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Tag: Vietnam

  • Critics Bash Vietnam Tax Hike

    Critics Bash Vietnam Tax Hike

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Vietnam’s tobacco tax hike proposal would strain manufacturers and boost black market sales, according to critics.

    The Ministry of Finance wants to levy a new fixed tax on cigarettes on top of the existing excise tax as the government seeks to discourage smoking. While the excise accounts for 75 percent of factory prices, it is only 38.8 percent of retail prices—far below the 70 percent recommended by the World Health Organization, according to the ministry.

    Nguyen Chi Nhan, general secretary of the Viet Nam Tobacco Association, warned that businesses would struggle to adapt to the sharp tax increase.

    Dinh Thị Quynh Van, chairwoman of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Vietnam, pointed out that cheap cigarettes account for 75 percent of the domestic market. A sudden and sharp tax hike, she said, could spur smuggling.

    Van said this happened in countries such as Britain, Germany and Malaysia.

    “It is important for the ministry to have solutions to prevent tobacco smuggling and a clear tax increase roadmap,” Van told Vietnamnet Global.

    Nguyen Thi Cuc, chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultants’ Association, suggested the ministry increase the tax level more gradually to give customers and businesses time to adapt.

    Vietnam is among the top 15 countries in terms of number of smokers.

  • Vietnam Wants to Raise Tobacco Taxes

    Vietnam Wants to Raise Tobacco Taxes

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Vietnam’s finance ministry want to raise the excise duty on cigarettes and add an absolute rate per pack, reports Tuoi Tre News.

    The current excise duty on tobacco in Vietnam is 75 percent of the factory price but only 38.8 percent of the retail price, according to the World Health Organization.

    This share is much lower than in Singapore, where tax accounts for 69 percent of the cigarette retail prices, or Thailand, where it is 70 percent.

    To protect public health, the ministry has proposed two solutions. The first involves keeping the 75 percent excise tax unchanged in 2026 but adding an additional tax of VND2,000 ($0.07) per pack.

    From 2027 to 2030, the tax would then be revised up by VND2,000 per pack each year under this proposal until the absolute rate reaches VND10,000 per pack in 2030.

    As an alternative, the ministry has proposed keeping the 75 percent tax unchanged in 2026 but subjecting cigarettes to an absolute rate of VND5,000 per pack.

    This tax will then increase by VND1,000 per pack each year until it reaches VND10,000 per pack in 2030.

    More than 42 percent of adults smoke in Vietnam, which is among the top 15 countries with the highest smoking prevalence.

  • Vietnam Trade Ministry Supports Vapes Ban

    Vietnam Trade Ministry Supports Vapes Ban

    Photo: Holger

    Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade supports a ban on e-cigarettes, reports The VN Express

    The ministry has requested the government to halt the review of its proposed bill on regulating e-cigarettes after the health ministry officially published a report highlighting their negative effects.

    “The Ministry of Industry and Trade supports making changes in the law to ban e-cigarettes as the Ministry of Health has affirmed that they are harmful,” Trader Minister Nguyen Hong Dien told lawmakers on June 5.

    No business have been licensed to trade e-cigarettes in Vietnam.

    The share of Vietnamese aged 13-15 using e-cigarettes has increased from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 8 percent in 2023, official data shows.

  • Vietnam Sets Leaf Import Quota

    Vietnam Sets Leaf Import Quota

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Vietnam has set its 2024 raw tobacco import quota at 71.84 million kg, reports VietnamPlus.

    The quota is allocated to traders who are licensed for producing cigarettes by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and are in need of raw tobacco for production of cigarettes with a certain percentage of imported raw tobacco certified by the ministry.

  • Call for Stronger Anti-Smuggling Rules

    Call for Stronger Anti-Smuggling Rules

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Law enforcement and health authorities have called for stronger rules against the illicit cigarette trade in Vietnam, according to VN Express.

    Most e-cigarettes that are sold in Vietnam are smuggled, according to a leader of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry. He added that there is not strict legal framework to control e-cigarette products.

    “There should be a legal framework to control this product and reduce smuggling,” said Nguyen Hai Cong, head of the Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases at Military Hospital 175. He noted that e-cigarettes are gaining popularity with young people and students, who seem to believe there is no risk to the products.

    Many e-cigarette smugglers have been caught recently, according to Kieu Duong, head of policy and legal at Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance; 81 smugglers were caught in Hanoi in the first six months of the year with about 20,000 items confiscated. Recently, Hai Phong police confiscated 54,000 illicit products.

    According to Duong, the highest penalty for smuggling these products is VND50 million ($2,100), which is not enough to dissuade criminals.

  • Vietnam Urges Stricter Control of New Products

    Vietnam Urges Stricter Control of New Products

    Photo: efired

    The Ministry of Health in Vietnam has called for stricter control of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products that are not licensed in the country, reports VnExpress International.

    In a recent document addressed to various government ministries and committees, the ministry asked for increased communication about the dangers of such products and for stronger measures to be taken against their purchase, sale, and trading.

    Despite not being allowed in Vietnam, these products are becoming increasingly popular and are widely available on the internet. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, a growing number of Vietnamese students are using e-cigarettes, with 2.6 percent of those aged 15-17 vaping in 2019, and a 2022 survey revealing that 3.5 percent of those aged 13-15 use e-cigarettes.

    There have been reports of students being poisoned by nicotine and liquids used in these products. The ministry also highlighted the risk of these products leading to social problems and addiction-related crime.

  • Vietnam: Worry About Student Vaping

    Vietnam: Worry About Student Vaping

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Vietnam’s health ministry is concerned about rising incidents relating to student vaping, according to VietnamPlus.

    According to the ministry’s Department of Medical Service Administration, there have been many incidents of students requiring emergency medical attention due to nicotine poisoning and other chemicals present in e-cigarettes and heated cigarette products.

    The department believes that e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes pose risks and contribute to drug abuse and other addictive behaviors, which adversely affect the health and lifestyle of adolescents. 

    The department urges more communication and awareness-raising efforts about the dangers of these products, suggesting that health departments advise the People’s Committees of provinces and cities to issue directives to regularly propagate the harmful effects of ordinary cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes and that regulations should be promptly enforced and inspection activities enhanced.  

  • Vietnam Wants to Ban New Tobacco Products

    Vietnam Wants to Ban New Tobacco Products

    Image: Faraz | Adobe Stock

    Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has called for a ban on all new tobacco products following the publication of a study suggesting that youth vaping has led to more hospitalizations for psychosis, hallucinations or respiratory failure, reports VietnamPlus.

    A recent study found that the e-cigarette smoking rate among students increased to 3.5 percent in 2021 from 2.6 percent in 2019, according to Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, an official from the Vietnam Tobacco Control Fund at the Ministry of Health.

    “E-cigarette devices that look like USB drives, pen or pen boxes are making it tough for parents to detect and keep their kids from vaping,” said Nguyen Huu Hoang, a lecturer from the Medical Education Center at Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Medicine and Pharmacy. “They also make young people curious and excited by their eye-catching, fashionable and modern designs.”

  • Experts Call for Simplified Tobacco Tax

    Experts Call for Simplified Tobacco Tax

    Credit: Talulla

    Tobacco taxation experts have recommended the government of Vietnam simplify the country’s excise tax structure on tobacco, reports EIN News. The move would facilitate tax administration, reduce opportunities for tax avoidance and evasion, increase the government’s revenues and have a greater impact on reducing tobacco use.

    The recommendation comes after the Vietnam government approved a tax reform strategy for up to 2030, which sets the process for switching from an ad valorem tax system to a hybrid tax system for tobacco and other products subject to excise tax.

    A number of experts suggest that a hybrid tax system that includes ad valorem and specific taxes is the most simple and effective system. In a recent report titled “Study on the Special Consumption Tax System,” PwC Vietnam called it “The right direction in line with the general trend in the world.”

    According to the report, the government has lost revenues due to tobacco smuggling, especially in 2016–2017.

    The total tax loss due to smuggled tobacco consumption has reached nearly 9 percent of tobacco tax collection, and tax collection of tobacco remained unchanged in the 2006–2020 period without factoring in inflation, the report said.

    Based on the analysis of the current excise tax policy, the objectives of the government and tax policies in comparable countries, it outlined a number of options for SCT reform along with roadmaps for the short-term and the long-term.

    The first option is transitioning into a hybrid tax system then gradually increasing the specific component and decreasing the ad valorem component at an appropriate time in future, considering to move to a single-tier specific tax system when being suitable.

    The second option is transitioning into a multi-tier specific tax system and then gradually narrow down the number of tiers to become a one-tier specific system.

    Both options have both advantages and disadvantages, but PwC Vietnam believes that the first is more reasonable for Vietnam. According to the Asia Illegal Tobacco Index, in 2017, more than 24.3 billion illegal cigarettes were consumed in Vietnam, or 23.4 percent of total tobacco consumption.

  • Vietnam Mulls Ban on Novel Tobacco Products

    Vietnam Mulls Ban on Novel Tobacco Products

    Photo: Michele

    Vietnam’s health ministry has proposed a ban on next-generation tobacco products (NGPs), reports VN Express International. The country’s current law on tobacco harm prevention lacks provisions for e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products.

    According to Tran Thi Trang, deputy head of the Ministry of Health’s legislation department, a trial allowing the distribution of NGPs revealed potential negative impacts, including on youth behavior.

    The percentage of people using e-cigarettes in Vietnam increased to 3.6 percent from 0.2 percent during 2015–2020, according to the health ministry.

    With 15.6 million smokers, Vietnam ranks 15th in the world in terms of combustible cigarette users, the Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Information and Communications said. People in Vietnam spend an estimated VND49 trillion ($2 billion) per year.