Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, California retailers will be limited to selling only vape, nicotine pouch and tobacco products included on the state’s new Unflavored Tobacco List. All other products will be illegal and subject to enforcement.
No vape or nicotine pouch flavors other than tobacco are legal in California. (The name Unflavored Tobacco List is deceptive, since all tobacco-flavored vapes do use flavorings.)
Manufacturers must submit applications for each product they want to sell in California and pay a $300 fee for each application (which is reduced to $150 for annual renewals).
Applications must be submitted by Oct. 9 to be guaranteed inclusion on the Jan. 1, 2026 list. So far, the state has not indicated whether there will be a grace period for selling non-listed products remaining in inventory after Jan. 1.
Vaping products on the list must have received FDA authorization, or have pending premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) that were submitted to the FDA before the proper deadline and are still under consideration. There are exceptions for products with marketing denial orders (MDOs) that have been stayed or rescinded by a court.
The list will be maintained by the California Department of Justice.
The concept for the list is borrowed from PMTA registry bills created by the tobacco industry and introduced in state legislatures around the country. (The California law was not created by tobacco lobbyists.) So far, 14 states (counting California) have passed laws that create registries (or directories) of vape products allowed to be sold.
On Aug. 25, the California Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations announced earlier this month by the Attorney General’s office. The AG was given authority to create the list by legislation passed last year.
That legislation also amended the 2020 California flavored vape and tobacco ban (which took effect in 2022) to prohibit the sale of products containing non-menthol coolants and nicotine analog substances like Metatine, and end online sales of flavored vapes and pouches.
Because of declining cigarette sales, state governments in the U.S. and countries around the world are looking to vapor products as a new source of tax revenue.
A list of vaping product flavor bans and online sales bans in the United States, and sales and possession bans in other countries.
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A practical, data-driven breakdown of where the vape market is heading—and how to position your business ahead of regulatory and category shifts.
