From 1 October 2026, a cartridge or disposable pod sold in Malaysia may hold no more than 2 ml of liquid, down from 3 ml. The limit is regulation 9(4) of the Packaging and Labelling Regulations 2024, P.U.(A) 261/2024, and it took effect on that date under the regulation’s own terms. No new instrument was needed.
The pod limit is the last scheduled step in the rules set by Act 852 and its regulations. The nicotine limit has been 20 mg per ml since 1 October 2025. No national ban has a commencement date in law, and no bill has been published. Everything here is the position as at 23 October 2026. As at that date we have seen no statement or enforcement report on the new pod limit from the Ministry of Health, KPDN or Customs.
The Act: assented, gazetted, then in force
The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) received royal assent on 24 January 2024 and was published in the Gazette on 2 February 2024. Publication did not bring it into force. Section 1(2) left its start to “a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette”.
That date was 1 October 2024, when the Act came into force together with its regulations and orders (Berita RTM, 1 October 2024).
From 1 October 2024 the following were prohibited:
- sale or supply to anyone under 18;
- online sale;
- sale through vending machines;
- sale at educational institutions;
- products in game or toy formats;
- advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
The same day, the 28 categories of no-smoking place declared by P.U.(A) 257/2024 came into force, covering vaping as well as smoking, as did the Packaging and Labelling Regulations. Each regulation is listed, with its text, on our Act 852 page.
The display ban: law in 2024, enforced from 2025
The display ban is regulation 6 of the Control of Sale Regulations 2024, P.U.(A) 260/2024. It bars the display of tobacco products, smoking substances and substitute tobacco products except at specialised stores, and even there products must not be “seen conspicuously” from outside. Those regulations came into operation on 1 October 2024, and regulation 6 has no separate commencement date.
The date most often reported, 1 April 2025, is when the Ministry of Health began enforcing the ban at sales counters. Bernama reported on 24 March 2025 that the Ministry said more than 51,000 shops would be affected, with enforcement in two stages, immediate and phased, and the whole process expected to be completed by 1 October 2025.
On 8 April 2025 the Health Minister said that during phased enforcement, the Ministry would issue a notification or warning letter to parties found not to comply (The Vibes, 8 April 2025). No number of letters was given, and the 51,000 figure counts shops affected, not letters, inspections or offences. Retailers will find the detail on our compliance page.
Registration: three dates
Registration is with the Ministry of Health under P.U.(A) 262/2024. The fee is RM5,000 per variant, and each application needs a laboratory analysis report from an approved laboratory. Three dates apply:
- the registration window opened in October 2024 (CodeBlue, 9 June 2025);
- section 54(1) of the Act gave anyone already importing, manufacturing or distributing six months, until 1 April 2025, to apply;
- from 1 October 2025, unregistered products may not be on the market.
CodeBlue reported in June 2025 that the Ministry had not yet approved any registrations. We have not seen a published list or count of approved products since, so we do not give one.
Nicotine and pod limits
Regulation 9 of P.U.(A) 261/2024 sets two limits, each in two steps. Nicotine was capped at 35 mg per ml from 1 October 2024 and at 20 mg per ml from 1 October 2025. Cartridges and disposable pods were capped at 3 ml from 1 October 2024. Regulation 9(4) then provides that “from 1 October 2026, the maximum volume of smoking substance permissible for each cartridge or disposable pod is 2 ml.”
The pod limit covers cartridges and disposable pods, not refill bottles. We have found no amendment or deferral of regulation 9(4). The limits do not settle whether nicotine liquid may lawfully be sold, which is the open question after the Poisons List ruling below. Our consumer guide covers what a compliant product shows.
Excise: from 2021
From 1 January 2021, vape devices were charged at 10% ad valorem and liquid or gel without nicotine at 40 sen per ml. The date and scope come from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department’s FAQ, as summarised by the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (e-CTIM TECH-IT 42/2020), and the rates were reported by FMT on 8 December 2020. Nicotine liquid was not taxed then.
Excise of RM0.40 per ml on liquid or gel containing nicotine took effect on 1 April 2023, through the Excise Duties (Amendment) Order 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance’s media release dated 2 April 2023. Collection began in May 2023, after the Customs registration window closed on 30 April 2023. The 2023 exemption of nicotine liquid and gel from the Poisons List took effect the same day.
Two errors circulate. The start date is often given as 1 January 2024, which is wrong. RM1.20 per ml was a Budget 2022 proposal that was shelved and never charged. The 40 sen rate is set in the order itself, P.U.(A) 98/2023, gazetted on 31 March 2023. Our tax page has the full working.
What is not scheduled
On 16 December 2025 the Health Minister told reporters, as reported by The Star, that “the decision has already been made at the Cabinet level to move towards a ban”, with implementation targeted “by mid-2026 or, at the latest, by the end of the year”. That is a stated target, not a legal date.
Section 21 of Act 852 lets the Minister, on a committee’s recommendation and where satisfied there is an acute or critical situation, prohibit or restrict importation, manufacture, distribution or sale by order in the Gazette. We have seen no such order.
The Dewan Rakyat began a 37-day sitting on 5 October 2026, which runs to 8 December (Bernama, 5 October 2026). Budget 2027 was tabled on 9 October 2026 (Bernama, 9 October 2026). The budget speech does not mention vape, tobacco or excise duty, and the Budget made no change to vape excise (Ministry of Finance, Budget 2027 documents). MyWATCH, a tobacco-control group, said the Budget carried no clear commitment to ban the commercial sale of vape (CodeBlue, 13 October 2026). The Hansard for the sitting days published up to 21 October 2026 records no vape, GEG or Poisons bill and no ministerial statement on vape. Among the bills reported for the opening week, none concerned vape, nicotine or tobacco (The Star, 3 October 2026).
Business licensing is a state matter. That is why seven states have been able to stop vape sales locally while Act 852 remains federal law. One of the seven, Perak, is contested in court. The details are on our state restrictions page.
On 15 May 2026 the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared the 2023 exemption of nicotine liquid and gel from the Poisons List irrational and ultra vires section 6 of the Poisons Act 1952. The court made declarations only: the 2023 order was not quashed and has not been repealed. On 18 August 2026 the Government filed a notice of discontinuance withdrawing its appeal, so the ruling stands. Two readings have been reported. CodeBlue, published by the Galen Centre which supported the case, described the effect on 1 September 2026 as a de facto ban on ordinary nicotine vape retail. The Attorney General was reported as saying the appeal was dropped because Act 852 already provides a framework for regulating the sale and use of nicotine vape products (FMT, 18 August 2026). The Ministry of Health has not said what the ruling means for retail sale, and the position remains unresolved. Our policy tracker follows it.
The dates at a glance
- 1 January 2021: excise on vape devices (10% ad valorem) and on liquid without nicotine (40 sen per ml) begins.
- 1 April 2023: excise of RM0.40 per ml on nicotine liquid or gel takes effect, with collection from May 2023.
- 24 January 2024: Act 852 receives royal assent.
- 2 February 2024: Act 852 is published in the Gazette.
- 1 October 2024: Act 852 comes into force with its regulations, including the display ban in law, the 35 mg per ml nicotine cap and the 3 ml pod cap.
- 1 April 2025: the Ministry of Health begins enforcing the display ban at sales counters; deadline for existing operators to apply for registration.
- 1 October 2025: the nicotine cap falls to 20 mg per ml; unregistered products may not be on the market; phased display enforcement expected to be completed.
- 1 October 2026: the cap on cartridges and disposable pods falls to 2 ml.
We update this article when a date moves. Our own position, that vaping should be regulated rather than banned, is on our position page.