Vietnamese lawmakers and economic experts have urged the government to refine its proposal banning tobacco displays at wholesale and retail locations. While the measure aims to protect youth health, specialists insist the policy must include a phased roadmap and target illicit smuggling to avoid penalizing legitimate businesses.
The proposal surfaces as Vietnam intensifies measures to curb tobacco consumption. However, the nation's retail landscape relies heavily on thousands of independent street stalls, family-owned groceries, and small kiosks, making operational enforceability a primary concern.
Targeting Illicit Trade Alongside Storefront Rules
National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the Hai Phong City National Assembly Delegation, stated that protecting public health—particularly reducing youth smoking—must remain the central goal. However, targeting legitimate storefronts alone will not solve the problem if counterfeit and smuggled goods flow through unchecked channels.
Unlike registered retailers who operate at fixed addresses subject to regular state inspection, illicit distributors operate through untracked networks and online platforms. Restricting legal vendors without addressing the black market risks undermining the policy entirely.
Nga emphasized that market control must target the entire supply chain rather than focusing solely on physical shop counters:
"It is necessary to strengthen traceability, control illegal business practices in the online environment, focus on handling large smuggling rings, warehouses, and hubs, and strictly handle violations at points of sale."
Nga added that regulators must establish clear boundaries between prohibited marketing displays and permitted transactional information, ensuring shopkeepers understand how to display price lists and handle products legally.
Maintaining Business Stability and Administrative Reforms
From an economic standpoint, adding commercial restrictions threatens recent administrative progress. Government Resolution No. 19/2026/NQ-CP streamlined business procedures by removing licensing requirements for distributing, wholesaling, and retailing tobacco products.
Economist Nguyen Hoang Dung warned against creating fresh compliance burdens while businesses are already adapting to new tax rules and electronic invoicing mandates. He noted that policy stability is essential for commercial planning:
"Avoid a situation where procedures are streamlined in one area only to create additional requirements elsewhere."
Dung also pointed out structural differences between trade tiers. Wholesale centers facilitate business-to-business transactions without direct youth exposure. In contrast, small retail stalls operate in spaces measuring only a few square meters, where display counters double as primary storage. For these micro-businesses, altering store layouts creates direct financial strain.
Before enacting new display rules, Dung stated that authorities must evaluate three core questions:
- Risk Identification: Define the precise public health risk requiring intervention.
- Tool Effectiveness: Verify whether a blanket display ban solves that specific risk.
- Enforcement Capacity: Ensure regulatory agencies have the resources to inspect outlets consistently.
Implementing an 18-to-24-Month Transition Period
To avoid sudden market disruption, legal specialists advise against immediate nationwide enforcement. Lawyer Hoang Ha of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association proposed an 18-to-24-month transitional timeline.
Shifting from regulated product displays to an outright visual ban requires retailers to redesign storage cabinets, retrain clerks, and modify transaction procedures. A sudden shift could penalize small shopkeepers who lack capital for immediate renovations.
Ha recommended testing the regulations through regional pilot programs across areas with differing economic conditions. This approach allows agencies to identify practical inspection hurdles, evaluate retailer compliance rates, and refine operational guidelines before full deployment.
Legal and economic experts agree that safeguarding public health requires clear display standards, balanced compliance costs, coordinated anti-smuggling enforcement, and an adaptable transition schedule.
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