Britain’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced today it will begin regulating electronic cigarettes starting in 2016.

“More and more people are using e-cigarettes so it’s only right these products are properly regulated to be safe and work effectively,” Britain’s Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, said in a press release.

E-cigarettes, as they are commonly known, are battery-operated devices which look like regular cigarettes. According to Medical News Today, they emit vaporized nicotine which is inhaled by the user. There is no smoke.

Under the new regulations, manufacturers will have to prove the correct amount of nicotine is being delivered.  The MHRA said it has found the labels do not always accurately list the amount of nicotine in the product.

Jeremy Mean, the MHRA’s Group Manager of Vigilance and Risk Management, said “The decision announced today provides a framework that will enable good quality products to be widely available.” Their research also showed that the amount of nicotine varied by batch.

Once licensed, the e-cigarettes will still be available over the counter in grocery stores, pharmacies and other shops.  An estimated 1.3 million people use the e-cigarettes in the U.K.

Products already on the shelves will not be recalled. Regulators say they do not want smokers to return to real cigarettes.

The MHRA says smoking is the biggest cause of preventable death in the UK, killing approximately 80,000 people each year.

“While it best to quit completely, I realize that not every smoker can and it is much better to get nicotine from safer sources such as nicotine replacement therapy,” Davies said in a statement.

Once the MHRA has approved a device, doctors may prescribe it to individuals who are trying to quit smoking.

Some manufacturers, however, are worried about the cost of the new licensing regulations.

Adrian Everett, chief executive of E-lites, told The Telegraph, “Now there is a big risk that north of 80 percent of e-cigarette companies will not be able to afford the process they are talking about introducing.”

In the United States, e-cigarettes are currently regulated as a tobacco product rather than under stricter rules for drug-delivery devices.  Although e-cigarettes account for less than one percent of the overall cigarette market, sales are expected to reach a billion dollars this year, according to Time.com.

Some countries have banned e-cigarettes entirely, including Brazil, Norway and Singapore, according to Reuters.

Have you ever smoked an e-cigarette?  Let us know your experiences in the comments section below.