Kazakhstan plans to impose penalties for vape delivery

Tengrinews.kz – Kazakhstan plans to toughen penalties for vapes, this time targeting their delivery and storage for the purpose of sale.

The Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) is expected to soon review amendments to the draft law aimed at optimizing the criminal code. One of the proposed changes is the tightening of penalties related to vapes, as explained by Mazhilis deputy and head of the working group Abzal Kuspan.

Current penalties for vapes in Kazakhstan

Vapes have been officially banned in Kazakhstan since last year. It is prohibited to import, sell, or manufacture them within the country.

A new article was added to the Criminal Code — Article 301-1: “Circulation of smokeless tobacco products, electronic consumption systems (vapes), flavorings, and liquids for them” — which includes the following penalties:

Selling or distributing smokeless tobacco products, vapes, flavorings, and vape liquids is punishable by:

• a fine of up to 200 MCI (786,400 tenge in 2025),
• or correctional labor in the same amount,
• or community service for up to 200 hours,
• or arrest for up to 50 days.

Importing or manufacturing these items is punishable by:

• a fine of up to 2,000 MCI (7.8 million tenge in 2025),
• or correctional labor in the same amount,
• or community service for up to 600 hours,
• or restriction of freedom for up to 2 years,
• or imprisonment for up to 2 years with or without property confiscation.

If the offenses are committed by a criminal group, involve especially large-scale profit, or are committed repeatedly, the penalties increase to:

• a fine of up to 5,000 MCI (19.6 million tenge in 2025),
• or correctional labor in the same amount,
• or community service for up to 1,200 hours,
• or restriction of freedom for up to 5 years,
• or imprisonment for up to 5 years with possible confiscation of property.

What the deputies are proposing

As deputy Abzal Kuspan told a Tengrinews.kz correspondent, after criminal liability was introduced, law enforcement began increasingly reporting cases of large-scale vape storage in warehouses across various regions of Kazakhstan.

“Police arrive on site, discover the vapes, but there’s no liability for storage. Somehow, vapes are being brought into Kazakhstan from other countries. It turns out they’ve even begun to be produced domestically. They're being stored in large quantities in warehouses in almost every major city in the country. Criminal liability applies to distribution and commercial activity, but not to storage. This point was initially overlooked, and at the request of our colleagues, we have amended the existing article,” said Kuspan.

If the majority of deputies vote in favor of the proposed amendments, Kazakh citizens could be punished for large-scale storage of vapes. The threshold is 2,000 MCI (7.8 million tenge in 2025). If the discovered “stash” is worth less, no penalty will follow.

The same applies to couriers delivering illegally purchased vapes to Kazakh residents. The total value of the parcel must exceed 7.8 million tenge. Who would buy that many disposables for personal use remains an open question. However, vape use is not a crime, and storing them at home is not prohibited, provided you don’t plan to sell them.

“No one will be punished for personal use. Only if the intent is distribution. But note the threshold — 2,000 MCI. Storage can even be at home, not just in a warehouse. If the value is below 2,000 MCI, it will still be considered a violation of the law, but the person will not face criminal charges,” Kuspan explained.