'Most new-generation cigarettes are smuggled in.'

According to Deputy Secretary General of VCCI, Dau Anh Tuan, a legal framework for new-generation tobacco products is needed soon to manage and reduce smuggled goods.

Vietnam has one of the highest smoking rates in the world . Recently, the emergence of new generation tobacco products (e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products) has changed the landscape of the tobacco market.

"The biggest problem right now is that most of these products are smuggled in or brought in illegally, with no control framework," said Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), at a seminar on managing new generation tobacco products on the afternoon of August 18th. This lack of oversight is a major issue, impacting consumer health, the market, and even causing tax revenue losses.

Dr. Nguyen Hai Cong, Head of the Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases at Military Hospital 175 , said that the latest statistics show that about 16 million Vietnamese people regularly use tobacco-related products. With new generation tobacco products, the trend of use is increasing rapidly, especially among young people, including even students.

Compared to traditional cigarettes, newer generation products have advantages such as lower levels of harmful gases. In some countries, such as the US, UK, and Germany, there are recommendations for specific groups to switch to newer generation cigarettes to minimize health impacts.

"However, all tobacco products are harmful to humans. Nicotine in new-generation cigarettes still causes damage to the cardiovascular and nervous systems in the short and long term," Mr. Cong said. Therefore, he noted that the domestic public opinion, focusing on young people, that assesses new-generation cigarettes as harmless is a mistake.

"If we can't ban people from using it, then there should be a legal framework to manage it, primarily to reduce smuggling," he said. According to him, many countries around the world have policies on the circulation and trade of this product.

From the perspective of regulatory agencies, Mr. Kieu Duong, Director of the Policy and Legal Affairs Department, General Department of Market Management ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ), also agreed that a framework for management is needed soon. Currently, the quantity of smuggled new generation tobacco products is increasing rapidly, but authorities face difficulties because there is no way to identify them, and therefore impose appropriate penalties.

"In Hanoi alone, over the past six months, there have been 81 cases, with nearly 20,000 items confiscated. The Hai Phong City Police also discovered a very large shipment of over 54,000 products. Most of these products were manufactured abroad and illegally imported into Vietnam on a large scale," he said.

Meanwhile, cases are currently only handled based on legal regulations related to goods circulation (checking labels, invoices and documents), with the conclusion that the penalty is trading in goods of unknown origin; the highest administrative fine is 50 million VND, which is not enough to deter offenders, while the profit margin on these goods is very high.

"The government needs to quickly define specific types of new-generation tobacco products and develop management policies to establish regulations," he said, noting the need for a synchronized and comprehensive approach encompassing quality standards, business regulations, production, import/export, distribution, and taxation to ensure effectiveness.

Furthermore, Mr. Dau Anh Tuan stated that the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm currently defines tobacco products in an open-ended way, meaning that in addition to tobacco products made from tobacco plants, there are also products made from other alternative materials and processed in different forms. However, it is currently unclear whether the phrase "other alternative materials" includes new generation tobacco products.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, during the revision of Decree 67 on the implementation of the Law on Tobacco Control, is also discussing whether or not to include new-generation tobacco products. If so, what category would these products fall under? Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is proposing to include new-generation tobacco products as a provisional item in the group of products subject to special consumption tax due to the lack of a legal framework.

"We should acknowledge that new-generation tobacco products have entered the market with a significant number of users. A management policy is needed soon to avoid situations where violations occur but there is no basis for punishment, leading to serious consequences," Mr. Tuan said.

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