Sector guides

Sourcing vape devices, pods and e-liquids from China

Vape devices from China pay 2% UK customs duty and filled pods and e-liquids 6%. From 1 October 2026 vaping liquids also carry Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 per 10ml with duty stamps, and products must meet the 2016 regulations' limits and be notified six months ahead. Single-use vapes cannot be supplied in England. Cambridge China Bridge sources compliant reusable vape products.

Written by Bono Xu, Founder, Cambridge China Bridge · 4 min read · Updated 2026-09-25

Vape devices pay 2% UK duty from China and filled pods and e-liquids 6%, plus Vaping Products Duty from 1 October 2026. Notification, limits and stamps.

Aisles of a large supermarket seen from above, shelves fully stocked

Customs duty, then excise

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, electronic cigarettes and similar personal vaporisers carried 2% duty on goods from China, and filled cartridges, refills and nicotine liquids 6%. No line carried an anti-dumping measure.

From 1 October 2026 a second tax applies. GOV.UK announced Vaping Products Duty at £2.20 per 10ml on all vaping liquids, with or without nicotine, together with the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme: manufacturers, UK representatives of overseas manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers need HMRC approval, and from 1 April 2027 all vaping products sold in the UK must carry a valid duty stamp on the retail packaging. Build both into the landed price.

UK customs duty on vaping products of Chinese origin, read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026; Vaping Products Duty from GOV.UK.
Goods	Commodity code	Customs duty	Anti-dumping duty on China
Electronic cigarettes and similar personal electric vaporising devices	8543 40 00 00	2%	None
Filled cartridges and refills for electronic cigarettes, and their liquids, containing nicotine	2404 12 00 10	6%	None
Other products for inhalation without combustion, containing nicotine	2404 12 00 90	6%	None
Other products for inhalation without combustion, without nicotine	2404 19 90 00	6%	None
Vaping Products Duty on all vaping liquids from 1 October 2026	–	£2.20 per 10ml	–

Product limits and notification

Regulation 36 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 limits nicotine liquid to 20 milligrams per millilitre, a disposable device, single-use cartridge or tank to 2 millilitres, and a dedicated refill container to 10 millilitres. Regulation 31 requires the producer to notify each electronic cigarette and refill container, and in the ordinary case to do so at least six months before first supplying it.

That six-month lead time is the longest item in the plan, so the notification has to be prepared from the factory's formulation and emissions data before the order is placed. A factory that cannot provide the ingredient list and test data for your exact product is not a supplier for the UK.

Single-use vapes in England

The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024 prohibit the supply, offer for supply and possession for supply of single-use vapes in England from 1 June 2025. A UK range is therefore built on reusable devices with refillable pods or tanks, and the device must genuinely be rechargeable and refillable, not a disposable with a charging port.

Devices are also electrical goods with lithium batteries, so WEEE obligations and battery transport rules apply.

What goes wrong

Pod leakage, inconsistent fill volumes and coil failures are the production faults; nicotine strength and fill volume are the compliance faults, because a pod filled over 2 ml or a liquid above 20 mg/ml cannot be sold. Check fill volume and nicotine content on samples from every batch at inspection, with a laboratory test for strength.

Cambridge China Bridge sources reusable vape devices, pods and e-liquids built to the UK limits, with the notification data, duty stamp packaging and batch testing planned before production. See how our sourcing service works.

Frequently asked questions

What is the UK import duty on vapes from China?

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, vape devices carried 2% customs duty from China and filled pods and e-liquids 6%. From 1 October 2026 Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 per 10ml also applies to vaping liquids.

What are the UK limits on e-liquids and pods?

Regulation 36 of the 2016 regulations: nicotine no more than 20 mg/ml, tanks, pods and disposables no more than 2 ml, and refill containers no more than 10 ml.

How far ahead must a vape be notified?

In the ordinary case at least six months before first supply, under regulation 31 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Can disposable vapes be imported to sell in England?

No. The Single-use Vapes (England) Regulations 2024 prohibit supplying single-use vapes in England from 1 June 2025, so ranges are built on reusable devices.