Act 852, or Akta 852, is the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, in Bahasa Malaysia the Akta Kawalan Produk Merokok Demi Kesihatan Awam 2024. It is the main federal law on tobacco and vape products in Malaysia, in force since 1 October 2024. It regulates rather than bans: it covers registration, advertising, and the sale and purchase of tobacco products, smoking substances and substitute tobacco products. Our Act 852 page carries the full summary.
Most of the working detail of Akta 852 sits in regulations made under it, on registration, sale, and packaging and labelling. The most recent change is the 2 ml limit on cartridges and disposable pods, in force since 1 October 2026. The Act does not ban vape and does not contain the generational end game. Nicotine pouches that contain no tobacco fall under the Poisons Act instead, on the Ministry of Health’s classification.
The position described here is as at 23 October 2026. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
Where it came from
The Bill was tabled for first reading on 28 November 2023 without the generational end game that had been part of the 2022 tobacco control bill (Malay Mail, 28 November 2023). The Dewan Rakyat passed it by voice vote on 30 November 2023 (The Star, 30 November 2023). MOVE opposed the generational end game and filed a memorandum of objection at Parliament in 2022.
The Act received royal assent on 24 January 2024 and was published in the Gazette on 2 February 2024. The Attorney General’s Chambers register records its commencement on 1 October 2024, under P.U.(B) 388/2024.
What counts as a smoking product
Section 2 groups “smoking products” into three categories, and the definitions are wide.
- A “tobacco product” is processed tobacco or any product containing tobacco designed for human consumption.
- A “smoking substance” includes “nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol and triethylene glycol”. That is e-liquid, with or without nicotine.
- A “substitute tobacco product” is “any product or processed product, other than a tobacco product, that is capable of being smoked, whether with or without smoking substance”. This is the definition that brings vape devices in, empty or not.
“Smoking” is defined to include inhaling and expelling vapour, and holding a product “which is ignited, heated or vaporized”. This is why every no-smoking rule in the Act applies to vaping. A “minor” is anyone under 18, and “sale” includes electronic sale.
What it requires
Manufacturers and importers
Under section 3, no smoking product may be imported, manufactured or distributed unless it is registered. The Registration Regulations, P.U.(A) 262/2024, set a fee of RM5,000 for each application and require a laboratory analysis report from an approved laboratory. That is a requirement at registration. It does not mean every bottle or batch is tested. The Ministry of Health’s FAQ, issued in October 2024, set 1 April 2025 as the start of enforcement of registration.
The Packaging and Labelling Regulations, P.U.(A) 261/2024, set the product limits:
- nicotine at no more than 20 mg per ml from 1 October 2025, down from 35 mg per ml;
- cartridges and disposable pods at no more than 2 ml from 1 October 2026, down from 3 ml, under regulation 9(4), by the regulation’s own terms;
- health warnings covering 65% of the front and back panels.
The pod limit applies to cartridges and disposable pods, not to bottled liquid. The Attorney General’s Chambers register, read on 23 October 2026, lists no amendment or deferral of regulation 9(4), and we have seen no Ministry statement or enforcement report on it. What a compliant bottle should show is on our consumer guide.
Retailers
Regulation 3 of the Control of Sale Regulations, P.U.(A) 260/2024, prohibits the sale of any smoking product online or through a vending machine. The Ministry of Health’s FAQ puts it plainly: online vape sales are “TIDAK DIBENARKAN”. This applies to every seller, specialist stores included.
The other rules for shops:
- no sale to anyone under 18 (section 13);
- no display except in a kedai khas, a fixed business premises licensed by the licensing authority only to sell smoking products, and even there the products must not be easily seen from outside;
- no sale inside an educational institution or within 40 metres of its boundary, or within 3 metres of its entrance where it sits in a commercial building;
- no sale on temporary roads, stalls or markets;
- no sale from an opened pack or as single items;
- an under-18 warning sign at the counter, 50 cm by 60 cm, carrying the “<18” symbol.
The specialist-store exception covers display only. The Act also bans advertising, including any advertisement that promotes a smoking product “as a quit smoking product” (section 7), and promotion and sponsorship that is “intended or likely to encourage any person to smoke” (section 9). Our compliance page sets out each duty for a shop.
Everyone
Under section 16 the Minister may declare non-smoking places, and smoking or vaping in one carries a fine of up to RM5,000. The declaration is P.U.(A) 257/2024, in force since 1 October 2024. The Ministry of Health lists 28 categories of place, and the Order also carries a schedule of state-specific places.
Minors may not buy smoking products (section 13(3)) or smoke or vape (section 17). The penalty is a fine of up to RM500, or community service.
The penalties, in brief
One scale applies to unregistered products (section 3), the sale and display rules (section 10) and sale to a minor (section 13). For a first offence, an individual faces a fine of up to RM20,000 or up to one year in prison, or both. A company faces a fine of RM20,000 to RM100,000 or up to two years in prison, or both. Repeat offences carry more. The full table is on our compliance page.
What it does not do
It does not ban vape
As at 23 October 2026, no instrument prohibiting sale is on the Attorney General’s Chambers register. Section 21 allows the Minister to prohibit or restrict by order in the Gazette, but only on being satisfied that there is “an acute or critical situation”, and on the recommendation of a committee. No such order has been made.
On 16 December 2025 The Star quoted the Health Minister as saying that “the decision has already been made at the Cabinet level to move towards a ban”. No ban bill has been tabled. The Dewan Rakyat began a 37-day sitting on 5 October 2026, scheduled to end on 8 December (Bernama, 5 October 2026). The Star’s preview of the sitting, published on 3 October 2026, does not mention vape (The Star, 3 October 2026). Our policy tracker follows the position.
It does not contain the generational end game
The generational end game, which would have barred anyone born on or after 1 January 2007, was in the bills of 2022 and June 2023, not the Act. The Health Minister told Parliament in March 2024 that it was dropped because of a constitutional issue, not industry pressure (The Star, 20 March 2024). In August 2025 the Health Ministry said in a written parliamentary reply that the Government had no plans to reinstate it, and pointed out that sale to and use by minors are already prohibited under sections 13 and 17 (The Star, 13 August 2025).
It does not cover nicotine pouches that contain no tobacco
The Ministry of Health said in June 2026 that nicotine pouches are Group C poisons under the Poisons Act, so their sale is restricted to authorised persons such as licensed pharmacists or registered medical practitioners, and that selling them online or through other channels without authorisation may constitute an offence. The Star, reporting this, noted that Act 852 does not cover products that are not used for smoking or do not contain tobacco. A pouch that does contain tobacco would meet the Act’s own definition of a tobacco product. We have seen no Ministry ruling on that case.
It does not settle the nicotine question, or license shops
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 Star, 15 May 2026). The court made declarations only: the 2023 order was not quashed and has not been repealed. The Government withdrew its appeal on 18 August 2026, so the ruling stands (see Where the law stands). As at 23 October 2026 the Ministry of Health has yet to clarify what it means for retail sale.
None of the Act’s 54 sections licenses a shop. The right to trade comes from a local authority business licence. Our state restrictions page sets out where states have used it.
Read the primary text
We would rather you read the Act than take our summary of it. The Act, the three sets of regulations and the Ministry of Health’s enforcement FAQ are linked in this article’s sources list, and the glossary carries the definitions.
For adults aged 18 and above. We do not sell any products.