Illegal tobacco, e-cigarettes and shisha

The trade in illegal tobacco has serious consequences to health and crime in our community. We work closely with the police, HMRC and other partners to tackle this issue.

The problems with illegal tobacco include:

its lower price discourages smokers from quitting and encourages them to smoke more
it is not labelled with health warnings and other legal information
there is no quality control as to what goes into counterfeit products
it steals business away from legitimate tobacco sellers
it's linked to low level and large scale organised crime, nationally and internationally
it's a fire hazard - counterfeit cigarettes don't comply with legal requirements designed to reduce the chances of fire

Types of illegal products on sale include:

illicit (duty-free) - foreign products brought into the UK in illegal quantities and resold
counterfeit - fake packaging made to look like premium brands, containing cheap and low quality tobacco

To report the sale of counterfeit or illegal tobacco anonymously, contact London Trading Standards

Part 2e-cigarettes (vapes) and e-shisha products

Page last updated: 17 May 2023

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Illegal tobacco, e-cigarettes and shisha

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