Is Vietnam finalizing legal regulation for e-cigarettes?

On July 10, news reported by the Vietnam Law Newspaper stated that Tran Thanh Trung, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, announced at a media seminar that various ministries in Vietnam are holding meetings to finalize the draft decree regulating novel tobacco products (including e-cigarettes), which will replace the existing Decree No. 67/2013.

Tran Thanh Trung acknowledged that currently, there are no management policies for novel tobacco products (TCM) in Vietnam, thus these products are not allowed to circulate. "Most of these products are imported into our country through hand-carrying and smuggling, and all commercial and advertising activities are spontaneous and illegal." Due to the lack of management measures and sanctions for novel tobacco products, obtaining these products is very easy. This has resulted in the Vietnamese government being unable to collect taxes, while consumers wishing to use them can only purchase products of unknown origin, which have not undergone quality monitoring, affecting their health. Tran Thanh Trung stated that the Vietnamese government is still assessing the feasibility of the decree. He believes that the market for novel tobacco products is still in its infancy, but with rapid growth in recent years, delaying the issuance of the decree will make the market harder to manage.