IQOS Smoking Room at Manila International Airport

The UK’s Vaping Products Duty and Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme will take effect on October 1, 2026. All vaping liquids manufactured in or imported into the UK will face a flat excise duty of £2.20 per 10ml, whether or not they contain nicotine. Newly manufactured or imported products released onto the UK market from October 1 will require a valid duty stamp, while eligible existing unstamped inventory can continue to be sold through March 31, 2027. From April 1, 2027, all vaping products outside duty suspension must carry a valid stamp.

Reynolds American, a BAT subsidiary, showcased four Vuse Pro flavored e-cigarette pods and its VELO nicotine pouch portfolio at NACS Show 2026. Booth staff confirmed to 2Firsts that the Vuse Pro flavors are sold in the U.S., although they have not received FDA marketing authorization. BAT outlined plans to expand Vuse retail distribution and reported that VELO held a 30.5% year-to-date volume share of the U.S. modern oral nicotine category through August 2026. The booth also featured the newly launched VELO MAX range and merchandising displays combining cigarettes, vaping products and oral nicotine brands.

KIWI has launched the Spark 2 and Spark 2 Pro refillable pod systems in Germany at official prices of €18 and €29, respectively. Spark 2 uses an 800mAh removable lithium-ion battery in a pen-style body, while Spark 2 Pro features a 1,400mAh removable battery, a box-shaped design and vibration feedback every 20 puffs. Both devices use the same 2ml Spark V2 pods in 0.8Ω and 1.2Ω versions, with AirSync airflow adjustment and a choice between Cotton Tips and conventional Drip Tips. The new pods also remain compatible with the original KIWI Spark.

SnowPlus has introduced a nicotine-free version of DASH in South Korea, adapting an existing overseas disposable platform for the local market. The Korean version retains the series’ flat duckbill-style mouthpiece, ceramic heating architecture and disposable form factor while reducing nicotine content to 0%. By comparison, the overseas DASH 4000 platform typically features 7.5ml of prefilled e-liquid, up to 4,000 puffs and a 530mAh rechargeable battery, with nicotine-containing variants available in some markets. The product update centers on formulation localisation rather than a new hardware generation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the FDA’s denial of MH Global LLC’s applications to market flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). The court ruled that FDA’s comparative-efficacy framework, which requires applicants to show that flavored products provide greater cessation or switching benefits than tobacco-flavored alternatives, is consistent with the Tobacco Control Act’s “appropriate for the protection of the public health” standard. The court also found that FDA was not required to establish the framework through notice-and-comment rulemaking.

Sweden's Supreme Administrative Court has declined to hear an appeal over age verification for tobacco and nicotine products collected from parcel lockers, leaving in place a lower-court ruling that geo-located BankID verification is insufficient to securely verify the actual recipient. Haypp Group has stopped tobacco and nicotine sales through Snusnetto and is deploying a new system across its other Swedish e-commerce sites to verify the age of the person who actually opens the locker and receives the shipment. The change comes as age verification across next-generation nicotine products expands from purchase checks into retail, delivery and, for some e-cigarettes, device access itself.