The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 - Business Regulatory Impact Assessment

Section 4: Additional implementation considerations

Enforcement/ compliance

Local Authorities (Trading Standards Officers) will be responsible for enforcing the provisions around the expansion of the register, as they are already responsible for the existing register provisions relating to tobacco and vapes. Scottish Government will support this enforcement through providing a sufficient commencement period and guidance to allow for Local Authorities to familiarise themselves with the new registration requirements. Scottish Government have engaged with SCOTSS on this commencement period to ensure that this is suitable for Local Authorities, and have raised the commencement period with representatives of Trading Standards at the CTSI conference in June.

There are penalties for non-compliance, but as set out in this impact assessment, Scottish Government have chosen to provide a 6 month period between the majority of the expanded register provisions coming into force and the registration offences coming into force to support this transition for both retailers and local authorities.

In addition, the commencement period will be aligned with the extension of other offences in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2010 Act which will be extended to cover nicotine products and herbal smoking products on 29 October 2026, creating consistency for business and Local Authorities in terms of when provisions require enforcement. This includes provisions related to the age of sale for nicotine products and herbal smoking products and restrictions on free distribution.

UK, EU and International Regulatory Alignment and Obligations

Internal Market/ Intra-UK Trade

Scotland is the only country in the UK with a Tobacco and Vapes retail register, whilst England, Wales and NI have instead taken powers under the Tobacco and Vapes Act for a Licensing regime. This is a divergence in policy across the four nations, but do not anticipate that this will impact business significantly in Scotland as businesses which sell tobacco products and/or vaping products already have to comply with registration requirements. This is not a significant change in policy for Scotland, but instead an extension of an existing policy. These commencement regulations will support the transition to the extended range of registrable products by providing a phased approach to commencement.

Market access principles, mutual recognition and non-discrimination principles are not relevant. There is not a relevant Common Framework.

International Trade Implications

No international trade impacts anticipated.

EU Alignment consideration

No EU Alignment impacts anticipated.

Legal Aid

The expansion of the retail register is not expected to have an impact on the number of people seeking legal aid.

Digital impact

The retail register is a digital platform that will be updated to ensure retailers can register for the expanded range of registrable products. This platform was refreshed in January 2025 to provide an accessible system for retailers and enforcement agencies to use. Work will continue with Local Authorities and digital colleagues on the platform, and will continue to do so as the register expands to support its use. The commencement period will provide a suitable time period to ensure the system is updated to enable a quick and accessible process to update/apply for new registrations.

However, it is possible to register manually via paper application, and the commencement period provided through these commencement regulations provides sufficient time to do this manually.

Business forms

Policy officials work closely with digital platform colleagues and key stakeholders to ensure that the registration system is suitable for use. This will continue, prior to these regulations commencing and following their commencement, to ensure that the register is accessible and easy to use.