According to the Vietnamese media baophapluat, Nguyen Chi Ren, director of the legal Department of the Vietnam Tobacco Association, expressed his views on the domestic regulatory policies and regulations in Vietnam at the new tobacco seminar. He believes that the government’s continuous delay in the regulation of the new generation of tobacco products has affected the rights and interests of smokers and brought many problems to society.
The lack of state supervision caused the problem
Nguyen said that in Vietnam, the policy management of the new generation of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, has not yet been formulated.
“If we don’t make regulations in time, management will be more difficult and bring many problems to society as market demand increases.”
One of the most significant problems is the difficulty of identifying the source and quality of the new generation of tobacco products that are now widely sold. In the event of health problems, consumers must be responsible for their use. New tobacco products also result in lost tax revenue due to the lack of a legal framework, making it difficult for countries to deal with smuggling crimes.
In addition, domestic legal tobacco production enterprises are unable to produce and operate these new products, affecting commercial activities at home and abroad. He noted that many foreign partners have offered to cooperate with the Vietnam Tobacco Association to jointly produce these products, which include the production of heating products and even the production of cigarettes.
Users’ access to tobacco
Nguyen said the reality shows that smokers cannot be forced to quit, but they have the right to access new types of tobacco to reduce harm. Among the harmful products, the less harmful products should be selected, and the hazards of the products should be clearly explained to the user. If users understand the hazards but still choose to use them, they will be responsible for their choices.
With the development of science and technology, new tobacco products, as a smoke-free solution, aim to reduce the harm of traditional cigarettes to smokers, especially passive smokers.
Experts around the world have presented scientific evidence for these products. They have conducted many studies and trials to draw conclusions about the health benefits for smokers. According to these conclusions, if current smokers could switch to heated tobacco, they might reduce their health effects.
“If traditional tobacco is regulated by the Prevention and Reduction of the Harm of Smoking Act from 2012, then management policies for the new generation of tobacco products need to be formulated as early as possible to protect the rights and interests of smokers.”
He said that as the representative of the Vietnamese tobacco industry, the Vietnam Tobacco Association pledged to comply with all policies on the new generation of tobacco products, including publishing technical standards, printing warning labels on products, paying import taxes, special excise taxes, tobacco harm prevention fund, environmental fund, value-added tax, etc.
The role of the Vietnam Tobacco Association is to ensure that enterprises in the industry always comply with the regulations of tobacco harm prevention, supply and demand management in accordance with the instructions of the government.
This is reflected in the restriction of the maximum yield of production, the application of advanced science to technical standards to reduce tar (substances in tobacco leaves) and nicotine content; At the same time, strengthen publicity and cooperation to ensure that retail outlets do not sell tobacco to people under the age of 18.
In Vietnam, only five companies with 100 percent state capital are authorized to produce and sell tobacco, so if new tobacco products are licensed, all taxes will be included in the national budget.
He said that the Vietnam Tobacco Association also hopes to adopt and coordinate the management policy of new tobacco products as soon as possible to achieve the unification of various departments and institutions. This will benefit consumers, businesses, authorities and the country as a whole, not just individuals.
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【1】Hiệp hội Thuốc lá Việt Nam mong muốn chính sách quản lý thuốc lá thế hệ mới sẽ sớm được ban hành