Vaping is unremarkable in the United States. In Singapore, having a vaporiser in your possession is a criminal offense, and the country’s health regulator publishes real fines for it. This is not a customs formality or a confiscate-and-move-on rule. It is a law, and it is enforced.
Possession alone is the offense
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority states the rule without qualification: “From 1 February 2018, the purchase, possession, and use of emerging and imitation tobacco products, which include vaporisers, have been prohibited.” Read that carefully. It does not say “public use” or “sale to minors.” Purchase, possession, and use are each independently illegal. You do not need to be caught vaping to be in violation — having the device is enough.
What it can cost you
The published fine for individuals is specific:
Individuals: Can be fined up to $10,000
The source’s own wording — “Individuals:” — suggests the regulator’s fine table is organized by category, and this is the figure for that category. We are citing the individual traveler’s exposure, which is the one that matters for anyone reading this before a trip.
A separate, harsher penalty exists for etomidate-laced devices
Some vaporisers seized in Singapore have contained etomidate, and the authority treats that category more seriously than an ordinary vaporiser:
Individuals: Can be fined up to $20,000, or face up to 10 years of imprisonment, or both
That is a materially different penalty from the general $10,000 fine above, and the source draws that distinction deliberately. It is not a bigger fine for the same offense — it is a different, more serious offense tied to what the device contains.
Since September 2025, punishment is not the only consequence
The authority states that “beyond punitive measures, etomidate offenders and repeat vaporiser users are also required to attend rehabilitation to support them in giving up vaping,” effective 1 September 2025. This applies specifically to etomidate offenders and to people caught more than once — not to a first-time vaporiser possession case.
Enforcement is not limited to customs or the police
The source states that “authorised officers including, but not limited to, security officers and operations managers at public healthcare institutions have been empowered under the TVCA to take enforcement action against vaporiser offenders on their institution’s premises.” In practice, this means enforcement authority reaches into hospitals and healthcare facilities, not only ports of entry.
Transiting with a vaporiser isn’t addressed separately
The department’s wording bans “purchase, possession, and use.” It does not use the word “import,” and it does not describe how enforcement treats an unused vaporiser carried through Singapore in transit versus one intended for use there. If you are only transiting through Singapore with a device in your bag, this page does not tell you how that is handled differently from ordinary possession — and given that the plain wording covers possession outright, we would not assume it is handled differently at all.
The page also does not publish figures for any category other than individuals, so if you are traveling on behalf of a business or bringing in multiple devices, HSA’s guidance does not cover your situation.
If you vape, the only way to avoid all of this is not to bring a device, a pod, or e-liquid into Singapore at all.