Debating the draft Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms on the afternoon of November 9, Delegate Le Hoang Anh, a full-time member of the Economic and Financial Committee, argued that prohibiting tobacco sales solely to individuals under 18 is insufficient to prevent youth access and addiction.
Under current regulations, individuals who are at least 18 years old can legally purchase tobacco. However, Mr. Hoang Anh proposed shifting management approaches: moving beyond a rolling minimum age threshold to enact a permanent ban on tobacco sales for everyone born on or after January 1, 2010.
Consequently, someone born in 2010 would never be allowed to buy tobacco, whether they are 18, 30, or 50 years old. Those born prior to 2010 would remain exempt from this generational ban and could continue to purchase tobacco once reaching legal age under existing laws.
The delegate recommended that the policy take effect on January 1, 2028, when individuals born in early 2010 turn 18. According to him, this approach would not strip away the legal purchasing rights of those who had already reached legal age before the law takes effect. Enforcement would also be straightforward, as retailers would only need to check the birth date on national ID cards or the VNeID application, rather than recalculating a buyer’s qualifying age every year.
Explaining the proposal, Mr. Hoang Anh cited a 2021 survey showing that the smoking rate among males aged 15–19 stood at 5.46%, but surged nearly sixfold to 32.6% in the 20–24 age bracket. This shift suggests that many young men begin smoking after crossing the age of 18. If the current minimum age boundary is simply maintained, another cohort of youth becomes legally eligible to buy tobacco each year, meaning addiction risks continue to grow.
Even if interventions such as phased tax hikes, retail display bans, and smoke-free zones are expanded, projections show the male smoking rate would likely remain above 28% by 2045.
National Assembly Delegate Le Hoang Anh speaks at the National Assembly on the afternoon of November 9. Photo: National Assembly Portal
A generational tobacco ban was previously introduced by the Ministry of Health in a May submission document before being withdrawn from the draft bill. Mr. Hoang Anh urged lawmakers to reinstate the provision, describing it as a policy capable of driving substantial long-term change.
Citing predictive modeling, the delegate noted that enacting a generational ban could prevent over 3 million Vietnamese men from falling into tobacco addiction by 2045. This move could push the male smoking rate down to 21%—achieving that milestone roughly 22 years earlier than under the status-quo scenario. Even under moderate compliance levels, the total smoking population could decline by approximately 1.7 million.
“Do we want our children to smoke? If the answer is no, that is the reason for the National Assembly to decide today,” the Gia Lai provincial delegate said, stressing that society cannot encourage youth onto sports fields while letting them step into adulthood with a cigarette in hand.
Ministry of Health: Insufficient Basis for Generational Tobacco Ban
Responding to delegates’ feedback, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan explained that the Government had evaluated the option of barring tobacco sales to individuals born after a specified year, but withheld it from the draft legislation due to an insufficient basis for assessing feasibility and social impact.
According to the Minister, the Ministry of Health reviewed international precedent while drafting the policy. New Zealand passed generational tobacco ban legislation in 2022 but repealed it before implementation. The Maldives became the first nation to enforce such a policy starting November 2025 for individuals born in 2007 and later. However, the island nation has a population of only about 530,000, creating operational conditions distinct from Vietnam. The United Kingdom is also pursuing a sales ban for individuals born in January 2009 and later, with implementation targeted for 2027.
The Minister stated that because this is a novel policy, empirical data remains insufficient to gauge its holistic impact. Following discussions and a formal vote, Government cabinet members agreed not to include a generational ban in the bill submitted to the National Assembly.
Addressing concerns regarding potential lobbying by tobacco enterprises during policy formulation, Minister Lan affirmed that tobacco firms did not approach cabinet members to insert group interests into the draft. “The decisive factor is that policy must be feasible upon rollout,” she stated, noting that even existing bans on tobacco sales and use among minors require expanded enforcement efforts to meet public health objectives.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan delivers explanatory remarks before the National Assembly. Photo: National Assembly Portal
Proposals to Tighten Tobacco Supply from Manufacturing to Ingredients
Beyond restricting youth access, Delegate Le Hoang Anh argued for stricter controls over supply, ranging from monitoring e-cigarette materials to capping traditional tobacco output.
Addressing electronic cigarettes, he identified a statutory gap where the draft bans nicotine-substitute substances and ingredients without delineating their regulatory scope. Meanwhile, liquid chemical formulations shift continuously, making enforcement difficult if products lack nicotine or carry “0% nicotine” labels.
Citing law enforcement crackdowns in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year against rings distributing vape pods laced with etomidate and ketamine—involving over 100 defendants—the delegate urged regulating products by functional use rather than exhaustive chemical checklists. Under this standard, any liquid designed for vaporization or heating devices for user inhalation would be banned, regardless of nicotine presence.
For combustible tobacco, he proposed that the law cap annual manufacturing output at levels no higher than the previous year, gradually reducing market volume rather than only restricting buyers. Pointing to 2022 economic data indicating tobacco-related damages reached 108.7 trillion VND—equivalent to roughly 1.14% of GDP and approximately six times the industry’s average state budget contributions—he stressed that society spends around six dong to remediate every single dong collected in tax revenues, making statutory production caps essential to curb social burdens.
Under the legislative agenda, the National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the draft Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms on November 21.
Source: vnexpress.net
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