Guide
How heated tobacco and e-cigarettes are defined and regulated in Portugal
Heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes are legally distinct from cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco, with their own definitions and rules under Portuguese and EU law. This is a factual, non-promotional overview; LUME does not sell these products.
Last checked: September 2026
In short
Portuguese law (Lei n.º 37/2007, as amended by Lei n.º 63/2017) extended the legal concept of "smoking" to cover new, non-combustion tobacco products that produce aerosols, vapours, gases or inhalable particles — which is why heated tobacco products fall under the same smoke-free-places and advertising restrictions as cigarettes, even though they heat rather than burn tobacco. Electronic cigarettes, which vaporise a liquid that may or may not contain nicotine rather than heating tobacco leaf, are regulated as a separate category under Directive 2014/40/EU (covering notification, safety, refill containers and labelling) and under Portuguese excise rules that from 1 January 2024 also apply the Imposto sobre o Tabaco to nicotine-free e-liquids; both product types are treated by Portuguese and EU regulators as their own categories, not as variants of cigarettes.
Key points
- Heated tobacco heats real tobacco leaf; it does not combust it, but is legally treated as smoking under Portuguese law.
- E-cigarettes vaporise a liquid and are regulated under their own chapter of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.
- Since 1 January 2024, Portugal's tobacco tax also covers nicotine-free e-liquids.
- Both categories are legally separate from factory-made cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco.
- LUME does not sell heated tobacco devices or e-cigarettes.
Heated tobacco: a non-combustion tobacco product
Heated tobacco products contain actual tobacco that is heated, rather than burned, to produce an inhalable aerosol. Lei n.º 63/2017 amended Portugal's tobacco-control law (Lei n.º 37/2007) specifically to bring these "new non-combustion tobacco products" within the legal definition of smoking, extending smoke-free-place rules, exposure protections, and advertising and promotion restrictions to them in the same way as to cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes: a separate category under EU law
Electronic cigarettes and refill containers are regulated by their own chapter of Directive 2014/40/EU, covering pre-market notification to authorities, nicotine concentration and volume limits, child-resistant and tamper-evident packaging, leaflet information requirements, and a ban on the same misleading health/lifestyle claims that apply to tobacco products. This is a distinct regulatory track from cigarettes and heated tobacco, reflecting that e-cigarettes vaporise a liquid rather than combusting or heating tobacco leaf.
Taxation of e-liquids and heated tobacco in Portugal
Portugal's Código dos Impostos Especiais de Consumo (CIEC) already applied the Imposto sobre o Tabaco to heated-tobacco sticks and to nicotine-containing e-liquids; from 1 January 2024, that tax was extended to nicotine-free e-liquids as well, according to Autoridade Tributária administrative guidance on these product categories. This confirms, from the tax side, that heated tobacco and e-cigarette liquids are treated as their own defined product classes rather than as cigarettes.
Why LUME does not list these products
Because heated tobacco devices and e-cigarettes sit under distinct regulatory and labelling regimes from factory-made cigarettes, and because this guide is purely descriptive, we do not sell or promote them; nothing here should be read as a comparison of relative risk between product categories, a matter for the health authorities cited below, not for a retailer.
Common questions
- Are heated tobacco products the same as e-cigarettes?
- No. Heated tobacco heats actual tobacco leaf to produce an aerosol, while e-cigarettes vaporise a liquid; the two are regulated under different provisions.
- Are heated tobacco products covered by Portugal's smoke-free-places law?
- Yes. Lei n.º 63/2017 extended the legal concept of smoking to these non-combustion products, bringing them under the same smoke-free rules as cigarettes.
- Does LUME deliver vapes or heated tobacco sticks?
- No, these are separate product categories not carried in our catalogue.
Sources
This page is general information about Portuguese rules and Lisbon practice, not legal advice. Rules change; check the sources for the current text. Tobacco is for adults 18 and over.