Vietnam sets fines of up to $190 for e-cigarette use under new decree

Decree No. 371, which took effect on December 31, 2025, sets out sanctions for both the use of e-cigarettes and HTPs and for facilitating their use.

Under the new rules, individuals caught using these products can be fined VND3-5 million ($114–190) and are required to destroy the devices.

The decree defines e-cigarettes as devices comprising an electronic component, an e-liquid container, and the e-liquid itself, while HTPs are described as electronic devices used with specially processed tobacco.

Those who allow e-cigarettes or HTPs to be used on premises they own or manage face fines ranging from VND5 million to VND10 million ($380), while organizations committing the same violations are subject to penalties twice as high as those imposed on individuals.

The enforcement measures come more than a year after Vietnam’s law-making National Assembly passed a resolution on November 30, 2024, banning the production, trade, import, and use of e-cigarettes and HTPs nationwide from January 1, 2025.

The ban was introduced amid mounting evidence of the health risks associated with these products.

With the prohibition now in force, Vietnam has become the sixth country in Southeast Asia and one of 43 countries worldwide to implement a comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes and HTPs, according to news site VnExpress.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan has warned that e-cigarettes and HTPs pose serious threats to public health, particularly among young people.

Often promoted as so-called new-generation tobacco products, they are highly addictive due to their nicotine content and have been linked to a range of serious illnesses, including cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, acute lung injury, and mental health disorders.

Data from the health ministry shows that the use of e-cigarettes and HTPs among students aged 13-15 rose sharply to eight percent in 2023 from 3.5 percent a year earlier.

Among people aged 15-24, the usage rate reached 7.3 percent in 2023.

Lower rates were recorded in older age groups, with 3.2 percent among those aged 25-44 and 1.4 percent among those aged 45-64.

Health authorities have also reported a growing number of poisoning cases linked to the use of e-cigarettes and HTPs, most of which involved students, including many female users.