Vietnam is considering banning tobacco sales within 100 meters of schools and healthcare facilities, although a National Assembly committee has questioned whether the proposed restriction is practical.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Sept. 21 discussed a draft law amending and supplementing several provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms.
Presenting the proposal on behalf of the drafting agency, Permanent Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha said the bill would expand the list of prohibited activities.
The draft would ban the production, trade, storage, transportation, export, import, transit, temporary import for re-export, transshipment, harboring and use of e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other tobacco products.
Permanent Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha presents the draft legislation. Photo: National Assembly Media
It would also prohibit the production, sale, export and import of electronic devices, component assemblies, individual components and liquids used to assemble or manufacture e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other tobacco products included on a government-designated list, except in cases provided for under Clause 16, Article 52 of the Investment Law.
The bill would also prohibit tobacco displays and sales through vending machines, online platforms, e-commerce sites, social media, digital platforms and other forms of electronic transactions.
Smoking and tobacco sales would also be prohibited at locations where such activities are banned.
The draft would tighten rules for tobacco retailers and wholesalers. Businesses would be required to display signs stating that tobacco cannot be sold to people under 18.
Where there is reason to suspect that a buyer is under 18, sellers would be required to verify their age using an identity card, Vietnam's national digital identification app VNeID or a passport.
Organizations and individuals would not be allowed to organize, permit or conduct tobacco sales at locations where smoking is completely prohibited or at indoor locations where smoking is banned but designated smoking areas are permitted, except for airport isolation areas.
Notably, the bill would prohibit tobacco sales outside the gates of educational and healthcare facilities within 100 meters of the nearest boundary of their premises. The government would be tasked with issuing detailed regulations on tobacco sales.
Committee questions feasibility of 100-meter restriction
Nguyen Dac Vinh, chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Social Affairs, presents the committee's review. Photo: National Assembly Media
Reviewing the proposal, Nguyen Dac Vinh, chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Social Affairs, said the committee's standing body noted that National Assembly Resolution 173/2024 already provides for a comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and addictive substances harmful to human health.
The draft law seeks to incorporate that policy by banning e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and their components.
The committee therefore asked the drafting agency to clarify whether specially formulated tobacco products would also be banned.
Some opinions also called for prohibiting the enticement, inducement or coercion of people under 18 to buy, sell or use tobacco.
For locations where smoking is completely prohibited, the draft removes the existing reference to "colleges, universities and academies."
The committee recommended retaining the substance of the current provision while changing the terminology to "higher education institutions and vocational education institutions" to align it with Vietnam's laws on higher and vocational education.
On the proposed ban on tobacco sales within 100 meters outside the gates of educational and healthcare facilities, the committee's standing body said the provision would be difficult to implement in practice.
It noted that the purpose of the rule was to limit students' access to tobacco and reduce tobacco-related impacts at schools and healthcare facilities.
The committee therefore suggested instead banning tobacco sales in areas directly adjacent to educational and healthcare facilities, while authorizing the government to establish detailed measures for monitoring surrounding areas.
Another view, however, favored retaining the 100-meter provision. Supporters argued that the proposal largely preserves existing rules while broadening the terminology to cover educational and healthcare facilities, and that changing it could be seen as weakening current restrictions.
Vietnamnet.vn
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