Frequently Asked Questions

The legislation establishes a national register of tobacco and nicotine vapour product retailers, which will require all retailers to be registered in order to sell their products. There will be one national register. This will operate in conjunction with a fixed penalty notice scheme and the ability for courts to impose banning orders.

Registration for Nicotine Vapour products will come into effect on 1 April 2017. Nicotine Vapour Products retailers will have a full six months to register, from 1 April 2017 to 1 October 2017. Nicotine vapour products retailers can register at any time over that period. The register for tobacco retailers has been active since 2011. Tobacco retailers are not required to update their existing records. If however you retail both tobacco and nicotine vapour products you will be required to update the register to enable you to sell both products.

Although the majority of retailers refuse to sell tobacco to young people under 18 there is unfortunately a proportion that will.  The registration scheme gives a wider range of tools to trading standards to better enforce age restriction laws whilst keeping the costs to the public purse to an absolute minimum and with the least possible administrative burden on retailers.

Whilst a licensing scheme has certain advantages it is also more burdensome on local authorities and retailers, as the retailer has to provide a sufficient level of information to allow the relevant authority to determine whether a retailer should be allowed to sell a product. A registration scheme merely requires a retailer to notify authorities that they are selling a product and is, therefore, simpler and less costly to administer.  The Scottish Government has, on balance, opted for a registration scheme.

No, registration is free.

Registration can be done quickly and easily in one of two ways:

- Register Online: Complete our web-based form
- Register on Paper : Download the registration form (in pdf) or request a paper copy of the form from the Scottish Government Tobacco Control.

Copies of the form can be downloaded online or can be requested by calling 0131 244 2169 .  In addition, printed forms are available from trading standards within your local council.

• You can update any of your account, contact, company or premises details at any time by logging into your account.

• Please note if you are an existing registrant accessing the new register for the first time you will be required to reset your password.

• Log into your account and you will be taken to your account dashboard. From there you can click the relevant section to update your account, contact or company details.

• You can see an overview of all of your registered premises in the Manage Premises section.

• From here you can update any premises individually by selecting 'Edit'. Please note if you are updating an existing premises to sell nicotine vapour products all you need to do is update the first question under 'Products sold' and press 'Submit'.

• If you wish to remove a premises you can select 'Delete'.

• Please note that if you upload premises using the Upload Tool, then this will overwrite the existing premises.

• You can print your updated certificate at any time from the Manage Premises page. 

Yes if you are registering manually, however if you are registering online the system has the facility to enable you just to complete one form and add additional premises in by following the instructions.

It is not an issue if the company applying for the certificate is a parent company outwith Scotland. If there are any Premises within Scotland they need to be registered by whatever company owns them.

It is the area used for retailing to consumers.

Any person who carries on a business involving the sale of tobacco or nicotine vapour products by retail must be on the register.  It will be the applicant's name which goes onto the register.  The answer to the question who should apply is that it is the person (individual or corporate) who carries on the retail business.  So who owns the products, retails it to consumers and takes the profits.

Therefore, the tenant registers as it is they that are carrying out the retail business not the landlord.

In the vast majority the Head office will complete on behalf of outlets.  We suggest that if in doubt they should contact their Head Office to establish if the outlet details are being registered.

Simply request a paper copy by contacting the Scottish Government on 0131 244 2169, then send the duly completed form to the Scottish Government,  Tobacco Control Area 3E , St Andrews House, Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG.

You do not need to display the certificate but it should be retained and kept ready to hand for inspection purposes.

If you registered premises has been registered by your head office they will retain the certificate on your behalf. Copies of your registration form can be obtained from the registrant on request.

To keep the register up to date you are required to notify the Scottish Government of any changes in your particulars such as a change in a person's name or address or the fact that the person is no longer carrying on a business at an address noted in the person's entry in the Register.   You can update your registration details online if you have registered online.

Please note it is your responsibility to notify Tobacco Control Team that you are no longer selling products that you are required to register for.

Legislation gives powers to trading standards officers to issue fixed penalty notices for offences contained in both Acts including selling products to under 18s, displaying products or not being on the register. The legislation covers the sale for both tobacco and nicotine vapour products whether a retailer sells tobacco on its own, only nicotine vapour products or both. For retailers selling tobacco only or nicotine vapour products only, if that retailer has been found in breach of the legislation three times within a two year period through relevant enforcement action a local authority can apply to the courts to have the retailer banned from selling these products. If a retailer sells both and if they are found in breach of the legislation for selling either products three times within two years they could also face a ban. A court can ban a retailer from selling tobacco and/or nicotine vapour products for up to 12 months.

If you are a dual retailer of both tobacco and nicotine vapour products and you are no longer selling one of these products. Please fill out and submit a change request form which allows you to state the product that you are no longer selling which will allow your registration to be amended.

You can print a copy of your certificate at any time by logging into your account and visiting the 'Manage Premises' section and clicking the 'Print Certificate' button. All of your registered premises will be listed on the one certificate. If you update, add or remove a premises from your account you print an updated certificate. 

Key features of the register will include provision for relevant parts of the register to be accessible to the general public on the Internet.  Local Authorities will also be able to access the information contained in the register.

Enforcement will be carried out by your local council's trading standards service.

A person who is registered with the Scottish Government and who commits three breaches of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 and Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 within a two year period will be removed from the register. The period of removal will be determined by the Court but can be up to 12 months.

Tobacco or Nicotine Vapour Products or both if applicable cannot be sold from the premises to which the conviction relates for the period of time determined by the Court. A person must display a banning order notice in a prominent position for the period of the ban.

You can contact  the Scottish Government Tobacco Control Branch on 0131 244 2169  for advice on the Register or any other provision of the Acts.

We only require one contact number for the registrant.  We only require one contact who will co-ordinate the response from all the company that is applying for their Premises that are relevant.