Industry News

How many countries ban vaping product sales or use in the world

2022-09-22
In some Ccountries, vaping is completely illegal, including both sales and use. Prohibition is most common in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Australia has a bizarre prescription-only model for vaping products, and unauthorized importation can result in huge fines. In Japan, nicotine vaping products are illegal, but heated tobacco devices like IQOS are completely legal and widely used.

Some countries have outright bans on use and sales, others just ban sales, and some ban only nicotine-containing products. In many countries, the laws are ignored and black markets flourish. In others, they’re enforced (but those still have black markets too). If a country is not listed, vaping is either allowed and regulated, or there is no specific law governing e-cigarettes (as of now anyway).

This isn’t meant as a definitive legal guide for traveling vapers. If you’re visiting an unfamiliar country you should first check with an up-to-date official source like your country’s state department, or the travel bureau of the country you’re visiting.

Antigua and Barbuda
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Argentina
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Australia
Legal to use, illegal to possess nicotine without a doctor’s prescription. Importing nicotine illegally can be punished with fines of up to $222,000. Penalties for possession vary from one state to the next, but can also be quite severe

Bangladesh
Bangladesh currently has no laws or regulations specific to vaping. However, in 2021 the government announced it would update the country’s tobacco control law with an outright ban on the sales of e-cigarettes

Bhutan
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Brazil
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Brunei Darussalam
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Cambodia
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Chile
Legal to use, illegal to sell (except approved medical products)

Colombia
Legal to use, illegal to sell

East Timor
Believed to be banned

Egypt
Legal to use, illegal to sell—although the country may be on the verge of regulating vaping products

Ethiopia
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Gambia
Believed illegal to use, illegal to sell

Hong Kong
Legal to use, illegal to sell. The local government ban on sales, importation, manufacture and promotion on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products takes effect April 30, 2022

India
Legal to use, illegal to sell. In September 2019, the Indian central government banned sales of vaping products. The government, well aware that 100 million Indians smoke and that tobacco kills nearly a million people a year, did not make any moves to reduce access to cigarettes. Not coincidentally, the Indian government owns a large share of the country’s largest tobacco company

Iran
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Jamaica
Legal to use, illegal to sell nicotine-containing products without a medical license

Japan
Legal to use, legal to sell devices and zero-nicotine e-liquid, but illegal to sell nicotine-containing liquid (although individuals can import nicotine-containing products with some restrictions). Heated tobacco products (HTPs) like IQOS are legal and extremely popular

Kuwait
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos)
Illegal to use, illegal to sell

Lebanon
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Macau
Legal to use, illegal to sell. Imports for personal use are currently not banned, but the government is working on that too

Malaysia
Legal to use, illegal to sell nicotine-containing products. Although consumer sales of nicotine-containing products is illegal, Malaysia has a thriving vaping market. Authorities occasionally raid retailers and confiscate products. Sales of all vaping products (even without nicotine) are banned outright in the states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Penang and Terengganu

Mauritius
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Mexico
Legal to use, illegal to sell. The Mexican president issued a decree banning sales of all vapes and heated tobacco products in May 2022. The law includes nicotine-free products

Myanmar
Believed to be banned

Nepal
Legal to use, possibly illegal to sell (although the government itself seems unsure)

Nicaragua
Believed illegal to use, illegal to sell

Oman
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Panama
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Qatar
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Seychelles
Legal to use, illegal to sell. However, the country announced in 2019 its intention to legalize and regulate e-cigarettes

Singapore
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell. As of 2018, possession of vapes is a crime, punishable by fines and even prison time. However, the threat of prosecution doesn’t prevent a thriving black market

Sri Lanka
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Suriname
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Syria
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Thailand
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell. Thailand has earned a reputation for enforcing its ban on importation and sales of vaping products with several high-profile incidents in recent years, including detaining and even deporting vaping tourists

Timor-Leste
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Turkey
Legal to use, illegal to import. Importation of vaping products is illegal in Turkey, and when the country reaffirmed its ban in 2017, the World Health Organization issued a press release cheering the decision. But Turkey’s laws are conflicting, and there is a vaping market and a vaping community in Turkey

Turkmenistan
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Uganda
Legal to use, illegal to sell

United States
Legal to use, legal to sell—but sales of products not authorized by the FDA became technically illegal as of Sept. 9, 2021. Although no state has banned sales of vaping products outright, many have bans on flavored products or online sales. Some California cities, notably San Francisco, have banned sales of all e-cigarettes

Uruguay
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Vatican City
Believed to be banned

Venezuela
Legal to use, believed illegal to sell, unless approved as medical products

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