Vietnam banned e-cigarettes and heated tobacco outright from 1 January 2025, so a vape in your bag is contraband; duty-free allowance is 200 cigarettes and modest spirits, cash over USD 5,000 must be declared, and drug offences can carry the death penalty.
- E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products have been banned nationwide since 1 January 2025. Vietnam's National Assembly adopted Resolution 173/2024/QH15 in November 2024, prohibiting the production, trade, import, storage, transport and use of these products; the World Health Organization confirmed the ban remains in force, with no exemptions, as of December 2025. The UK FCDO separately confirms vapes are banned and cannot be brought into the country.
- Duty-free allowance: 200 cigarettes, or 20 cigars, or 250g of loose tobacco; and 1.5 litres of spirits at 20% ABV or higher, or 2 litres under 20% ABV, or 3 litres of other alcoholic drinks/beer - per adult traveller, per Vietnam Customs' own allowance table.
- Cash equivalent to USD 5,000 or more must be declared, along with Vietnamese dong above a separate and much lower threshold, per the UK FCDO.
- Drug offences carry the death penalty for the most serious cases regardless of the quantity involved, per the UK FCDO.
- Cultural relics and antiquities may not be exported without a permit. Vietnam's Law on Cultural Heritage prohibits illegal trade or transport of relics and antiquities, and the US State Department's cultural-property rules reflect a bilateral agreement restricting import of undocumented Vietnamese antiquities into the US - ask the seller for export paperwork before you pay for older items sold in Hanoi and Hoi An shops.
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