The Ministry of Health has proposed requiring tobacco retailers to verify customers' ages by checking their chip-based national identity cards or the VNeID digital identity application whenever there is reason to believe a customer is under the legal purchasing age of 18.

The proposal was presented on July 6 during a consultation workshop on amendments to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, organized by the Ministry of Health.

According to Dr. Nguyen Trong Khoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, the age-verification requirement is one of the latest additions to the draft legislation.

Under the proposal, tobacco wholesalers and retailers would also be required to display notices stating that tobacco products cannot be sold to anyone under 18 years of age.

If staff suspect a customer is underage, they would be expected to verify the person's age using either Vietnam's chip-based national identity card or the VNeID digital identification platform.

The Ministry of Health said the measure is intended to reduce minors' access to tobacco products while providing retailers with a clear legal basis for complying with age restrictions and supporting regulatory enforcement.

A 2024 survey conducted by the University of Public Health found that 30.5 percent of shop owners admitted selling tobacco products to customers under 18, down from 40.8 percent in 2017.

Proposal would ban tobacco product displays

The draft law also introduces a significant change to retail display regulations.

Unlike the current law - which allows retailers to display no more than one cigarette pack, carton or box of each tobacco brand - the amended legislation would prohibit wholesalers and retailers from displaying tobacco products or tobacco product images in any form.

According to the Ministry of Health, violations of existing display rules remain widespread.

Research conducted in 2024 found that 40.9 percent of tobacco retailers exceeded the current display limits.

Representatives of the Institute for Health Strategy and Policy, under the Ministry of Health, told the workshop that tobacco displays effectively function as a form of advertising by maximizing visual exposure to consumers.

Studies cited by the institute indicate that children who are regularly exposed to tobacco displays are 1.6 times more likely to experiment with smoking and 1.3 times more likely to become smokers later in life.

The ministry also cited research covering 20 countries that introduced tobacco display bans.

According to those findings, adult smoking rates declined by nearly 31 percent over seven years following implementation.

Applying a similar reduction to Vietnam, officials estimate that approximately 5 million fewer people could smoke over a seven-year period - equivalent to an average reduction of 719,700 smokers annually.

The resulting decrease in tobacco-related illness could reduce annual healthcare spending by around VND4 trillion (US$153 million).

Tobacco remains a major public health challenge

Vietnam ranks among the 15 countries with the world's highest rates of tobacco use among men and has the third-highest male smoking rate in Southeast Asia.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said tobacco use has long been recognized as one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory illnesses and premature death.

More than 100,000 people die each year in Vietnam from tobacco-related diseases, including many non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home and in the workplace.

The Ministry of Health estimates that tobacco use imposes healthcare costs and broader economic losses of approximately VND108 trillion (US$4.1 billion) annually, equivalent to 1.14 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP.

The draft amendments to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms are expected to be submitted to Vietnam's 16th National Assembly for discussion and approval during its second session in October 2026.

Vo Thu