All guides Customs & Duty-Free
What you may bring in, what you must declare, and the allowances that are lower than most travelers assume.
33 articles, each checked against an official source and dated.
Indonesia
Indonesia lets each arriving passenger bring in USD 500 of personal goods duty-free, 1 litre of alcohol from age 21 and 200 cigarettes from 18. The customs declaration now sits inside the All Indonesia arrival card, alcohol and tobacco over the limit is destroyed rather than taxed, and cash from IDR 100 million must be declared.
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Vietnam
Vietnam bans importing and using e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. Using one is fined VND 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 under a decree in force since 15 May 2026.
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Macau
Macao Customs allows 19 cigarettes, one cigar of up to 3 grams and 1 litre above 30%. E-cigarettes cannot cross the border in either direction, and cash from MOP 120,000 goes to the Red Channel.
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Taiwan
What Taiwan customs lets you bring in free: 1.5 litres of alcohol, 200 cigarettes, NT$35,000 of goods. Why meat and fresh fruit stay home, why vapes are banned, and the cash caps you cannot declare your way past.
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Qatar
Doha is the stopover on a lot of Asia itineraries. Leave the airport and Qatar's customs rules apply: alcohol is refused outright, tobacco is capped at 400 cigarettes, and cash from QAR 50,000 must be declared.
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UAE
Stay airside in Dubai and customs never starts. Leave the airport and the allowance is AED 3,000 in gifts and 4 litres of alcohol, while the cigarette figure depends on which official page you read.
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Asia
Two Asian regulators treat the same bottle completely differently. Japan asks what is in it and can require paperwork at any quantity; Singapore does not gate the import at all. Where each rule is published, and what neither one will tell you
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Asia
A duty-free allowance is the amount you can bring in without paying duty. It is a threshold, not a shopping budget: going over is legal if you declare. The published limits for fourteen Asian countries, and why tobacco is sometimes zero.
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Vietnam
Vietnam allows 1.5 litres of spirits, 200 cigarettes and VND 10 million of goods duty-free. Declare cash over USD 5,000 or VND 15 million, and 300 grams of gold jewellery.
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China
The seven categories China prohibits on import, what quarantine takes off you at the border, and why one currency figure is a hard limit and the other is only a declaration.
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Thailand
The import window and conditions for duty-free personal and household effects, and where Thailand publishes the ordinary traveller figures this page does not.
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Thailand
Which goods need a government permit to cross Thailand's border, and which don't
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Bangladesh
Non-tourist passengers can bring personal effects, portable work equipment and 2 phones into Bangladesh duty-free, or USD 400 of goods by land. A baggage form is due.
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Brunei
Every stick is dutiable, so a carton of 200 costs B$100. The alcohol concession is two bottles or twelve cans, a choice rather than both, for non-Muslim passengers aged 17 and over.
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Cambodia
The US$100 and US$300 thresholds, and where alcohol allowances aren't stated
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China
What you must declare entering China, the thresholds that trigger it, and which channel to walk through.
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Hong Kong
Hong Kong's duty-free allowance for alcohol is 1 litre above 30% ABV, and it publishes nothing for wine or beer below that. For tobacco it is 19 cigarettes, or one of two other options. What each means at the red and green channels.
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Hong Kong
Importing carries up to HK$2,000,000 and seven years, and since 30 April 2026 simply carrying one in public is an offence too.
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Singapore
Bringing chewing gum into Singapore is banned outright, in Singapore Customs' own words, and the same list bans far more. What the rule says, and how to check an item before you pack it.
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Japan
How Japan's customs electronic gates work, what you prepare beforehand, and who cannot use them.
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Japan
Japan's duty-free allowances on arrival, which customs channel to use, and what has to be declared.
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Korea
Korea's duty-free allowances in actual published numbers, what must be declared, and how the channels work.
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Korea
The $800 threshold, the age cutoff for alcohol, and the cost of skipping declaration
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Laos
Alcohol and tobacco limits, and when you skip the declaration form entirely
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Malaysia
Customs Malaysia lists 1 litre in total for wine, spirits or beer, and publishes no duty-free cigarette figure at all. The general goods ceilings, quoted from the department
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Maldives
Adults can bring 200 cigarettes, 25 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco into the Maldives duty-free. Goods worth MVR 10,001 or more must be declared and taxed.
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Myanmar
The declaration form, the currency threshold, and what the allowances cover
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Nepal
The channel to choose, and the duty-free list Nepal still publishes
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Philippines
Which allowance applies to you, and what a false declaration costs
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Singapore
Singapore's red and green channels, what you must declare, and how to pay duty before you land.
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Sri Lanka
What's banned outright, what you must declare, and what stays unconfirmed
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Singapore
Possession alone is illegal, importing carries prison and caning, and HSA publishes a figure for every category.
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Japan
What Japan prohibits and restricts on arrival. The list is shorter, stricter and stranger than most travelers expect.
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