According to the Vietnam Law Newspaper, Tran Thanh Trung, a spokesman for the Ministry of Trade, said at a media seminar that various ministries are meeting to finalize the draft decree regulating new tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which will replace the existing Decree No. 67/2013.
Tran Thanh Trong admitted that there is currently no policy governing new tobacco products (TCM) in Vietnam, so such products will not be allowed to circulate.
“Most of these products are imported into our country through hand-carried, smuggled and other means, and all commercial and advertising campaigns are spontaneous and violate the law.”
As new tobacco products do not have any regulatory measures and sanctions, access to these products is very easy. As a result, the Vietnamese government cannot tax them, and consumers who want to use them can only buy products of unknown origin, which are not monitored for quality, affecting their health.
Mr. Tran said the government was still evaluating the feasibility of the law.
In 2022 and 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Health held two formal meetings, and they have decided to issue a new decree to replace the existing Decree 67/2013, which will contain a new tobacco management policy. Chen Qingzhong said that although the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Health still have some problems on many things, they are trying to reach a consensus on the new tobacco law.
“The Ministry of Industry and Trade is working on a management plan that is closest to the views of the Ministry of Health for submission to the government.”
At the seminar, Nguyen Chi Nhan, head of the legal department of the Vietnam Tobacco Association (VTA), said the government should issue regulatory policies suitable for the tobacco industry as soon as possible.
The market for new tobacco products is still in its infancy, he said, but with rapid growth in recent years, a delay would make the market more difficult to regulate.
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【1】Kiến nghị sớm ban hành chính sách quản lý thuốc lá thế hệ mới