Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice has recommended improving the law to clarify the definition of vapes and heated tobacco to ensure legal consistency and comprehensive management.
Key points:
1. Tobacco management in Vietnam faces the dilemma of unclear legal definition.
2. The Justice Department recommended that the law be improved to clarify the definition of vapes and heated tobacco.
Vietnam calls for clear definition of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco
According to Vietnam’s Forward newspaper, in “Preventing Tobacco Smuggling: At the seminar, Deputy Director of the Department of Civil Law and Economic Law of the Ministry of Justice, Le Dhi Hai, elaborated on the legal difficulties faced by various functional departments in the implementation of Resolution No. 173/2024 /QH15 on new types of tobacco and made some suggestions.
At present, the Tobacco Harm Prevention Law and related regulations mainly focus on traditional cigarettes, and the definition of new tobacco products is not clear. Although the ban on the production, trade, import, brokering, transportation and use of new tobacco will come into effect on January 1, 2025, law enforcement agencies will face great difficulties in implementing it if they rely solely on the above resolution.
Tobacco management in Vietnam faces the dilemma of unclear legal definition
To implement this resolution, the corresponding guidance document needs to be issued to clarify the definition and difference between vapes and heated tobacco. Heated tobacco is not a vape, it is a finished tobacco that requires the use of electronic devices to heat rather than ignite, and the cigarette remains intact after smoking. vapes rely on electronic devices to evaporate the fume and form an aerosol for inhalation. At present, there are a variety of electronic cigarette products in different forms on the market. The Social Committee and Culture and Education Committee of the Vietnamese National Assembly found that in some schools, vendors sold vapes shaped like juice boxes to students and had difficulty identifying these products.
Justice Department recommended that the law be improved to clarify the definition of vapes and heated tobacco
The Department of Justice believes that these definitions should be amended and expanded in the text of the law to cover the new tobacco products currently on the market and ensure the integrity and comprehensive administration of the law. According to the procedure for making laws and regulations, the drafting body needs to assess the impact of the policy on different subjects. In the case of Resolution 173, for example, if the production and sale of new types of tobacco were to be banned, the drafters would have to explain how the policy would directly and indirectly affect the parties involved.
Previously, Vietnam’s investment regulations had listed tobacco production as a conditional industry and had not banned it completely.
The Ministry of Justice proposes to supplement the definitions of vapes and heated tobacco in the Law on the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Hazards and Decree No. 67 /2013 to ensure legal consistency and comprehensive regulation. The drafting body is required to report dissenting opinions and predicted consequences to the government so that it can analyze them before issuing penalties.
