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Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73not60

§1472a Special Packaging for Liquid Nicotine Containers

Title 15 › Chapter 39A— SPECIAL PACKAGING OF HOUSEHOLD SUBSTANCES FOR PROTECTION OF CHILDREN › § 1472a

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

Any liquid nicotine sold, made, distributed, or imported into the United States must use the special child-resistant packaging rules in 16 C.F.R. 1700.15 and be tested the way 16 C.F.R. 1700.20 describes. If the Consumer Product Safety Commission updates those rules later, the packaging must follow the new versions. The Department of Health and Human Services (including the FDA) still has the power to regulate nicotine products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, and under its rulemakings from April 2014 (FDA–2014–N–0189) and June 2015 (FDA–2015–N–1514). If HHS makes or enforces packaging rules for liquid nicotine, it must talk with the Consumer Product Safety Commission first. For these rules: the “Commission” means the Consumer Product Safety Commission; a “liquid nicotine container” is any package that holds soluble nicotine and lets people get to the nicotine in normal use, but it does not include sealed, pre-filled disposable pods that go straight into an e-cigarette if kids cannot access the nicotine; “nicotine” means any form of the chemical, including salts or complexes, natural or synthetic.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §1472a

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Notwithstanding section 1261(f)(2) of this title and section 2052(a)(5) of this title, any nicotine provided in a liquid nicotine container sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, distributed in commerce, or imported into the United States shall be packaged in accordance with the standards provided in section 1700.15 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, as determined through testing in accordance with the method described in section 1700.20 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, and any subsequent changes to such sections adopted by the Commission.
(b)(1)Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate, issue guidance, or take action regarding the manufacture, marketing, sale, distribution, importation, or packaging, including child-resistant packaging, of nicotine, liquid nicotine, liquid nicotine containers, electronic cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems or other similar products that contain or dispense liquid nicotine, or any other nicotine-related products, including—
(A)authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Public Law 111–31) and the amendments made by such Act; and
(B)authority for the rulemaking entitled “Deeming Tobacco Products to Be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; regulations on the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products and the Required Warning Statements for Tobacco Products” (April 2014) (FDA–2014–N–0189), the rulemaking entitled “Nicotine Exposure Warnings and Child-Resistant Packaging for Liquid Nicotine, Nicotine-Containing E-Liquid(s), and Other Tobacco Products” (June 2015) (FDA–2015–N–1514), and subsequent actions by the Secretary regarding packaging of liquid nicotine containers.
(2)If the Secretary of Health and Human Services adopts, maintains, enforces, or imposes or continues in effect any packaging requirement for liquid nicotine containers, including a child-resistant packaging requirement, the Secretary shall consult with the Commission, taking into consideration the expertise of the Commission in implementing and enforcing this section and the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.).
(c)Notwithstanding section 2052(a)(5) of this title and section 1261(f)(2) of this title, the requirement of subsection (a) shall be treated as a standard for the special packaging of a household substance established under section 3(a) of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1472(a)).
(d)In this section:
(1)The term “Commission” means the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding section 1261(f)(2) of this title and section 2052(a)(5) of this title, the term “liquid nicotine container” means a package (as defined in section 2 of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1471))—
(i)from which nicotine in a solution or other form is accessible through normal and foreseeable use by a consumer; and
(ii)that is used to hold soluble nicotine in any concentration.
(B)The term “liquid nicotine container” does not include a sealed, pre-filled, and disposable container of nicotine in a solution or other form in which such container is inserted directly into an electronic cigarette, electronic nicotine delivery system, or other similar product, if the nicotine in the container is inaccessible through customary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reasonably foreseeable ingestion or other contact by children.
(3)The term “nicotine” means any form of the chemical nicotine, including any salt or complex, regardless of whether the chemical is naturally or synthetically derived.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), is act
June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, which is classified generally to chapter 9 (§ 301 et seq.) of Title 21, Food and Drugs. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 301 of Title 21 and Tables. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), is div. A of Pub. L. 111–31,
June 22, 2009, 123 Stat. 1776. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2009 Amendment note set out under section 301 of Title 21, Food and Drugs, and Tables. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is Pub. L. 91–601, Dec. 30, 1970, 84 Stat. 1670, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1471 of this title and Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015, and not as part of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 114–116, § 3, Jan. 28, 2016, 130 Stat. 5, provided that: “This Act [see

Short Title

of 2016 Amendment note set out under section 1471 of this title] shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 28, 2016].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 1472a

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60