CONSULTATION CLOSES 7 OCTOBER 2026 -- HAVE YOUR SAY

UK GOVERNMENT FIREWORKS CONSULTATION

STOP A BACKDOOR BAN ON CONSUMER FIREWORKS

The Government is considering changes that could remove many familiar consumer fireworks from sale, restrict family and community celebrations, and threaten legitimate businesses and jobs.

Understand the proposals, tell us what you genuinely think, and create clear answers for the official consultation.

Build My Consultation Response

Your answers remain yours. Review and edit everything before submitting.

Your response

Build, review, then submit

Understand the Government proposals.

Answer in your own words.

Review and edit your answers.

How it works

Understand it. Share your view. Have your say.

Work through a short interview, then review answers that reflect your own views before using the official consultation form.

1
Understand the proposals
Read the main issues in plain English before deciding what you want to say.
2
Tell us your views
Answer a focused interview using your own words, experience and judgement.
3
Review your prepared answers
Check every answer carefully and edit anything that does not reflect your view.
4
Submit them through the official consultation
Use your reviewed answers when completing the Government's consultation form.

Consultation overview

The core issues at a glance

The consultation covers product availability, multi-shot fireworks, noise limits and how quickly any changes could take effect.

Product restrictions

The consultation asks whether further Category F2 and F3 consumer fireworks should be added to the banned list. The BFA's position is that no additional compliant products should be banned.

Multi-shot cakes and barrages

The consultation asks whether the rules should explicitly ban fireworks made up of more than one shot tube. The BFA says this would capture cakes, barrages and combination fireworks.

Noise limits

The consultation asks whether the maximum legal noise limit for consumer fireworks should remain at 120 dB (A,imp) or be reduced. The BFA's position is that the current limit should remain.

Transition and business impact

The consultation asks how much lead-in time businesses and enforcement bodies would need if changes are introduced. The BFA recommends a minimum period of 7 to 10 years.

Consultation questions

Explore the 10 response areas

Open any question to see what Government is asking, what it means in plain English and the BFA's view.

Q1Further bans on consumer fireworks

Government question

Are there any other particular F2 and F3 fireworks products that you think the general public should not be allowed to buy? Please state which products and give your reasons.

In plain English

This asks whether any further Category F2 or F3 consumer fireworks should be banned from sale to the general public.

BFA view

BFA view: No.

Why the BFA takes this view

The existing restrictions on Category F2 and F3 fireworks under the UK version of the Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2015 are already amongst the most stringent in Europe.
Legitimate consumer products undergo exhaustive safety testing, chemical composition limits, including strict flashpowder controls, and rigorous UKCA/CE conformity assessments.
Further bans on compliant, highly regulated F2/F3 products will do absolutely nothing to reduce anti-social behaviour.
Individuals who engage in fireworks misuse or street disorder often do not purchase legitimate, high-quality products from licensed, bricks-and-mortar retailers; they source illegal, non-compliant explosives from social media bootleggers and international black-market.
Banning additional legal categories simply penalises law-abiding families, destroys the commercial viability of multi-generational UK retail businesses, and actively drives consumers directly into the hands of unregulated, dangerous black-market operators.

Q2Consequences of more product bans

Government question

If more products are added to the regulation 33 banned list, what consequences might there be for consumers, industry, enforcement authorities, professional users, and others? Please give your reasons.

In plain English

This asks what practical consequences further product bans could have for consumers, businesses, enforcement bodies, professional users and emergency services.

BFA view

BFA view: Adding more products to the banned list would have severe negative consequences for consumers, industry, enforcement authorities, professional users and emergency services.

Why the BFA takes this view

For consumers, banning more legal products will severely restrict safe, traditional family and community celebrations such as Bonfire Night, Diwali, Chinese New Year and New Year's Eve.
Deprived of safe, regulated items, consumers will either pay exorbitant prices for extremely limited legal stock or turn to online grey markets and backstreet sellers to source prohibited products, significantly increasing the risk of domestic accidents and severe injuries.
The black market already exists, and greater restrictions will be a boon for it.
For industry, the economic fallout would be catastrophic because the UK fireworks industry operates on an extremely long and highly leveraged supply chain, with orders and manufacturing in China planned up to 18-24 months in advance.
Sudden additions to the banned list would result in millions of pounds of instantly write-off, unsellable inventory.

Q3Multi-shot cakes and barrages

Government question

Do you agree that regulation 33(1)(g) should be amended to make explicit that a firework comprising more than one shot tube is banned from sale to the general public? Please give your reasons.

In plain English

This asks whether the rules should explicitly ban fireworks made up of more than one shot tube, which BFA says describes cakes, barrages and combination fireworks.

BFA view

BFA view: Strongly disagree.

Why the BFA takes this view

A firework comprising more than one shot tube is the exact technical and legal description of a cake, barrage or combination firework.
These products are the absolute bedrock of the UK consumer fireworks market, representing over 70% of all F2 and F3 retail sales.
If this amendment is intended to ban multi-shot cakes and barrages from public sale, it would instantly destroy the UK consumer fireworks industry overnight.
No importer, distributor or specialist retailer could survive such a sweeping restriction.
From a public safety perspective, cakes and barrages are scientifically the safest fireworks available to the general public. They are heavy, flat-bottomed, stable blocks that are secured to the ground, firing vertically in a highly controlled, pre-engineered sequence.

Q4Christmas crackers

Government question

Do you agree that the age limit for purchasing Christmas crackers should be removed? Please give your reasons.

In plain English

This asks whether the purchasing age limit for Christmas crackers should be removed.

BFA view

BFA view: Strongly agree.

Why the BFA takes this view

Christmas crackers are classified as Category F1 pyrotechnics but present a negligible, near-zero safety hazard.
Maintaining an active age limit, historically 12 years of age, on what is universally regarded as a harmless, traditional family table decoration is an unnecessary, absurd administrative burden for supermarket staff and independent retailers.
Removing this age limit is a sensible, common-sense deregulatory measure.
It allows Trading Standards and police to focus their limited resources on actual high-risk enforcement, such as targeting illegal online sales of F2/F3 fireworks to minors, rather than auditing the sale of festive table decorations.
Christmas crackers are Category F1 pyrotechnics but present a negligible, near-zero safety hazard.

Q5Other F1 and P1 products

Government question

Are there any other specific F1 and P1 pyrotechnics that should have their regulatory requirements increased or decreased? Please state which products, what regulatory requirements you think they should have and give your reasons.

In plain English

This asks whether any other lower-risk F1 products or P1 pyrotechnics should have their rules tightened or relaxed.

BFA view

BFA view: No changes to increase requirements; maintain the current robust frameworks.

Why the BFA takes this view

Category F1 low-hazard indoor items and sparklers, and P1 specialist pyrotechnics like smoke flares, are already governed by exceptionally robust safety standards, transport regulations, and storage licensing requirements.
The current age limits, 16 for F1 and 18 for P1, and Net Explosive Quantity limits are perfectly balanced.
Any further regulatory tightening on P1 items would create pointless, damaging red tape for maritime safety, agricultural smoke products such as pest control, and sporting events, with zero measurable safety benefit to the public.
F1 and P1 products are already governed by safety standards, transport regulations and storage licensing requirements.
current age limits are 16 for F1 and 18 for P1.

Q6Maximum noise level

Government question

Do you agree the decibel level of fireworks consumers use should be lowered? Choose one of the following options: No, the maximum noise limit for fireworks should remain at 120 dB (A,imp); Yes, to 110 dB (A,imp) (reducing perceived loudness by approximately half); Yes, to 100 dB (A,imp) (reducing perceived loudness by approximately three-quarters); Yes, to 90 dB (A,imp) (reducing perceived loudness by approximately seven-eighths); Don't know.

In plain English

This asks whether the maximum legal noise limit for consumer fireworks should stay at 120 dB (A,imp) or be reduced to 110, 100 or 90 dB (A,imp).

BFA view

BFA view: No, the maximum noise limit for fireworks should remain at 120 dB (A,imp).

Why the BFA takes this view

The current 120 dB (A,imp) limit is an internationally harmonised safety standard established under BS EN ISO 17201.
It is measured at the appropriate safety standing distance, 8 metres for F2 and 15 metres for F3, which ensures that the actual sound level reaching a human ear or nearby observer is already significantly lower and entirely safe.
Lowering the statutory limit to 110 dB or less is a logarithmic reduction. A 10 dB drop represents a 90% reduction in acoustic energy and cuts perceived loudness in half.
It is physically and chemically impossible to manufacture traditional aerial display fireworks, which require lift charges and bursting charges to safely disperse visual effects in the sky, under such a restrictive cap.
A lower limit would act as a de facto, backdoor ban on almost all Category F3 and the vast majority of Category F2 fireworks, rendering traditional family displays a thing of the past.

Q7Benefits of reducing noise

Government question

What might be the positive impacts of reducing the maximum decibel level of fireworks available to the general public? Please explain your answer, providing evidence where possible.

In plain English

This asks what benefits might come from reducing the maximum legal noise level for consumer fireworks.

BFA view

BFA view: None or negligible positive impacts.

Why the BFA takes this view

While animal welfare and noise reduction are highly emotive issues, a statutory decibel reduction on legal fireworks will fail to achieve these goals.
The individuals responsible for anti-social noise, street disorder and the deliberate distress of animals do not use legal, 120 dB regulated products purchased from compliant UK retailers.
They use smuggled, non-compliant, ultra-loud European flash bangers, which often exceed 130-140 dB, and illegally sourced F4 professional-grade material.
Reducing the legal limit will destroy the legal trade while leaving criminal black-market noise levels unchanged.
Pets, wildlife and vulnerable people will experience no actual reduction in anti-social noise, only the loss of safe, structured family events.

Q8Problems caused by reducing noise

Government question

What might be the negative impacts of reducing the maximum decibel level of fireworks available to the general public? Please explain your answer, providing evidence where possible.

In plain English

This asks what harms or unintended consequences might result from reducing the legal noise limit for consumer fireworks.

BFA view

BFA view: Reducing the maximum decibel level would have severe negative impacts, including economic collapse, black-market growth, compromised public safety and loss of community and cultural celebrations.

Why the BFA takes this view

A reduced maximum decibel level would render over 90% of current F2 and F3 product ranges illegal overnight.
UK importers and retailers would be left holding hundreds of millions of pounds of obsolete, unsellable inventory.
This would force the immediate closure of seasonal and year-round pyrotechnic businesses, resulting in thousands of redundancies.
Legitimate consumer demand for traditional fireworks will not disappear; it will simply shift entirely to the illicit black market.
Heavily leveraged European exporters, specifically from countries like the Netherlands, where consumer fireworks are restricted and massive stock dumping is a threat, will flood the UK with non-compliant, smuggled stock.

Q9Transition period

Government question

How much lead in time would businesses need to prepare for the changes proposed in this consultation and why? Please state a lead in time in months or years, and explain your answer, providing evidence where possible.

In plain English

This asks how much transition time businesses would need if the proposals are implemented, and why that time is needed.

BFA view

BFA view: A minimum of 7 to 10 years.

Why the BFA takes this view

The global fireworks sector operates on an exceptionally long, rigid, and complex international supply chain.
Orders for raw materials, manufacturing in China, shipping logistics and UK warehousing are planned and funded up to 24 months in advance.
If any technical changes are mandated, such as formulating lower-decibel chemical compositions, product development, stability testing, and mandatory UKCA/CE conformity assessments by approved bodies will take a minimum of 18 to 24 months per product line.
This is heavily compounded by the current manufacturing and shipping crisis in Liuyang, China, where safety incidents and customs paralysis have severely disrupted global stock flows.
Any transition period of less than 7 to 10 years would fail to allow UK businesses to safely sell through their existing, highly regulated inventory.

Q10Other considerations

Government question

What other things should we consider when setting a lead in time? You may wish to reference the impact on people who buy fireworks, enforcement bodies, police or the general public.

In plain English

This asks what wider practical issues Government should consider when deciding how long any transition period should be.

BFA view

BFA view: Government should consider safe disposal of prohibited stock, enforcement capacity, Border Force and port security, and the effect of a short transition on independent retailers.

Why the BFA takes this view

If products are banned or restricted under a short transition window, hundreds of tonnes of obsolete explosives will be stranded in UK warehouses.
Legitimate businesses cannot easily or cheaply dispose of explosives.
A short lead-in time introduces a severe public safety hazard, as cash-strapped businesses may struggle to afford specialist hazard disposal, leading to unsafe storage practices.
Trading Standards, the Health and Safety Executive and local licensing authorities are already severely under-resourced.
Forcing a rapid regulatory transition will overwhelm these bodies with testing, verification and enforcement duties, taking vital focus away from tackling the illegal online black market.

Consultation interview

Tell us what you think

Answer one plain-English question at a time. Your response will be based only on the views and experiences you provide.

Consultation interview

Prepare your consultation response

Your viewsstep 1 of 17

About 2 minutes

I’ll ask a few questions in plain English, then prepare the consultation answers using only what you tell me.

Step 1 · About you

Which best describes you?

Select every role that applies.

I'll only use what you tell me here when preparing your individual consultation response.

Autosaved locally. You can go back before generating.

Your progress is saved locally on this device. Learn how your data is used.

Prepared answers

Review your consultation response

Read each answer carefully, edit anything that is not quite right, and copy the text only when it reflects your own views.