Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Vietnam

22nd July 2024: Vietnam: Following the introduction of a draft law on special consumption tax to increase the tax on tobacco products, the Ministry of Finance has proposed, according to the press, two options for the tax, which may also apply to heated tobacco and e-cigarettes if regulated. The tax would cover “other forms, other preparations from tobacco plants for smoking, inhaling, chewing, sniffing, or sucking (100 g or 100 ml)”. The first option starts with a tax of VND20,000 ($0.79) per cigarette, 100 g, or 100 ml in 2026, increasing by VND20,000 ($0.79) annually up to a maximum of VND100,000 ($3.93). The second option starts with a tax of VND50,000 ($1.97) per cigarette, 100 g, or 100 ml in 2026, increasing by VND10,000 ($0.39) annually, reaching a maximum of VND100,000. ($3.93).
16th July 2024: Vietnam: The representative of the Department of Tax, Fee and Charge Policy Supervision and Management of the Ministry of Finance said at a workshop that the department has developed a draft law on a special consumption tax to increase the tax on tobacco products, press reports. The draft law was sent to ministers for comments in June. It appears to cover only conventional cigarettes and not alternative products.
6th June 2024: Vietnam: In a session in the National Assembly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced its support for a ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, after the Ministry of Health officially made a report highlighting the products’ negative effects, press reports. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said: “If the Ministry of Health confirms that new cigarettes are so harmful to health that they need to be banned, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will support the need to soon amend relevant legal regulations so that this product cannot be circulated.”
14th May 2024: Vietnam: Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed Official Dispatch 47/CD-TTg requesting several ministries to strengthen the control of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco and take action to prevent their harmful effects. Specifically, the dispatch asks the Ministry of Health to promote solutions to manage these products, the Ministry of Finance to instruct customs to strictly inspect and control transportation of illegal products at borders, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to strengthen control over organisations that trade and store the products, among other requests.
6th May 2024: Vietnam: In a meeting organised by the Social Committee of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade insisted on the creation of a pilot programme for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, press reports. During the process of developing a policy on the issue, all other ministries agreed with the pilot project, except for the Ministry of Health, which advised amending the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Act to ban these products. At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Social Committee suggested that the Ministry of Health coordinate with relevant ministries and stakeholders to review legal documents to "prevent the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco".
24th April 2024: Vietnam: Yesterday (23rd April) at a meeting in the National Assembly, organised by the Social Affairs Committee, the Ministry of Health reiterated the need for a total ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Other parliamentary delegates believe that it is necessary to specify the definitions of the products in legal documents in order to create a basis on which it would be possible to identify and warn about their harmful effects.
25th March 2024: Vietnam: The Ministry of Health has said it will propose a ban on heated tobacco and e-cigarettes to the government, even as the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance propose taxation and measures to develop the economy, media reports. A member of the Ministry of Health’s legal department said: “The Ministry of Health is committed to protecting, caring for and improving people’s health, putting people’s interests first, and ensuring the sustainable development of the country in terms of health and the environment. We will propose policies based on scientific evidence.”
21st March 2024: Vietnam: In a workshop about new-generation cigarettes organised by the Vietnam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba) – the only company allowed to import e-cigarettes and heated tobacco – the deputy director of the Ministry of Health’s legal department said that so far, all documents sent by the Ministry of Health to the National Assembly and the government have proposed banning heated tobacco and e-cigarettes. He added that the ministry is listening to different opinions when planning policies. The representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s legal department supported a unified legal framework and added that the ministry is currently developing a policy in line with international practices, which will be submitted to the government in the near future.
30th January 2024: Vietnam: The state-owned corporation Vietnam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba) – which has a monopoly on commercial tobacco and cigarette imports and is the only company allowed to import e-cigarettes and other tobacco products – has published its Development Strategy 2035. One of its product and market strategies is to "actively research, develop and cooperate with international tobacco companies in developing alternative tobacco products and smokeless tobacco to minimise the harmful effects of tobacco", and to "gradually develop new generation tobacco products under the Vinataba brand" if the relevant authority grants a pilot licence to trade products.
7th November 2023: Vietnam: In response to questions from the National Assembly, the minister of trade said that a proposal to include next-generation tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, in decree 67/2013/ND-CP will be submitted to the prime minister in the “fourth quarter of this year”. The decree set rules for tobacco products and trade. The minister added that the proposal is close to the ban previously proposed by the Ministry of Health and ensures strict compliance with the national strategy to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco.
16th October 2023: Vietnam: At a seminar held last week, deputies from the Ministry of Health supported a ban on the trade and import of new tobacco products. One of the ministry's deputies said that in the near future, the Ministry of Health will prepare a draft resolution to be submitted to the National Assembly.
6th October 2023: Vietnam: Ministries have not yet reached a consensus on how to regulate new tobacco products and e-cigarettes, press reports. Deputy minister of health Tran Van Thuan said that "this issue needs to be studied carefully, comprehensively, objectively and scientifically, from which an appropriate solution can be proposed". The Ministry of Industry and Trade, which has been tasked by the government to lead the development of a new legal framework, is in the process of seeking consensus opinions from relevant ministries.

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