While vape designers run out of ideas for new vapes, up-to-date vape bans are invented and implemented across the United States. One of the most interesting and potentially effective ones is the vape directory. Once in the ENDS directory of a state, the listed products will be legal for sale. Every vape manufacturer then asks the same question: why does this brand appear in the directory, not mine? Let’s find out how a vape directory works, the possible requirements a vape needs to meet, and how the future approved vape list evolves. Hope you can finally get vapes of your brand listed in every vape directory published.
Table of Contents
1. FDA Approved Vape List: Most Hardcore Vape Directory
The latest addition to e-cigarettes authorized by the FDA list was exactly 2 months ago, which added 1 battery device and 5 pods to the list. It’s worth noting that this table can be up to date for months or even years despite zero changes because the process is complicated and inscrutable.
Before Glas appeared in the list, only vape brands by Big Tobacco succeeded in getting FDA authorization. Other brands either get stuck in the pending status or receive RTF letters in the end. Both high investment and specific personnel are needed for a vape to become FDA approved.
2. Florida and the NDD Directory
Florida is the first state that has implemented a negative vape list or black list for e-cigarettes, known as the NDD Directory (Nicotine Dispensing Devices). What The Florida?
NDD is not any vape, but those that are considered to be attractive to minors. E-cigarettes that have any of the following features can be added to the NDD Directory:
(1) Designed to Be Attractive to Minors
E-cigarettes with bright colors or cartoon characters fall under the ban. Most disposable vapes come in bright colors. As for cartoon characters, the R&M vape, which borrows the thunder of Rick and Morty, is subject to this too.
(2) Vapes that Children Can Easily Use or Conceal
Draw-activated disposable vapes usually don’t come with a switch. Minors might use them by mistake. The good news is that if a vape is TPD-compliant, it should come with children-restraint packaging, which is common for vapes in the UK and European countries.
The second part indicates that those vapes resemble everyday items or school stationery. If a vape looks like a pen or watch, it will be difficult to identify, and underage vaping can’t be stopped in time. It’s worth noting that Westchester County strengthens the flavored vape ban and also bans the sale of vaping products that look like highlighter pens, smartphone cases, toys, and other daily objects.
(3) Use of/Resemblance to Food Trade Dress
Trade dress can be the shape of a product, the unique colors and arrangement, packaging designs, and such. In the United States, trade dress is protected under trademark law.
For instance, if a product looks like a Coca-Cola, such as the Lost Vape LE BAR 40K, it was quickly removed from the official website.
(4) Marketing that is Appealing to Minors
Slogans like “Cool!” or “Awesome” may appeal to children; so do the memes embedded in the advertisement, like 67.
(5) Vapes/Flavors Names Borrowed from Candy or Cereal Products
More and more disposable vape and e-liquid flavors directly take the name of famous candies and cereal. The Jolly series of Pod Juice is involved in trademark infringement of The Hershey Company, which holds the Jolly Rancher mark.
The NDD Vape Directory could be effective in curbing underage vaping but neglects the obstacles faced by enforcement. White-label vapes are flooding the US market now, and it’s impossible to add every vape that violates the regulations to the blacklist. The Florida vape blacklist hasn’t been updated since August 13, 2025. However, popular vapes on the US market can fall within the restrictions of NDD easily and get banned in Florida, as long as the officials are efficient enough.
3. What Requirements Do State Vape Directories Share?
Since more and more states decide to publish a whitelist for e-cigarettes, it’s crucial for vape brands and manufacturers to learn about the requirements. Chinese vape brands have gone rogue for nearly a decade and refuse to comply with the regulations and laws, seeking to maximize profits. Well, the strengthened confiscation by customs and other departments will make them pay unless they play by the book. Here is the ranking of requirements/items that may appear in the upcoming vape directory according to the approved vape lists published by 12 states. You can prepare for both product eligibility and application and documentation.
(12 States with Published ENDS Directory: AL · AR · LA · MS · NE · NC · OK · PA · TN · UT · VA · WI)
Product-eligibility conditions
These are alternative routes, or conditions within a route—not requirements that every product must satisfy together.
| Rank | Product-eligibility condition | State coverage | States / qualifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | FDA marketing authorization | 11/12 | All except Nebraska recognize an FDA Marketing Granted Order (MGO) as an eligibility route. |
| 1= | Qualifying PMTA submitted by the applicable deadline | 11/12 | All except Nebraska recognize an application-based route. Historical market dates, submission deadlines and required application status differ. |
| 3 | FDA denial stayed, rescinded, vacated or otherwise not legally effective | 10 explicit + Oklahoma conditional | Ten states explicitly recognize qualifying relief from a denial. Oklahoma requires supporting FDA/court documents within its existing eligibility framework. |
| 4= | Name, brand-style or packaging-only variation of a qualifying product | 3/12 | Arkansas, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Substantive product changes do not automatically qualify. |
| 4= | Formally documented FDA temporary exemption | 3/12 | Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana, subject to their respective provisions. Requires applicable official documentation. |
Application and documentation requirements
These are additional filing obligations, subject to the applicant’s circumstances and the eligibility route used.
| Rank | Application or documentation requirement | State coverage documented | States / qualifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | State application and manufacturer certification | 12/12 | Complete the state’s prescribed submission and certification process. |
| 1= | Identification of the products submitted | 12/12 | Supply brand, product, style or equivalent identifiers. Exact fields vary; a UPC requirement is not established for all states. |
| 3= | Supporting FDA or application-status documentation | 11/12 | All except Nebraska’s different certification model. Evidence may include an MGO, application correspondence or qualifying FDA/court orders. |
| 3= | Application or listing fees | At least 11/12 | Oklahoma’s fee requirement is unconfirmed in the workbook. Fees may apply per manufacturer, brand family, style or SKU. |
| 5 | Annual renewal, filing or payment | At least 10/12 | Nebraska explicitly requires no annual renewal. Oklahoma’s recurring obligation is unspecified. |
| 6 | Registered agent when applicable | At least 6/12 | Explicitly recorded for Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina and Utah. Coverage elsewhere is incompletely documented. |
4. States with Upcoming Vape Directory
Iowa should have released the Iowa state directory of vapes on October 15. However, it was postponed. As a result, there will be 4 states releasing their approved vape lists:
| State | Time | Known Requirements (Distinctive Features) |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | Delayed; TBD | FDA marketing granted order (MGO) OR qualifying PMTA submitted by September 9, 2020, with the product marketed by August 8, 2016, and no effective final FDA decision. |
| Indiana | After December 31, 2026 | Indiana e-liquid manufacturing permit, documentation of FDA marketing authorization or PMTA status, foreign-adversary sourcing restrictions, and child-resistant packaging. |
| Hawaii | January 1, 2027 | FDA marketing granted order (MGO) required; a pending PMTA is insufficient, and products meeting the state’s definition of disposable electronic smoking devices are excluded. |
| South Carolina | February 1, 2027, or later | FDA marketing granted order (MGO) OR qualifying historical PMTA status, plus foreign manufacturing disclosures and restrictions on child-appealing packaging and marketing. |
Among them, Hawaii will have the strictest vape ban, as e-cigarettes need to be authorized by the FDA first, which is mandatory. South Carolina requires foreign manufacturing disclosure, and hopefully this will reveal the real source of some vape brands. The third one plans to release the directory first in 2027, with an ongoing foreign vape ban in Indiana.
5. The Impact of Vape Directories in the United States
(1) More Targeted and Efficient Enforcement
For states with an approved vape list, enforcement is much easier. Officers have the directory for reference when they need to decide which vapes are legal for sale locally.
As to Florida, the only state with a blacklist for vapes right now, the officers have to let go of those disposable vapes that fall within the restriction but do nothing about them, as they are not in the NDD Directory.
(2) Fewer New Vape Designs
Mimicking and copycatting have already spread among vape brands, not to mention how many OEM/ODM vape factories there are in China. Chinese vape manufacturers tend to mimic the brand name, appearance, and flavors of each other rather than figure out how some brands, like Glas, got approved by the FDA. At least, they are in denial, as being compliant with laws means a reduction of profits. The US market may be flooded with plain and dull vaping devices that look alike again if they believe a book is judged by its cover only.
(3) Fewer Loopholes in Vape Laws
The best example is the UTL (Unflavored Tobacco List) in California. California implemented flavor bans at first. Then the UTL was released. Clear flavor vapes and tobacco vapes of other brands are excluded. In the near future, a disposable vape ban will take effect in CA, eliminating vapes including JUULs. There will be fewer loopholes and thus fewer vape options.
6. Conclusion
The US vape market is no longer the Wild West of years ago. Playing by the book is prior to fancy features or exaggerated puff counts. Brands that neglect compliance will suffer in the near future. If you want to have your vapes be listed in the vape directories of different states, just meet the requirements first. Chinese vape brands take the larger part of the US market, but none of them are authorized by the FDA. The reason lies in how they evaluate and respect laws and deals.
