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Tag: macau

  • Macau Pushes Ahead with Smoke-Free Plans

    Macau Pushes Ahead with Smoke-Free Plans

    Macau authorities are advancing plans to strengthen tobacco control through proposed amendments to the Tobacco Control Law, despite acknowledging enforcement challenges and a slowdown in the decline in smoking rates. Measures under consultation include expanding no-smoking zones in high-traffic areas, banning emerging products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and hookahs, and introducing standardized packaging with larger health warnings. Pilot initiatives — such as smoke-free areas near schools and public spaces, and trial smoking booths — may be expanded if successful, alongside the use of body-worn cameras by inspectors to support enforcement.

    Officials cautioned that stricter rules must be balanced with practical enforcement and market dynamics. While public support for tougher controls is strong, concerns remain around compliance and personal freedoms. Authorities also warned that significant increases in tobacco taxes could drive cross-border purchases and illicit trade, noting that current tax levels are below global benchmarks. The government signaled a phased approach combining regulation, enforcement, and education to progress toward its long-term smoke-free objective.

  • Macau Proposes Tougher E-Cigarette, Tobacco Rules

    Macau Proposes Tougher E-Cigarette, Tobacco Rules

    The Health Bureau (SSM) unveiled five proposals to strengthen Macau’s Smoking Prevention and Control Law, targeting youth and emerging products. Key measures include banning public possession of e-cigarettes, prohibiting nicotine pouches, shisha, and herbal cigarettes, and introducing standardized packaging with 85% health warnings.

    The proposals, aimed at curbing smuggling and teen appeal, also allow frontline monitors to use body cameras during inspections and open a public consultation period from March 8 to April 8. The SSM emphasized that these measures build on the 2012 law and the 2018 amendments to protect public health.

  • Vape Use Rises in Macau Despite Ban

    Vape Use Rises in Macau Despite Ban

    Electronic cigarette use remains widely visible in Macau despite a ban on importing the devices, with tourists and residents frequently seen vaping in public areas and occasionally indoors. Data from the Health Bureau show illegal smoking cases rose 27% in 2025 compared with 2024, alongside a sharp increase in vaping-related incidents and a 48% rise in violations involving tourists, which officials partly attribute to higher visitor numbers and expanded inspections totaling more than 240,700 checks during the year. Individuals caught bringing vaping products into the city face fines of MOP4,000 ($480).

    According to the authorities, the city’s Customs Service recorded 49 major cases involving e-cigarettes and related products as of Feb. 23, seizing 68,247 devices and 21,299 cartridges or liquids.

  • Macau to Test No-Smoking Zones

    Macau to Test No-Smoking Zones

    Two pavements (sidewalks) in Macau will become trial no-smoking zones next year, officials said, noting no penalties will apply during the test. The measure aims to assess public response as the government considers wider outdoor smoking restrictions. The Health Bureau said Macau’s narrow streets limit options for smoking booths, so authorities are planning designated outdoor smoking areas with clear markings and signage. The trial follows successful smoke-free zones recently set up near several schools.

    Smoking rates in Macau have dropped 31.4% since 2012, and the government has already banned the import, export, and sale of e-cigarettes. Officials now plan to make e-cigarette possession illegal as part of tightening tobacco-control measures.

  • Macau Considers Full Ban on E-Cigarette Possession

    Macau Considers Full Ban on E-Cigarette Possession

    The Macau Health Bureau is considering a full ban on e-cigarette possession, expanding current rules that already prohibit their sale, manufacture, and import/export. Lam Chong, head of the bureau’s Office for the Prevention and Control of Smoking and Alcohol, said authorities are also reviewing regulations on shisha and herbal cigarettes.

    The bureau plans a one-year trial of designated smoking areas in busy locations, including the Ruins of St. Paul’s and Border Gate Square, focusing first on public education before penalties are enforced. Rising youth usage is a concern, with reports showing e-cigarette use among students overtaking traditional smoking.

  • Cigarette Plain Packaging Among Tobacco Law Changes Macau Considering 

    Cigarette Plain Packaging Among Tobacco Law Changes Macau Considering 

    The Macau government plans to amend its tobacco control law, with Health Bureau director Alvis Lo Iek Long saying that standardized “plain packaging” for cigarettes will be a key measure to reduce tobacco’s appeal to young people.

    In an interview with public broadcaster TDM, Lo confirmed authorities are speeding up preliminary work on such a measure but noted no timeline has been set due to the legislative process.

    The proposed revisions also include expanding outdoor smoking bans to areas near schools and daycare centers, mirroring existing bus stop restrictions. Authorities also plan to trial “designated smoking areas” based on international models, aiming to balance the rights of smokers and non-smokers. Additionally, the amendment seeks to prohibit the import and sale of novel tobacco products, such as Middle Eastern shisha and herbal cigarettes.

    The current law allows different management entities to designate no-smoking zones, however, Lo said officials are working on pilot programs to define “smoking points” and establish clear signage systems, though specific trial locations have yet to be finalized.

  • Macau Mulls More E-Cig Restrictions

    Macau Mulls More E-Cig Restrictions

    Photo: javarman

    Macau’s executive council wants to ban the production, sale, distribution, import, export and transport of vapor products in the special administrative region (SAR), reports Macau Business. 

    Under changes proposed to the tobacco control law, violators would risk fines of MOP4,000 ($500).

    The current law defines an e-cigarette as any product, or component thereof, that can be used to inhale vapor, with or without nicotine, by means of a mouthpiece, including a cartridge, a reservoir, as well as the device without a cartridge or reservoir. 

    The sale of electronic cigarettes in the city has been restricted since 2017; the recently proposed amendment expands the scope of the restrictions. 

    Still, Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo said the measure was intended to protect public health. “The use of electronic cigarettes is harmful to health, namely, it causes harmful effects to pregnant women, children and adolescents, and also exposing non-smokers to nicotine and other harmful chemicals,” Lo said.

    Following years of antismoking campaigns, consumption of traditional cigarettes among people over the age of 15 in Macau dropped to 10.7 percent in 2019.