Vaping in the Philippines: is it legal, and can you bring a vape? (2026)

The Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, Republic Act 11900, became law in July 2022. It moved vapes away from the Food and Drug Administration and gave jurisdiction to the DTI. The minimum age to buy, sell or use is 18 (section 6), and sellers must check a government photo ID (section 7). Online sales are allowed if the seller is registered and age checks apply on delivery.

Products must be registered with the DTI before they can be sold or advertised (section 19). Nicotine content above 65 mg/ml is banned (section 18), nicotine shots and concentrates cannot be sold or used (section 20), and flavour names that appeal to minors are prohibited. Fruit, candy-brand, dessert and cartoon names are presumed to appeal to minors (section 12(j)). In March 2026 DTI officials told a Senate hearing that flavoured products with such names had not passed licensing, according to press reports.

RA 11900 is written for importers and manufacturers, who must register what they bring in. It contains no rule about a traveller's own device, no quantity limit and no ban. We found no Bureau of Customs guidance for arriving passengers on this, so we cannot tell you whether an officer will treat a personal vape as dutiable, ask for registration papers or let it through.

Customs in general: goods that should have been declared are charged duties and taxes plus a 30% surcharge, according to Bureau of Customs arrivals guidance. Declare anything you are unsure about on the eTravel form or at the desk.

One change is pending. On 29 January 2026 the DTI circulated a draft order that would prohibit the use, manufacture, importation and distribution of open pods, open-system devices and e-liquids, and stop licence processing for them. Comments closed on 4 February. An April 2026 press report said the order was still being finalised, and we found no signed version. If it is adopted, refillable devices and bottled liquid are the products most likely to cause trouble at the border. Closed pod systems are not named in the draft.

For the airline side of travelling with a battery device, see can you bring a vape on a plane.

The legal position is short: you must be 18, show a government photo ID that carries your age or birth date, and the product has to be a registered one. Sales within 100 metres of a school or playground are banned (section 9). Selling to a minor, or buying for one, carries a fine of PHP 10,000 or up to 30 days in jail. Products without a DTI licence are illegal to sell, whatever the shop says.

Indoors in public places, vaping is allowed only in a designated vaping area (DVA) or at a point-of-sale demonstration (section 15). Several places are off limits with no exception for a DVA: schools and youth centres, elevators and stairwells, fuel stations, hospitals and clinics, food preparation areas and places of worship.

A person who vapes in a banned place is fined PHP 5,000 for a first offence, PHP 10,000 for a second and PHP 20,000 for a third (section 23(a)). The text does not distinguish visitors from residents. No building is required to provide a DVA, so in many places there is simply nowhere to go.

Heated tobacco is legal. Section 3(f) defines it as a product that heats tobacco, electronically or by other means, to give an aerosol without burning, and RA 11900 puts it under the same age limit, health-warning and indoor-use rules as vapes. Registration duties fall on importers of the devices and the sticks. We found no published number of sticks a traveller may carry, the same gap as for vapes.

Brand pages say IQOS lounges have existed at Manila's airport, in Terminal 3 international departures near Gates 111 and 112 and at Terminal 2, with the Terminal 2 one reported as temporarily closed. We could not confirm either as open, and a brand page is not an official source. The Manila Ninoy Aquino airport page lists what our data shows.

We found no rule specific to passengers who only change planes. Inside a terminal the general rule applies: vape only in a designated vaping area. If you leave the airside area, you pass through customs and the import question above applies. The main gateways are Manila, Mactan-Cebu and Clark. For cigarette allowances and smoking rules, see the Philippines rules page.

We found no source on nicotine pouches and snus, so we do not state their status.