Who We Are

We represent the New Zealand vaping industry. Both Big Tobacco and Big Pharma are barred from membership. This ensures our work is free from influence ensuring we are an independent, trusted, credible voice on vaping policy matters. We work as a collective so that our representation is industry wide and not limited to the views of any one company.

VIANZ members work to ensure customers have confidence in their vaping products. We provide only the best quality vaping products and nicotine e-liquid devices. VIANZ member stores have staff equipped to educate customers on the most suitable product to meet their non-smoking needs. VIANZ members do not support youth vaping and each organisation has policies in place to ensure under-18 access is prevented.

Products manufactured, distributed and imported by VIANZ members support the policies underpinning the public health objectives of the Tobacco Convention and we are committed to helping educate and support smokers as they try to quit.

4,500

Member products sold in over 4,500 outlets across New Zealand, including Woolworths, New World, PAK’nSAVE, Four Square, Mobil, Z Energy, Caltex, BP, Chemist Warehouse, Green Cross Pharmacy’s, independent convenience and liquor stores.

300

Over 300 staff employed nationwide by the VIANZ Board.

>60,000

VIANZ board members have supplied the health sector with over 60,000 vaping products since 2019.

Our Work

The New Zealand vaping industry is highly regulated. VIANZ’s role is to work with the regulators to support evidence-based policy-making that is risk proportionate and ensures a Smokefree Aotearoa is achieved and maintained into the future.


The Vaping Regulatory Authority (VRA), part of the Ministry of Health, is the regulator. The industry operates under the 2020 amendment to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Regulations 2021. Vaping devices must also adhere to the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 and report any adverse reactions to the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Centre.


The 2020 amendments to the Act struck a careful balance between ensuring that vaping products are available for Kiwi smokers who want to switch to less harmful alternatives while introducing controls around marketing and availability.  The Regulations expand in more detail on packaging, product safety (including ingredients), and the responsibilities of manufacturers and importers.


VIANZ supports the Government’s desire to protect our young people from accessing vaping devices, which are controlled over-18 products. VIANZ is in favour of stronger enforcement for retailers not complying with the regulations, alongside higher penalties for those who breach the regulations.

Our Goal

Our aim is a Smokefree New Zealand with a vaping industry that contributes meaningfully to our smokefree success and leads in terms of safety, quality and compliance. VIANZ aims to:

  • Be the collective voice and advocate for the manufacturers, importers, exporters and retailers.

  • Promote the vaping industry as a technology-led and innovative industry that increases New Zealand’s health, economic and export wellbeing.

  • Provide a means by which the vaping industry can come together to identify, prioritise and solve key issues.

  • Promote industry cohesiveness and coordination.

  • Positively represent the interests of the vaping industry to local and central government for evidence-based policymaking.

  • To enhance the image of the vaping industry as professional but creative experts.

  • Promote the growth of a New Zealand-led export industry.

  • To work with colleagues across industry, both domestically and internationally.

  • To ensure the New Zealand vaping industry has the right skills, knowledge and abilities from the education system to grow.

  • To provide Members with services and support.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Vaping refers to the use of an electronic device to heat a liquid and turn it into a vapour that the user inhales.

    Smoking and vaping are different in that while smoking distributes nicotine by burning tobacco, which can lead to illnesses associated with smoking, vaping delivers nicotine by heating a liquid in a considerably less harmful way.

    Today, an estimated 346,000 Kiwis vape daily - vaping poses the most serious threat to smoking with the latest New Zealand Health Survey results showing the rate of daily smoking has dropped to an all time low of 6.8% in 2022/23. With smokefree ambitions of less than 5% of New Zealanders smoking by 2025 which vaping has undoubtedly contributed to.

  • Compared to smoking cigarettes, vaping exposes consumers to significantly fewer and lower amounts of toxins. Making the switch to vaping greatly lowers your exposure to substances that can lead to respiratory illnesses, cancer, and circulatory and cardiac disorders such as heart attacks and strokes.

    Vaping is not only cheaper but it is proven to be inherently safer than smoking.

    While vaping is not harmfree, it is substantially safer than smoking and there are three major types of vaping products available in New Zealand; disposable vape devices, vape pens, and vape mods.

  • According to ASH the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group concludes that switching to vaping is likely to lead to significant improvements in health.

    Vaping lacks the most harmful components of conventional cigarettes. Public Health England concluded that they are 95% less harmful than cigarettes, but substantially more effective in delivering nicotine than medicinal nicotine products. This helps manage nicotine withdrawal with a fraction of the harm from tobacco, and delivered in a way that is far more acceptable to many smokers who want to quit.