MHRA sets 4 December 2026 deadline to clear pre-2021 vape notifications

The MHRA has told vape notification holders to review every product notified before 1 January 2021 and delete those no longer on sale in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, setting a window of eight weeks to 4 December 2026.

The request comes in a notice published on the agency’s notification-database update, reported by Planet of the Vapes on 28 October 2026. The MHRA is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the body that runs the UK notification scheme for vape products.

The review covers notifications filed before 1 January 2021

The agency frames the exercise as a clean-up of the Great Britain notification database. It says a large share of products originally notified, particularly under pre-Brexit arrangements, may no longer be actively marketed in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or may need substantial updates to the information supplied.

The MHRA lists commercial decisions, reformulations, portfolio reductions, ownership changes and regulatory developments as reasons records may have drifted from the market. It also points to the separate Great Britain notification system that began on 1 January 2021, following the UK’s departure from the EU, as a dividing line.

Holders must delete or refresh each pre-2021 entry

The notice gives notification holders three tasks. They must identify products no longer marketed, supplied or placed on the GB and NI markets; remove those from the database under the relevant notification procedures; and ensure that products still sold carry accurate formulation, test data and responsible person details.

A responsible person is the named affiliate company accountable for a product’s notification. The MHRA says the exercise should not affect updated products that remain on sale, whatever date they were first notified.

Supplying outside a notification is an offence, MHRA says

The notice states that supplying a product that does not comply with its notifications is an offence. The MHRA says it will pass details of suspected non-compliance to enforcement partners, and that products supplied outside their notifications will be subject to seizure.

The agency says the aim is a database that reflects the current market and supports future regulatory activity across the vaping sector. It presents the work as one stage of a wider programme to improve the accuracy and integrity of the Great Britain notification database.

Who is affected and when

The request lands on notification holders, meaning the businesses and responsible persons behind pre-2021 entries, rather than on retailers directly. Those holders have until 4 December 2026 to remove dead entries and refresh live ones; the MHRA names that date as the point when the next review phase starts.

Retailers and distributors sit downstream of the change. Products that lose their database entry, or that are found to be supplied without a matching notification, fall under the seizure statement in the notice. Enforcement authorities and consumers are named by the MHRA as users of the records the exercise is meant to correct.

What the notice does not settle

The notice gives no count of notifications in scope and no list of affected brands or products. It also does not describe what the next phase after 4 December 2026 will involve, beyond calling it a further stage of the review.

Questions readers ask

What does the MHRA vape database update require?

The MHRA asks notification holders to review all products notified before 1 January 2021, remove those no longer marketed, supplied or placed on the GB and NI markets, and make sure products still sold have accurate formulation, test data and responsible person details. The agency set an eight-week window ending 4 December 2026.

When is the MHRA notification review deadline?

The MHRA asked holders to conduct the exercise over the next eight weeks and named 4 December 2026 as the point when it moves to the next phase of the review. That date is stated in the MHRA notice as reported on 28 October 2026.

What happens to products supplied outside their notification?

The MHRA states that supplying a product which does not comply with its notifications is an offence. The agency says it will share details of suspected non-compliance with enforcement partners, and that products supplied outside their notifications will be subject to seizure.