Uzbekistan Bans Vapes and Heated Tobacco Products

Uzbekistan will ban the sale of vaping products, including devices and e-liquids. The new law will also prohibit heated tobacco products (HTPs). Most of Uzbekistan’s Central Asian neighbors have similar vape bans.

Uzbekistan is the most recent of the former Soviet Republics in Central Asia to prohibit vape sales. Kyrgyzstan adopted a ban last June that will take effect July 1, Kazakhstan imposed a ban last year, and Turkmenistan prohibited vapes in 2013. In the region—which has over 80 million residents—only Tajikistan allows the sale of vaping products.

The Uzbek bill, first proposed by the health ministry in early 2024, amends existing tobacco control legislation. It passed the lower house (Legislative Chamber) of the Uzbek parliament (Oliy Majlis) on Jan. 24, and was approved by the Senate on April 30, according to Uzbek news outlet Qalampir.

Details are sketchy, but Qalampir says the new law will prohibit “production, preparation, acquisition, storage, transportation, sale, import, and export” of vaping products. It’s not certain when the law will take effect.

The news outlet notes that the law “includes provisions for exempting individuals from liability if they voluntarily report their illegal activities and surrender prohibited products to the authorities”—which seems to indicate that personal possession will also be banned (and punished).

Uzbekistan is the most populous country in the Central Asian region, with 37.5 million residents. As of 2022, the adult smoking rate was 10.6 percent, but that included 20.4 percent of men, according to the Tobacco Atlas.