Under the draft revised law, the Ministry of Health has proposed age verification for tobacco buyers. Sellers could ask customers to present an identity card or passport, or verify their identity through Vietnam’s national digital identification app VNeID, if they suspect the buyer is under 18.

Responding to concerns that enforcing an age restriction on tobacco purchases could prove difficult, Luong said the proposed measure was entirely justified. The issue, he argued, was not whether it could be done, but whether enforcement was taken seriously and accompanied by effective public communication.

Luong pointed to cinemas as an example. For films carrying age restrictions such as T13, staff can check identification and refuse entry to viewers who do not meet the requirement. International experience also shows that restrictions on the age and hours for alcohol sales can be strictly enforced when penalties are sufficiently strong and businesses clearly understand their responsibilities.

Don’t let technology outpace the law

According to Luong, tobacco legislation in the past largely focused on conventional cigarettes and traditional pipe tobacco. But technological advances have brought electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and a growing range of new products onto the market. The latest revision of the tobacco-control law therefore needs a broad, forward-looking legal framework rather than simply listing products that currently exist.

“The law cannot simply chase after individual products. If we ban one type today and another emerges tomorrow with essentially the same nature and risks but a completely different name and form, we will have to amend the law all over again,” Luong said.

The draft law therefore needs a degree of flexibility so that new products remain subject to regulation even if their technology, appearance or names change, provided their underlying characteristics and risks are similar.

Another challenge is the rapid shift in how young people encounter nicotine-containing products, increasingly through digital channels.

According to Hoang Duc Nam, deputy head of the Youth Union Affairs Department at the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee, young people once encountered tobacco mainly at retail outlets or through face-to-face social interactions. Today, simply using social media, joining online groups or watching livestreams can give them easy access to such products.

“The line between ordinary entertainment content and content promoting new-generation tobacco products is becoming increasingly blurred,” Nam said.

Marketing has also moved toward more disguised forms, including personal experience posts, product-review videos and products embedded in content created by social media influencers. Such content can easily appeal to the curiosity of children and minors, encouraging them to experiment and potentially develop nicotine-use habits at an early age.

To curb the trend, Nam said the legal framework should be tightened to minimize access to new tobacco products among those under 15. Controls cannot stop at traditional retail outlets, he said, but must extend into the digital environment, where new tobacco products are increasingly promoted and made accessible to young people.

Luong said the fundamental purpose of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms is to prevent and control damage to human health. Protecting public health, particularly the health of younger generations, must remain the highest priority.

Vo Thu