RCP urges government to close loopholes in tobacco and vape marketing rules

In its response to the UK government consultation on tobacco and vape packaging, appearance and display, the RCP backs proposals to standardise packaging across a wider range of tobacco products and tighten rules on the way vapes and nicotine products are marketed. The college argues that regulations must keep pace with industry innovation and ensure that products cannot be used to attract new users, particularly children and young people.

The consultation follows government proposals announced earlier this year to crack down on marketing practices that appeal to children, including restrictions on packaging, flavour descriptions and product displays.

Closing gaps in tobacco regulation

Under the proposals, standardised packaging and stronger health warnings would be extended to products including cigars, cigarillos, heated tobacco and smokeless tobacco. In its submission, the RCP says this would help close long-standing loopholes that have allowed manufacturers to continue using packaging as a marketing tool. The college argues that a consistent approach is needed to prevent manufacturers from exploiting gaps in existing regulations and to reinforce the message that there is no safe form of tobacco use.

Drawing on evidence from its recent report, Smoking, health and social justice, the RCP highlights how smoking-related harm is increasingly concentrated among people experiencing poverty, poor health and social exclusion. The college says measures that reduce the appeal and visibility of tobacco products should form part of a wider strategy to tackle health inequalities and reduce smoking prevalence.

The response also supports extending pictorial health warnings and introducing quit-support inserts across a wider range of tobacco products. The RCP argues that packaging should not only communicate the harms of tobacco use but also direct smokers towards effective support to quit, including NHS stop smoking services and evidence-based treatments.

Protecting children while supporting smokers to quit

The RCP has backed measures to reduce the appeal of vaping products to children and young people, including restrictions on bright packaging, promotional imagery, novelty branding and child-appealing flavour descriptions. The college supports banning concept names, confectionery-inspired flavour descriptions and other marketing techniques that can attract younger users.

However, the college warns that regulations should continue to distinguish clearly between tobacco products and vapes. While vaping is not risk-free and should not be used by children or people who have never smoked, the RCP notes that vaping remains substantially less harmful than smoking and can help adults quit tobacco.

Stronger controls on displays and promotions

The consultation response calls for tighter controls on the display of tobacco and related products, including restrictions on promotional displays, pricing information and exemptions currently available to some specialist retailers. The RCP argues that tobacco products should only be shown to customers in limited circumstances and that display regulations should apply consistently across all tobacco-related products.

The college also supports ending exemptions that allow specialist tobacconists to benefit from weaker display restrictions, warning that these arrangements can continue to facilitate tobacco promotion. It further backs the removal of exemptions for duty-free and bulk tobacco displays, which it says undermine the wider purpose of display bans.

Preventing future loopholes

Throughout its submission, the RCP stresses the importance of future-proofing regulations to respond to emerging products and marketing techniques. The college warns that tobacco and nicotine companies have repeatedly adapted their products and branding in response to previous regulations and argues that ministers should maintain powers to address new loopholes quickly.

Professor Sanjay Agrawal, RCP special adviser on tobacco, said:

‘The tobacco industry has a long history of adapting its products, packaging and marketing strategies in response to new regulations. These proposals are an important opportunity not only to close existing loopholes, but to create a framework that is robust enough to prevent new ones emerging in the future.

‘We need regulations that protect children from being drawn into nicotine addiction, reduce the burden of smoking-related disease, and help tackle the deep health inequalities caused by tobacco. At the same time, policymakers must maintain a clear distinction between combustible tobacco and less harmful alternatives that can help adults quit smoking.

‘The government should stand firm, resist attempts to weaken these measures, and ensure that public health, rather than commercial interests, remains at the heart of tobacco and vape regulation.’

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