Is Nicotine legal in Brazil?
- Legal status
- Nicotine is legal in Brazil in regulated combustible tobacco and in medicinal nicotine-replacement therapy, but the nicotine DELIVERY product is prohibited: ANVISA Resolution RDC No. 855/2024 (23 April 2024) upholds and updates the ban (originally RDC 46/2009) on the manufacture, import, marketing, distribution, storage, transport and advertising of electronic smoking devices, including e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products, and expressly bars travelers from bringing them in, even in accompanied luggage.
- Consequences if caught
- Import, sale or advertising can draw warnings, seizure and destruction of product, activity suspension and fines from BRL 2,000 to BRL 1,500,000; use in enclosed public places is separately prohibited. ANVISA and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) signed a five-year enforcement pact.
- If prescribed or medical
- Nicotine-replacement therapy is a registered medicine; no e-cigarette is approved or dispensable on prescription.
- Documentation
- No registration exists for vaping devices — none can be lawfully imported by travelers.
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Brazil’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately — not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →