Marketing FAQs

According to the Ministry of Health, here are the following guidelines:

• General retailers (and Specialist Vape Retailers) may display notifiable products anywhere within their premises or on their websites.
• must display purchase age (R18) at each point-of-sale for notifiable products in English and te reo Māori
  • R18 notice template (Word, 18 KB)
• can display approved product availability notices in English
  • • Product availability notice template (Word, 18 KB)

According to the Ministry of Health, here are the following activities you may be able to do, provided these comply with any applicable regulations:

• advertisements published by a manufacturer that are intended only for their employees
• public health messages that are issued by the Director-General of Health and funded by a public service
• the display of vaping products that are available for sale within the retail premises or on an internet site of retailer
• information provided in a retailer’s place of business relating to vaping being a less harmful alternative to smoking
• advice given by a suitably qualified health worker to help people switch from smoking to vaping
• research relating to notifiable products, or about encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful products
• information provided by manufacturers or importers to retailers about the use of notifiable products
• communications about vaping products from Specialist Vape Retailers to their existing customers
• price lists given to retailers, provided they display any required health messages
• price lists in a retailer’s premises, on their website, or on automatic vending machines, provided:
  • they only identify the vaping products available
  • they use only printed or written words (or spoken words, in the case of a retailer’s premises)
• public notices indicating that regulated products are generally available and the location(s) where they can be purchased, using only printed or written words, and provided that they comply with any regulations
• the retailer’s name or trade name on the outside of a retailer’s place of business, provided the name does not signify regulated products can be purchased, is not a trademark of a regulated product, and is not the name of a manufacturer or importer of regulated products (exception for SVR's).

The rules around offering free or discounted vaping products are similar to those for tobacco products. These include:

• vaping products must not be distributed or supplied for free or at a reduced charge, except:
  • as part of a publicly-funded smoking cessation programme
  • a Specialist Vape Retailer may supply free or discounted vaping products from their approved vaping premises or approved internet site
• vaping products must not be packaged together with other types of product or distributed/supplied with other types of product at a single price (ie, as a bundle). Note - They can be purchased at the same time as other products (as part of the same transaction) and then bagged or shipped together provided they are not sold as a package or sold together at a single price.
• only Specialist Vape Retailers may offer someone buying a vaping product a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game, in consideration for their purchase.
• retailers must not be offered a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game in relation to:
  • the purchase or sale of vaping products by the retailer
  • the advertising of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or on their website
  • the location of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or in their website.

The rules for talking to customers about vaping products within your store depend on what type of retailer you are:

• General retailers are prohibited from discussions with customers that encourage the use of vaping products, promotes their sale or notifies store visitors of product availability.
• General retailers can still identify products that are available for purchase, and their prices, and encourage smokers to switch to less harmful products
• A Specialist Vape Retailer who is inside their approved vaping premises may talk to customers about vaping products and provide guidance on the safe use of notifiable products, available for purchase in their approved premises, provided they comply with any requirements in regulations.

Notices or signs that have the following characteristics are prohibited:

any words, whether written, printed, or spoken (including on film, video recording, or other medium, or broadcast, or telecast, and any pictorial representation, design, or device, used to—

• encourage the use of a regulated product; or
• notify the availability of the regulated product; or
• promote the sale of a regulated product
• communicates information that is or includes product health information or warnings, product purchase age information or warnings, or both; and
• is displayed inside or at the outside of the place of business of a person who offers the products for sale (whether by retail or wholesale)