.

From 29 October 2026 this offence will be extended to cover all relevant businesses. A relevant business means a business which involves the sale of one or more of the following products by retail:

• Tobacco products;
• Herbal smoking products;
• Vaping products;
• Nicotine products.

From 1 January 2027 the sale of tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will be an offence.

What is an age verification policy?

An age verification policy is the agreed steps that have been put in place by a retailer to ensure that any person attempting to buy a tobacco product, cigarette papers, herbal smoking product, vaping product or nicotine product is asked for proof of age where it appears that they may be under 25 (or such older age as may be specified in the policy). Retailers should keep a record of the steps they have agreed to take and should make sure that all staff are familiar with those.

Retailers should fill in the relevant steps they have taken on the template age verification policy record, below, and must have this available for inspection by enforcement officers.

Do I have to do this by law?

The operator of the business is required to have an age verification policy and must have regard to this Guidance. Failure to have an age verification policy in place, or failure to record the steps required by this Guidance could lead to a warning or fixed penalty from an authorised officer or even a prosecution through the courts that could carry a fine of up to £500.

What products are in scope?

As noted above, the relevant businesses are those selling one of more of the following products:

• Tobacco products;
• Herbal smoking products;
• Vaping products;
• Nicotine products.

The age verification policy should also cover cigarette papers.

For tobacco products, this includes but is not limited to cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, waterpipe tobacco (e.g. shisha), nasal tobacco (snuff), chewing tobacco, heated tobacco, and tobacco blunts.

Oral tobacco products, such as snus, have been banned in the UK since 1992. The new age of sale therefore does not apply to these products.

For herbal smoking products, this includes but is not limited to herbal blunts, herbal cigarettes and herbal shisha.

Vaping products includes but is not limited to vape devices (such as vape pens), substances to be vaped (such as e-liquid), and related components (such as coils). Nicotine and non-nicotine vapes are covered.

Nicotine products includes but is not limited to nicotine pouches, nicotine gum, nicotine strips and nicotine pearls. All types of nicotine are captured, including synthetic nicotine. It does not include medicinal products or medical devices.

Cigarette papers includes anything intended to be used for encasing tobacco products or herbal smoking products for the purpose of enabling them to be smoked.

What should be in the policy?

The record of the policy should include the details in the template attached – the details should therefore be on:

• the retail register 10-digit ID code ;
• the name and address of the premises;
• the date on which the policy was agreed;
• the category of products sold on the premises; the preferred age that the retailer or staff will use to decide whether a challenge to a customer’s age will be made (this cannot be below 25);.
• the way staff will raise the need for proof-of-age with a customer;
• the proof-of-age documents that the retailer has decided that can be used on the premises (as long as these are included in the list below);
• what staff have been asked to look for in proof-of-age documents;
• the way staff will handle refusals on the basis that proof-of-age has not been provided or where proof of age documentation is not convincing.

What happens to me if I do not have an age verification policy?

If you do not have an age verification policy in place you are committing an offence and could be issued with a warning or even a fixed penalty. The penalty could be for £150 or £200 depending on how quickly it is paid, or it could be more if there have been other penalties for relevant offences within a two-year period. If there is prosecution in court this could result in a fine of up to £500.

Who will check if I have a policy in place?

Authorised officers in local authority areas, usually trading standards officers, will enforce the new requirement and can issue warnings and fines.

Where can I get further advice about age verification policies?

The best source of advice will be from local authority authorised officers, although you may also wish to seek independent legal advice or advice from your relevant trade association or federation.

Which documents should I use for checking a customer’s age?

To comply with the legislation you have to use one or more of the prescribed documents, but you only have to use the one(s) you feel most appropriate for you. You may wish to choose the one that you and your staff are most familiar with, or you may wish to offer your customers a wide range of options, but you may have to provide some in-depth training for staff on the more unfamiliar types.

The prescribed documents to choose from or use as proof of age should be:

(i) A passport;

(ii) A UK driving licence;

(iii) A European Union “photo-card” driving licence;

(iv) A Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card);

(v) A photographic identity card bearing the national Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) hologram;

(vi) A national identity card issued by a European Union member state, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland; or

(vii) A Biometric Immigration Document.

It is for each business to decide which of these approved forms of identification it will accept in terms of the age verification policy. They need not all be accepted. It would be very prudent to exclude any type of document with which staff are not wholly familiar. It should also be an original document and not a copy e.g. a photograph on a mobile phone.

What notices do I need to display

From 1 January 2027 the requirements for tobacco age of sale signage will change to align with the amended age of sale. From this date retailers will have to display a sign reading “It is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009”. From 1 January 2027, subject to parliamentary approval, the signs will be required to be of minimum size 297 millimetres (mm) by 420mm (A3 size), with each character no smaller than 21mm in height. This is different from current size rules which require a size A3 sign but require each character to be no smaller than 36mm in height.

An example sign is available to download here:

Retailers are responsible for ensuring that they display the correct age of sale notice in a prominent position clearly visible to customers at the point of sale of tobacco products. Failure to comply with this requirement, without reasonable excuse, is an offence and could attract a fixed penalty or a fine of up to £1,000.